How to Maximize Matching Gifts for Giving Tuesday

Nonprofits ideally want to receive double funding without having to use more resources. Well, matching gift campaigns do exactly that!

Matching gifts are a philanthropy program where participating companies agree to match their employees’ charitable donations to nonprofit organizations. These programs offer donors an opportunity to amplify their impact on a cause that they care about.

The Importance of Matching Gifts for Giving Tuesday

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are filled with sales and discounted prices to entice shopping, but is there a day dedicated to promoting donor generosity? Yes, and it’s called Giving Tuesday!

Year-end is characterized by the spirit of generosity, and nonprofits particularly look forward to the Tuesday after Thanksgiving because it has become a global day of giving. What started as a hashtag, #GivingTuesday, has spread to bring about real change in communities.

Giving Tuesday is a culmination of a year-long campaign that starts long before the actual day. To maximize your nonprofit’s efforts for one of the most impactful days of the year, emphasize the benefits of matching gifts.

You can expect to see an increase in donor engagement on Giving Tuesday, so why not motivate donors to double their impact? With matching gifts, supporters can invest in their favorite nonprofits and their employers pledge to match those gifts with their own funds. This means multiplying donations for your mission!

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How Matching Gifts Work

Matching gift programs are unique to each company, but the overall process is simple.

Let’s break it down step-by-step:

Step 1: The employee finds out whether their company matches gifts

It’s recommended for a donor to first find out whether their employer offers a matching gift benefit. Information about employer matching gifts can be found in an employee handbook or by contacting the company’s HR department.

Step 2: An employee donates to your cause

An employee giving to your cause can happen regardless if their company is promoting matching gifts or not. This is the prerequisite to the remaining stages that launch into the more matching gift-specific ideas and tactics.

Step 3: An employee requests a match from their employer

A donor’s gift is match-eligible? Great! It’s up to the employee to complete a match request. Typically, employers use online forms to process matching gift requests, but they could also provide paper documents and downloadable PDFs.

Don’t worry, the request itself can be a breeze! It’s common for the employee to have to provide a copy of their donation and your nonprofit’s tax ID number to their employer.

Step 4: Employer reviews the matching gift request

Once your donor has requested a match, you’re one step closer to receiving double the gift. Their company now reviews the employee match request, verifies the gift made by the employee, and ensures the contribution meets donation matching criteria.

Step 5: Employer approves the match

Here comes the fun part – the company has approved the match request and provides their matching donation to your nonprofit!

Remember, if you’re tracking gift matches, donations are sometimes dispersed through a company’s CSR platform. Because of this, it’s possible to see an unknown company’s name flow into your donor management system.

Bonus Step: Thank donors for taking part!

Effective fundraisers understand the importance of thanking donors for their support. Although corporate gifts are not entirely from the donor, your organization would not have received the match without their commitment and efforts toward your mission.

Thanking donors shows your appreciation whether that be a letter or a call. There are many recognition strategies your nonprofit can consider for Giving Tuesday.

Matching Gift Program Guidelines

You can make the most of Giving Tuesday by planning early to double your donors’ impact. Most importantly, you need to be aware of some guidelines.

Minimum and maximum donations

Companies are able to choose a range of donation sizes they can match financially, so consider letting your donors know to check their employer’s minimum and maximum match amounts.

Research shows the average minimum match amount is $34, and the average maximum is $3,728. This is key information because if a donor’s contribution is below the minimum or above the maximum enforced by their company, then the company will not match their gift to your organization. You wouldn’t want that to happen!

Qualifying types of nonprofits

Unfortunately, not all nonprofits are eligible to partake in matching gift campaigns. Aside from deciding match amounts, companies may choose to match gifts to one, more, or all sorts of nonprofit missions.

So, how do you know if your nonprofit qualifies for a matching gift? Nonprofit categories generally include K-12 schools, higher educational institutions, health and human services, arts and cultural organizations, civic and community organizations, and environmental organizations.

Qualifying types of employees

You also have to consider if your donor is a qualifying employee of a matching gift benefit. Some companies exclusively match donations to full-time employees, but there can be a few exceptions. For instance, part-time workers, retirees, and even employee spouses could qualify for matching gifts from a company.

It’s always a good idea for donors to check with their employer to ensure they qualify.

Match ratios

You may be asking, how much does a match mean? The most common match from employers is a ratio of 1:1. This means that for every dollar an employee donates to a nonprofit, the company provides a singular dollar as well.

Some companies offer a higher match ratio. For example, a ratio of 2:1 would indicate that the company might donate $2 for each dollar an employee gives.

Submission deadlines

Company deadlines may vary but this is the date by which an employee must request their match to become eligible. It’s common for submission deadlines to include a certain number of months following the day the donation was made. It is also possible for the deadline to coincide with the end of the company’s fiscal or calendar year.

