For nonprofits, fundraising is everything. What if you could double or even triple your fundraising revenue with just the click of a button?

Sounds too good to be true? Think again! Matching gift programs empower companies to support their employees’ philanthropic interests by matching their donations. Yet, according to Double the Donation, billions of dollars in eligible gifts go unmatched each year, mainly because donors aren’t unaware that their employers offer these programs. 

That’s why it’s up to your nonprofit to spread the word to both your donors and their employers so you can leverage this unbeatable fundraising opportunity.

We’ll explore the top strategies you can use to secure funding through matching gifts. But first, let’s review some fundamentals of matching gift programs.

Matching Gift FAQs

Whether you’re a new nonprofit founder or a seasoned pro in the nonprofit world, you might have unanswered questions about matching gift programs. Here’s some basic information you should know before we dive into our fundraising tactics.

Why do companies offer matching gifts?

There are many reasons why matching gifts and other corporate philanthropy initiatives are advantageous for companies, including:

• Improved public perception. Over 87% of consumers are more likely to patronize a company that advocates for an issue they care about. Giving to nonprofits attracts socially-minded customers and strengthens the donor company’s brand image.
• Employee recruitment and retention. When companies support their employees’ interests, it can boost their satisfaction and loyalty to the employer. Moreover, robust corporate philanthropy initiatives can help companies attract and recruit talented team members.
• Reduced taxes. Companies can deduct the matches they make from their reported income, lowering their taxes.

When companies do good, it not only benefits the nonprofits receiving aid but also the businesses themselves.

How do matching gift programs work?

This is generally how matching gifts get submitted and processed:

1. The donor submits a donation for a cause they care about. Once the donation is processed by the nonprofit, the donor receives a receipt verifying their gift.
2. The donor submits a match request to their employer via their matching gift request form (either paper or electronic).
3. The company reviews the request to determine if it matches their program’s criteria. 
4. Once approved, the company sends the matching gift directly to the nonprofit. Usually, both the donor and the employer get a notification from the nonprofit once the gift has been processed.

Since each company has its own approach to matching gifts, it’s important that donors examine their employers’ policies and act accordingly.

What are the criteria for matching gift programs?

Again, each company is different, but these are generally the criteria they use for determining matching gift eligibility:

• Gift size. Most companies have a minimum and maximum threshold for gifts eligible for a match.
• Employee status. Some employees might not be eligible to get their gifts matched if they’ve been at the company for a limited period of time or only work part-time.
• Type of nonprofit. Matching gifts are usually reserved for tax-exempt organizations, such as 501(c)(3) nonprofits, and can be limited further based on the company’s focus. For instance, some companies might restrict donations to religious organizations if they wish, even though they aren’t 501(c)(3)s.
• Deadline. If donors want to have their donations matched within a certain tax year, they should double-check their employer’s matching gift deadline.

Companies should clearly outline their specific policies in their employee handbooks or corporate giving program guides. 

Now that you understand the fundamentals of matching gifts, let’s get into strategies for leveraging them.

1. Use a matching gift tool.

Besides a lack of awareness of their company’s program, many employees don’t follow through with matching gifts due to the complicated process of finding their employer’s policy and submitting a request. 

Fortunately, there’s a way your nonprofit can expedite that process and make submitting matching gifts a breeze—using robust matching gift software. These solutions allow your donors to input their work email addresses and learn everything they need to know your matching gift policy, streamlining the submission process.

The matching gift software features you should look out for include:

• Online giving page integration
• Auto-submission capabilities that send matching gift requests on behalf of the donor
• Access to a detailed and up-to-date matching gift policy database
• A reliable support team and training resources
• Scalability
• Customizability 

The best tool will coincide with your nonprofit’s needs and budget, so determine these ahead of time. Next, research the top platforms and request demos. Finally, integrate the tool into your donation page, and watch the matching gifts roll in!

2. Promote matching gifts to donors.

Matching gifts are the gift that keeps on giving. Your nonprofit can collect them year-round and integrate them into any fundraising campaign or promote them on their own. Some fundraising promotion techniques you can use include:

• Using marketing automation to remind donors of matching gifts when they’re likely to give based on past behavior
• Discussing matching gifts in non-promotional materials, like your email newsletter or blog

Whether you’re promoting matching gifts to recurring donors or first-time supporters, you can always spread awareness of matching gifts in your fundraising appeals, on your donation page, and in your newsletter so your donors know to research their employer’s program.

3. Collaborate with companies for awareness campaigns.

While matching gifts are beneficial for contributing companies, many businesses don’t spread awareness of their programs to their employees. Your nonprofit can change that by helping them educate employees about matching gifts. It’s a win-win—companies get to reap the aforementioned advantages of corporate philanthropy with less work, while your nonprofit gets more revenue!

NXUnite suggests incorporating these elements into your corporate awareness campaign:

• Educational resources
• Offers for speaker positions in your webinars about corporate philanthropy
• Promotional copy for different channels, such as direct mail, email, and social media

All of these opportunities provide the company with a useful resource or link that they can disseminate to their employees.

4. Integrate matching gifts into advocate training.

Anyone who’s fundraising on your nonprofit’s behalf should have a thorough understanding of what matching gifts are, how they work, and how to pitch them to donors. Set them up for success by including matching gift information in their training. Educate your staff, peer-to-peer fundraisers, and board members about matching gifts by:

• Outsourcing training via professional online courses
• Creating digestible infographics about the basics of matching gifts
• Providing example scripts pitching matching gifts

Ultimately, matching gifts programs are an easy concept to grasp. All your advocates need to do is learn the nitty-gritty details, and they’ll be ready to promote them to anyone!

About the Author

Adam Weinger

Adam Weinger is the President of Double the Donation, the leading provider of tools to nonprofits to help them raise more money from corporate matching gift and volunteer grant programs.

Double the Donation's robust solution, 360MatchPro, provides nonprofits with automated tools to identify match-eligible donors, drive matches to completion, and gain actionable insights. 360MatchPro integrates directly into donation forms, CRMs, social fundraising software, and other nonprofit technology solutions to capture employment information and follow up appropriately with donors about matching gifts.