Corporate Giving and Matching Gift Statistics [Updated 2024]

Understand the matching gift opportunity.
Explore current corporate giving trends and patterns.
Get inspired to pursue workplace giving effectively.

Corporate Giving and Matching Gift Statistics Graphic

Matching gifts can make a huge difference for nonprofits of all shapes and sizes, but too few organizations know how to get started with corporate philanthropy.

Explore the key corporate giving and matching gift statistics below to learn about the impact of this underutilized revenue source.

Check out these powerful matching gift statistics from Double the Donation.

Key Matching Gift Statistics Nonprofits Should Know

Corporate giving and matching gift statistics represented in an infographic

65% of Fortune 500 companies offer matching gift programs. ⁵
Over 26 million individuals work for companies with matching gift programs. ⁵
11% of total corporate cash contributions to nonprofits are made through matching gift programs, for an estimated average of $2.86 billion donated each year.
An additional $4 – $7 billion in matching gift funds is estimated to go unclaimed per year. ⁵
Over the last three years, the percentage of Russell 1000 companies publicly disclosing that they offer employee matching gifts grew by 11.8%.
A Forbes survey of 250 multi-billion-dollar companies indicated that 92% of surveyed companies offer at least one kind of gift-matching program to their employees. ⁶
Double the Donation’s database covers more than 99% of companies with matching gift programs. ⁵

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Benefits of matching gift automation software

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More Matching Gift Statistics:

The Impact of Matching Gifts on Nonprofit Fundraising

84% of survey participants say they’re more likely to donate if a match is offered. ¹
1 in 3 donors indicate they’d give a larger gift if matching is applied to their donation. ¹
Mentioning matching gifts in fundraising appeals increases the response rate by 71% and the average donation amount by 51%. ¹¹
One study reported that the average matched gift was between 1.5 and 2X the size of the average unmatched gift.
Matching gift availability is rated the leading factor likely to encourage donors to give more, ranking it above emergency appeals and holiday and religious events.
A well-executed matching gift strategy can have more than 75% engagement, including interacting with your search tool, accessing matching gift forms or guidelines, and/or opening multiple emails. That’s 5x the average nonprofit’s engagement rate! ⁵

Check out the 360MatchPro conversion funnel to see how matching gift automation aids in the donation process

More Matching Gift Statistics:

Matching Gift Marketing and Automation

Only 1.31% of individual contributions are matched at the average nonprofit organization, despite approximately 10% being eligible for corporate matches.
Without automation, there is a significant knowledge gap surrounding available matching gift programs and the donors who qualify for them.
- 78% of donors are unaware if their company offers a matching gift program and the program specifics.
- 14% of donors know their company has a program, but are unsure if they’re eligible or don’t know how to submit their matching gift request.
- 8% of donors know their company has a program, know they’re eligible, and understand how to submit their matching gift request.
73% of donors will use a matching gift search field on a donation form when presented with the opportunity. ⁵
Flexibility in where donors can give matters!
- 97% of donors want flexibility in where and how they give to causes they care about.
- 86% of donors want to be able to give their original donation directly to a nonprofit through the nonprofit’s website.
- 6% of donors want to give their original donation through a workplace giving platform and then have that gift passed along to the nonprofit.
- 8% of donors didn’t indicate a preferred donation channel.
100% of the Peer-to-Peer Top 30 incorporate matching gifts in their overall fundraising strategies to some extent. ¹²
- 93% of leading peer-to-peer nonprofits host a dedicated matching gift page on their websites and/or event pages
- 86% of the P2P Top 30 follow up with donors about matching gifts on their gift confirmation screens, post-donation email outreach, and more.

Sending matching gift reminder emails within 24 hours of a donation results in a 53% open rate, which is 2.6 times higher than the average nonprofit email open rate. ⁵
The average matching gift email has a 7% click-through rate, which is 2.4x the average nonprofit email click-through rate.
Organizations that send a single matching gift follow-up email see an estimated 31% of eligible donations submitted for matching.
- Sending a second reminder email increases the number of matches submitted by eligible donors by an additional 45%.
- A third matching gift reminder email increases the number of matching gifts by an additional 9%, bringing the total percentage of eligible gifts submitted to 49%.
Employing multiple approaches to identifying match-eligible donors results in 77% more identified match-eligible donations.
Email domain screening for match-eligible donations can result in a 1% increase in total revenue for nonprofits.
Leveraging a matching gift automation tool (like 360MatchPro) increases matching gift revenue for nonprofits by 20% to 60% annually.
The addition of auto-submission functionality is projected to yield an additional 80-200% increase in match revenue.
78% of the nation’s largest nonprofits and educational institutions use Double the Donation’s matching gift tools to promote matching gifts.

To bring in more matched donations, your nonprofit needs a reliable internal plan.

Watch this video to learn the ropes and set your organization up for success.

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More Matching Gift Statistics:

Matching Gift Program Guidelines and Standards

Matching gift participation rates vary widely by company. Why? It largely depends on how prominently a company promotes matching gifts and how easy it is for employees to participate.