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Expert Tips for Matching More Gifts

You understand how matching gift programs work. Now, it’s time to take your knowledge a step forward to boost support for your cause.

Here are a few strategies to increase generosity on Giving Tuesday:

Educate your audience about matching gifts

If donors have never heard of matching gift campaigns, then how would they know to request a match? They wouldn’t! That’s why it’s necessary to educate your audience.

The more your supporters are informed, the more confident they are to act. Your nonprofit should focus on informing donors about these generous opportunities available through thousands of participating companies.

Promote matching gifts through multiple marketing channels

Communicating with donors is your key to success. Giving Tuesday is only 24 hours, so you need to communicate with your donors wherever they are. The most effective way you can engage with donors is through social media, email, digital newsletters, or through a dedicated site on your website.

A good idea is to market matching gifts on social media platforms where supporters can repost or send email blasts where your message can be shared to inform others. There are many Giving Tuesday templates that can help your organization get started.

Collect employment information during the giving process

Prepare for Giving Tuesday by collecting donors’ employment information beforehand.

Doing so will save you time in finding out if the donor’s employer provides a matching gift benefit. Again, Giving Tuesday is only 24 hours, so you want to be as prepared as possible.

The easiest way your organization can gather this information is by asking. A donation page is a fantastic opportunity for this because a donor is already providing personal details. Adding a new optional field to collect the employer’s name, allows your organization to easily pull, store, and use that information for matching gift purposes.

Remind donors about matching gift opportunities post-donation

Your organization may have recurring donors with automatic contributions set up, meanwhile, other supporters might only donate on Giving Tuesday. You don’t want either type to go on about their day, instead, you want to motivate them to multiply their impact.

Reiterate the importance of matching gift programs and provide a suggestion on the next steps for getting started. For example, mention it in your follow-up appreciation emails to donors. The goal is to have qualifying donors request a donation match from their employer before their company’s deadline.

Find a matching partner

You’ve gathered your donors’ information and have come to find most of their employers don’t offer a matching gift benefit. Don’t worry! You can still boost your Giving Tuesday funds by finding a matching partner.

Obtaining a matching partner will inspire donors to give even more knowing that their donation will go further. A matching funds partner can be an individual major donor or a company. Whoever you choose needs to be able to match a projected amount of donations your nonprofit will receive on Giving Tuesday.

Promote in a prominent way

Your nonprofit is one of many fighting for donor attention on Giving Tuesday, so you want to distinguish your efforts. Having year-end fundraising campaigns can help maximize your reach and inspire online giving.

Awareness campaigns can power your mission leading up to the biggest giving day of the year. Take advantage of time and plan ahead to best promote donor participation during the dedicated 24 hours of giving.

Measure matching gifts

Aside from quality marketing for Giving Tuesday, you will need robust software. You want the giving experience to be easy, especially on a day of giving frenzy, for both you and the donor.

Providing your donors with software that facilitates the process will prompt them to continue investing in your mission. Software for Giving Tuesday can also help your organization track recurring donations and follow any long-term goals beyond a giving day campaign.

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Matching Gift FAQs

Who benefits from matching gifts?

Everyone involved benefits from a matching gift campaign! Nonprofits, like yours, amplify their funding, donors see greater impact from their contributions, and companies see higher levels of employee engagement and retention.

What percentage of donations end up being matched?

On average, 1.31% of donations make it through the matching gift process to provide the organization with a donation match. However, nonprofits with matching gift fundraising tools see upwards of 9.94% of their donations driven to completion.

Are event donations eligible for corporate matches?

The short answer is sometimes. This depends on the gift guidelines put in place by each corporation. Companies may not match dollars contributed to a nonprofit if the donor receives a tangible benefit in exchange.

However, donations made beyond event ticket prices and other “purchases” or bids are normally match-eligible. There are other instances where a tax-deductible dollar amount is what would most likely be eligible for a company match by a donor’s employer.

How can a nonprofit learn more about corporate matching gifts?

There are many resources to learn how donation matches benefit your nonprofit. Consider reading a guide for growing your revenue with matching gifts.

Understanding corporate matching gifts can help you take your cause a step further on giving days. As a nonprofit, you can discover more ways to engage your donors on Giving Tuesday to generate more revenue on this major giving day.

Are there other types of corporate giving programs to look out for?

Of course! Many giving programs exist. Oftentimes, volunteer grants are offered by the same companies that financially match donations.

Other common programs include paid volunteer time off, group volunteerism, in-kind donations, paycheck deductions, employee grant stipends, challenge grants, corporate sponsorships, and more.

Time to Make Your Matching Gift Campaign for Giving Tuesday a Success

Once your team understands how matching gift programs work, you’ll be ready to promote those opportunities to your donors. Implement a few tips to your Giving Tuesday strategy, and you will see the significant impact matching gifts have on your mission.

Discover the power of Giving Tuesday through the following resources:

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