5 Ways to Incorporate Gift Matching into Your Fundraising Strategies

As a nonprofit expert, you are probably often wondering how to beef up your fundraising strategies. It’s easy to feel like you’ve exhausted every option in the book, and even with the ultimate fundraising plan, you will always want to increase support for your mission. 

Luckily there is one fundraising solution that has been proven successful time and time again. That strategy is employer matching gifts.

We know what you’re thinking: you’ve already heard of matching gifts and might even have a strategy in place. But how effective is that strategy? Nonprofits everywhere are eligible for matching gifts, but more often than not they end up missing out. 

Most donors are completely unaware of matching gifts, so they rarely take the time to submit a request for your organization. That’s why every year, $4-7 billion in matching gifts go unclaimed - and those funds were designed specifically for your organization! 

Taking full advantage of matching gifts can feel like the industry’s best-kept secret. Luckily, you can incorporate this tactic into your fundraising strategy through: 

Sound intriguing? Let’s dive in! 

When we think about matching gifts, it is important to imagine them from the donors’ point of view. In order to receive a matching gift, your donor must submit their donation and then take an extra step to submit their matching gift request to their employer. 

That means it is important to target the donor while they are in the giving mindset. Right after the donor has made the donation, they are still going to feel connected and committed to your organization. So why not ask the donor to submit a matching gift request right after they make their initial contribution? 

You even have the perfect spot to include this information: right on your confirmation page. You can nestle a matching gift submission ask among your other calls to action for a natural donor experience. 

This placement is especially effective because many employers operate on deadlines, so donors cannot submit their matching gift request long after their donation has passed. Asking donors to submit their request directly after the donation process is timely, and it ensures that they know about gift matching as soon as possible. 

Your organization certainly appreciates your donors, and you probably send out thank you messages to demonstrate it. 

Whatever your strategy is around gratitude messaging, you can certainly incorporate matching gift asks as well. You can tell donors: 

Their donation is greatly appreciated

Specific ways their donation will help your organization

That their donation could double or even triple with employer matching gift programs

These messages present an easy and natural way to add matching gifts to your fundraising strategies. Your donors will also be excited to know that not only was their donation appreciated, but that it can be increased at no additional cost to them!

Special note: We recommend that you craft thank you messages separate from confirmation emails. Many donors do not open or do not fully read their donation confirmation emails because they assume it is a simple receipt. You don’t want your gratitude - or matching gift message - to be lost within a proof of purchase. 

As you thank your donors for their support to your mission, make sure that they know they could be eligible to double or even triple their donation with only a few simple steps. 

So we already covered confirmation screens and thank you messages, but how can we target your supporters who have not donated recently? It is important to include this demographic, because mentioning matching gift requests can lead to a 71% increase in response rate and a 51% increase in average donation amount. That means that promoting matching gifts can revitalize old donors to submit a new contribution!

You can target these donors using existing outreach strategies that are already underway. You probably send out a newsletter, email stream or social media messages to interact with your supporters. This is the perfect opportunity to educate them about matching gifts. 

Your supporters will love to hear about matching gift requests, because they already value your mission. These are people who have subscribed to your organization’s outreach, so they are certainly connected to your organization. Why wouldn’t they be excited to learn that their donations could be doubled or even tripled without having to make any additional contributions? 

As we mentioned before, most donors are completely unaware of employer matching gift programs, so these outreach avenues might be their first experience hearing about matching gifts or even corporate philanthropy in general. Make sure to convey the basics of matching gift programs, how they can impact your organization, and the general process of submitting a matching gift request. 

Your organization’s website is one of the most powerful donor touchpoints that you have. When a supporter or interested individual wants to learn more about your mission, this is often one of the first places they will go. 

Including a matching gifts page on your website is a simple and effective way to educate viewers about employer matching gifts. In fact, 84% of people say they are more likely to donate if a matching gift is offered, so this page could even change website visitors into donors. 

You can easily nestle a matching gifts section among the “Ways to Give” pages on your website. You can include basic matching gift information, programs that have improved in response to covid or even descriptions of some of the best matching gift programs out there. 

Again, it is important to imagine this page from a donor or potential donor’s perspective. Once your website viewers recognize the breadth of matching gift programs, they will certainly be eager to make an eligible gift. Just make sure that your information is thorough and informative so that the donor understands their next steps in increasing their donation. 

Woo! That was a lot of ways to incorporate matching gifts into your fundraising strategies! While each of these are definitely doable, there is an easier way to complete all these tasks and more through automated matching gift software. 

360MatchPro by Double the Donation can be integrated directly into your Custom Donations platform. This allows you to: 

These features make it easier than ever to incorporate matching gifts into your fundraising strategy. Once you integrate this software, 360MatchPro does all of the heavy lifting for you!

This integration even tracks valuable matching gift insights so that you can tag and track your matching gift donations and use them to craft valuable future fundraising and outreach strategies. 

Interested in learning more? Schedule a personalized demo of 360MatchPro to see how it can drive revenue for your organization. 

Doubling donations can be easy once you incorporate matching gifts into your fundraising strategies. Be sure to use these methods to help your organization take advantage of employer gift matching programs. Happy fundraising!