This post was contributed by Double the Donation. Double the Donation helps nonprofits and educational institutions increase fundraising from corporate matching gift and employee volunteer grant programs.
If your organization has already incorporated corporate matching gifts into its fundraising strategy, you probably are familiar with the bolstering effect it can have on your revenue and the lasting impact it can have on your org’s mission. But how do your donors feel about matching gifts? Donors report that when their donations are match eligible that they are more likely to donate to nonprofits in the first place, and are also more likely to donate a higher amount.
Matching gifts are a form of corporate philanthropy in which companies financially match the donations their employees make to nonprofits and charitable organizations. While over 18 million individuals work for companies with matching gift programs, 78% of donors don’t know whether their companies offer matching gifts on charitable donations. Research shows that corporate gift matching matters to donors, but there’s an issue of donor awareness. So how do you take your donors from being unaware of their matching gift eligibility to doubling their donations?
This article will cover: why gift matching matters to people as both donors and employees, and how you can empower your donors with information on matching gifts and guide their submission process to a match completion!
Donors Love to Double their Impact
Research consistently shows that donors are highly responsive to matching gift information. Providing information about matching gifts in your communications can turn website visitors or people interested in your organization’s cause into donors and can encourage pre-existing donors to contribute more. 84% of people are more likely to donate to your organization in the first place if their gift will be matched, and 1 in 3 indicate that they would contribute a larger donation if their gift is match eligible. Prompt donors with educational materials on matching gifts on your website, in your emails and on social media to spark their interest and see more donation dollars!
Essentially, donors love to know that the impact of their donation could be doubled at no cost to themselves, and empowering donors with this information encourages more giving on their end, while cutting down the work on your organization’s end when it comes to soliciting donations. On your organization’s end, you can essentially get two donations for the cost of soliciting one, which can serve as a huge timesaver for your org’s team members. Donors who are already plugged into your organization’s community, and even first-time donors, care enough about your cause to contribute a donation in the first place – so when it comes to taking one extra step to double that donation, they’re excited to do so. Even simply mentioning matching gifts in email outreach sparks more interest from donors; referencing matching gifts boosts email response rates 71%. Donor response rates can take a huge leap when they learn about such an impactful method of giving that’s been right under their noses the whole time!
Corporate Social Responsibility Matters to Employees
Companies create corporate responsibility programs and mandates in order to give back to their communities and provide positive social value, but they also build up corporate responsibility practices in order to improve company culture and create better brand image. 65% of Fortune 500 companies have instituted matching gift programs for these reasons, and yet an estimated $4-7 billion in matching gift revenue goes unclaimed each year. This is money set aside for organizations like yours across a wide range of corporate matching gift programs, so it’s time to take advantage!
Research shows that corporate responsibility is also a growing factor in how employees evaluate which companies they’d like to work for, especially millennial and generation-z employees. In fact, social responsibility culture at a company often coincides with higher levels of engagement from employees; nearly 60% of employees who are proud of their company’s social responsibility are engaged in their jobs. Employees want to work for companies they see doing good in their communities and in the world around them, especially employees who are plugged in to charitable causes and are already more likely to be donating to your organization!
Guiding Donors to Matching Gifts Creates Results
Now that you know how important the incredible opportunity of matching gifts is to donors, how do you guide them forward in the process and secure as much matching gift revenue as possible for your organization? The key is to boost donor awareness around matching gifts, and then to provide guided next steps for donors who are interested in submitting a matching gift request to their employer.
Supplying information about matching gifts to your donors is the first step to bridging the knowledge gap. Educate your supporters about matching gifts through as many avenues as possible: on a dedicated page on your site, in your social media appeals, in your email outreach, and finally, directly on your donation forms and confirmation pages. Increasing awareness can only have positive results for your organization and its best to take advantage of every channel available to you to spread the word. For example, including information about how to check your matching gift eligibility in a social media post, or reminding donors to submit matching gift requests via email can help bridge the knowledge gap as well as prompt action from donors!
Providing guidance to donors is pivotal to ensuring that gift matches are driven to completion. It’s easy to lose donors in the process if it becomes too complicated or time-consuming for donors to submit requests to their companies – this is why incorporating matching gifts directly into your online donation process is the most effective way to encourage donors to submit matching gift requests without interrupting your organization’s donation process. Virtuous and 360MatchPro by Double the Donation have designed an integration that can automate this process for you.
360Matchpro integrates seamlessly with Virtuous donation platforms to automatically determine donor eligibility for matching gifts and direct donors to their company’s matching gift requests forms in one simple click. The functionality includes customizable and personalized automated email outreach to ensure that donors submit their matching gift requests, and even allows you to track each donor’s submission process to guarantee that your organization maximizes its matching gift revenue. The 360MatchPro dashboard manages donor data as well, and even tracks if a donor has opened your org’s emails. This information and data access can empower your organization to double each and every match eligible donation.
Donors love the concept of matching gifts, both as contributors to charitable organizations and as employees, matching gift programs matter to them. Individuals who are already inclined to donate to your organization are invested in your cause and want to maximize the impact their donation can have on your mission! Providing educational materials and guided steps on how to capitalize on matching gifts will expand your fundraising opportunities, make your donors happy, and take your donors through the matching gift process with ease.
About Double the Donation
There’s an unnecessary gap between fundraising organizations and corporate giving programs, to the tune of $4-7 billion in unclaimed matching gift revenue annually. Double the Donation helps nonprofits and educational institutions increase fundraising from corporate matching gift and employee volunteer grant programs. Double the Donation maintains a database of employee matching gift and volunteer grant programs. With more than 20,000 entries in the database, Double the Donation presents match-eligible donors with their company’s specific program requirements, including a direct link to their company’s online matching gift submission portal or PDF download.
