Strike a Match

“Please help show our brave Coast Guard members how much we value their courage and dedication. Let them know that if they are ever called upon to make the supreme sacrifice, their children will be provided for. Send your gift now while it can still be doubled through the matching gift offer.

“Thank you for your generosity. Above all, thank you for caring about the children of our fallen heroes.”

Again, there was both bold and underlined text, and the signer was Brengle. However, there was no postscript and no brochure.

The perforated reply slip had the same text except with the updated deadline.

Going above and beyond
This matching-gift campaign was a guinea pig for CGF, seeing if such an offer would boost results in a historically tough fundraising window. As it turns out, it did — big time. This campaign brought in $64,654 from donors with a 7.5 percent
response rate, beating 2011’s Fallen Heroes campaign response rate by 84 percent.

“People like the idea that their money is going to be used as efficiently as possible,” Laudano says. “… A match allows their $25 to be $50; it resonates well. It got them energized that their money was generating more for the cause.”

And as an unexpected bonus, the donor who provided the matching gift was so delighted with the success of the campaign that he decided to match the entire $64,654 — not just the initial $20,000. Thus, the campaign brought in $129,308 overall.

“The interesting thing about this match is that it also resonated really well with the donor,” Laudano says. “When the organization went back to the donor to let him know that the appeal with his matching-gift offer raised more than $60,000, he was so excited that he said he wanted to do something to support every donor, to match all their gifts.