Multiply Your Fundraising With Matching Gift Automation
As a nonprofit, it can be challenging to bring in the donation revenue you need to work toward your mission. Working on your cause is at the top of your priority list, but organizing a fundraising strategy is an integral part of this priority.
One of the easiest ways to multiply your donation revenue is by leveraging matching gifts. It seems like a simple enough principle, but in truth, many nonprofits overlook this source of fundraising income and $4-7 million in matching gift funds goes unmatched very year.
GiveGab has partnered with Double the Donation to help turn this number around.
Beyond simply promoting matching gifts, there is a software solution that can automate much of the promotion process as well as the gift match submission process: 360MatchPro by Double the Donation.
Before we jump into incorporating matching gifts into your fundraising strategy, let’s break down a few matching gifts basics.
Matching Gifts Basics
Matching gifts are charitable donations corporations make to match an amount their employees have donated to an eligible nonprofit. Through these programs, nonprofits can double, triple, or even quadruple the amounts they receive in donations.
Why are matching gifts important?
Matching gifts are essentially free money for your nonprofit! You’ll receive multiple donations for the price of one, and donors will be more likely to give (and give more) if they know their donations will be matched.
How does a gift get matched?
By following the below process, donors can submit a request for their donation to be matched:
- The donor submits a donation
- The donor determines their eligibility using a matching gift search tool
- The donor accesses the necessary forms through a link in the search tool and submits the request for a match to their employer
- The company reviews the forms, confirms the donation with the nonprofit, and sends them a check
What is a matching gift database?
A matching gift database compiles information about companies and their specific guidelines that employees should follow to submit a matching gift request. Double the Donation has the most extensive database of corporate matching gift and volunteer grant programs for nonprofits.
With a matching gift database, you’ll have access to a comprehensive collection of thousands of companies, the minimum and maximum amounts they’ll match, how to submit a request, and more.
Through a matching gift search tool connected to a matching gift database, donors can search their employers to see if they’re eligible for a match. The search tool can easily be embedded anywhere on your nonprofit’s website, including on your donation and confirmation pages, and will serve as a reminder for donors to check their matching gift eligibility when submitting a donation.
Using a matching gift database is a great start to securing matching donations for your organization, but there is more that can be done to make this process even easier if you’re a larger nonprofit. Read on to find out!
Automating your Matching Gift Process
Nonprofits looking to take advantage of matching gifts might consider a complete matching gift automation platform. GiveGab recommends our partner integrated solution, 360MatchPro by Double the Donation!
360MatchPro breaks down your process of securing matching donations with three key tools: identification, communication, and branding.
Identification
One of the greatest parts of using an automated matching gift platform is that you can take advantage of a number of identification tools that indicate whether or not your donors are eligible for a matching gift through their employer.
These identification methods are easy to integrate into your existing donation process. For example, you can:
- Embed the matching gift widget into your existing donation forms to capture matching gift information
- Embed the matching gift widget in your donation confirmation page and give donors the information they need to submit a match request
- Identify matching gift eligibility based on the email address and other information your donors provide during the donation process
With these built-in identification and marketing tools, you’ll be able to spread awareness of matching gifts in an efficient manner and increase the number of matching gift requests that are sent in.
Communication
Once matching gift opportunities have been identified, your automated system can trigger emails to send to donors to inform them of their eligibility and link them to the proper forms. Communication is key to making your donors aware that they can submit a match request, so make use of the following tools:
- Automatically communication with donors who are match eligible, have unknown eligibility or are likely ineligible, and vary your message based on their eligibility
- Track how your emails are performing with open rates, click rates, and delivery rates
- Target and segment the groups of people you reach out to
When your communication strategy is automated, you’ll miss out on fewer matching gift opportunities and make the most of the donations that are eligible. Automation can make all the difference!
Branding
With an automated matching gift platform, branding is essential. While the platform will trigger emails and automatically contact donors on your behalf, it’s still important that the emails look like they came from your organization, rather than from a third party.
With branding and customization options, you can:
- Add your organization’s logo
- Change your “sending from” name and address
- Update the email color scheme to match your organization
- Customize the language within your automated emails so that you maintain your nonprofit’s voice
- Customize the email subject lines
- Adjust the frequency and timing of automated messages based on what you need
By maintaining brand consistency throughout communication and fundraising materials that your nonprofit distributes, you’ll have a higher chance of securing more matching donations because your donors will trust the messages they receive.
An automated platform like our recommended partner 360MatchPro by Double the Donation takes a lot of the legwork out of promoting matching gifts to your donors. Your donors will immediately be reminded to submit a matching gift request if they’re eligible, and you’ll be able to cover more bases by automating communication to those whose eligibility is unknown as well.
By incorporating matching gift automation into your nonprofit’s fundraising strategy, you can cover a lot more ground and collect extra revenue where it may otherwise have been overlooked. The more awareness you can raise, the more likely people will be to search for their eligibility and take the plunge!
While you should still have a focus on marketing matching gifts, automation can reduce the amount of legwork you need to do and keep you on track with your goals.