65% of Microsoft employees request match funds for their personal donations, making it one of the most-used matching gift programs across all sectors.
30% of Pfizer participate in the company’s matching gift program, making it the leading matching gift supplier in the pharmaceutical industry.
With a 70% employee participation rate, American Express leads the financial services sector.
Conversely, fewer than 15% of employees request donation matches from similar programs at Xerox, Dell, and Verizon.

Higher matching gift caps yield higher levels of employee engagement.
- Caps that are set at $1,000 see a 12% employee engagement rate.
- Caps that are from $1,001 to $10,000 see an 18% engagement rate.
- A matching gift cap beyond $10,000 sees a spike in employee engagement up to 40%.
96% of employees at companies with matching gift programs have a strongly prefer that their company match donations made directly to a nonprofit (e.g., using its website, peer-to-peer fundraising tool, or direct mail) rather than only matching donations through a workplace giving platform.
Only 19% of companies include more than one paragraph regarding matching gift programs in their easily accessible employee handbook materials or websites.
34% of employees wish their companies would provide additional information about their programs and how team members can get involved.

Common Minimums, Maximums, and Ratios

96% of companies have a minimum match requirement of less than or equal to $50. ⁵
The average minimum match amount is $34.
80% of companies’ matching gift maximums fall between $500 and $10,000 annually per employee.
The average maximum match amount is $3,728.
91% of companies match donations at a 1:1 ratio.
- 4% match at a lower rate such as .5:1.
- 5% match at a higher rate such as 2:1 or 3:1.

Insights From the Top Matching Gift Companies

The top 10 matching gift companies will match on average up to $47,500 per employee per year. ⁵
51% of the Russell 1000 companies publicly disclose they offer matching gift programs (with additional ones being offered and not publicly disclosed yet).
85% of the top matching gift companies also offer volunteer grant programs.

Microsoft offers the world's most-used matching gift program.

Largest Contributor of Matching Gifts: Microsoft

Microsoft is the largest contributor of matching gift and volunteer grant funds. ⁸
An astounding 65% of Microsoft’s employees participate in the annual giving campaign.
Inclusive of the corporate match, Microsoft employees have donated more than $1 billion to nonprofits since the program’s inception.
U.S.-based Microsoft employees have volunteered more than 2 million hours since the volunteer match’s inception in 2005.
Microsoft matched $53.2 million in employee donations to nearly 19,000 nonprofits in a single year; an 11% increase over the previous period.
Microsoft donated $7.7 million as a result of 456,000 volunteer hours logged through the company’s employee volunteer program in a single year.

General Electric launched the world's first known matching gift program.

World’s First Matching Gift Program:
General Electric

The GE Foundation established the Corporate Alumni Program in 1954, making it the world’s first known corporate matching gift program. ⁷
GE matched more than $39 million worth of employee donations to a wide range of 501(c)(3) nonprofits and schools in a single year.
In the decades since the program’s inception, the GE Foundation has matched more than $1.1 billion to nonprofits its employees support.

learn about more top matching gift companies

Key Corporate Giving Statistics to Know

The top 10 corporations donate over $2 billion annually in cash to nonprofits, much of it through employee matching gift programs.
Corporations donate, on average, between $20 and $26 billion to nonprofits annually, with the total continuing to increase each year.
The percentage of total giving by corporations to nonprofit causes increased by 50% year over year from 2022 to 2023.
The most commonly cited reasons for increases in companies’ philanthropic budgets were increased focus on strategic initiatives or programs; international giving expansion; changes in the business; and changes in employee-directed giving.
Health, Social Services, and Education continue to be the top program areas to which companies allocate their resources, and Disaster Relief saw the largest giving increases. ⁹
58% of companies surveyed said workplace giving programs are somewhat or very important in retaining talent.

94% of major US corporations plan to heighten or maintain their charitable giving in the next few years. ³
39% of companies plan to expand their workplace giving programs in the next two years and 37% plan to keep their workplace giving programs the same.
The percentage of Russell 1000 companies disclosing they offer an “Unrestricted Matching Gift Program” (i.e., will match to any nonprofit) grew 48% over the last three years, whereas those offering “restricted” programs (e.g., only matching donations to higher education) decreased by 33% to only 13.6%.
49% of nonprofits identified workplace giving as a growth strategy for their organization, with 93% believing they can grow the funds raised through corporate giving programs.
80% of surveyed organizations reported difficulty establishing strong corporate partnerships and workplace giving strategies due to limited staff and resources. ¹⁰

Volunteerism and Volunteer Grant Statistics

40% of Fortune 500 companies offer volunteer grant programs.
80% of companies with volunteer grant programs provide between $8-$15 per hour volunteered.
66% of companies surveyed provide paid-release time volunteer programs. ²
The average corporate volunteer rate participation rate is 33%.
The participation rate at top-quartile corporate volunteer programs is 66%. ²
About 63 million Americans volunteer each year.
Americans volunteer for a total of 7.7 billion hours each year.
The value of American volunteerism is worth ~$175 billion annually.
Many of these individuals are eligible to request volunteer grants from their employers. ⁴

learn about top volunteer grant programs

Wrapping Up & Further Reading

The corporate giving and matching gift landscapes continue to evolve, offering significant opportunities for nonprofits to maximize their engagement efforts. The latest research and matching gift statistics, covered above, demonstrate the substantial impact of matching gift programs on revenue generation for nonprofits, schools, and other fundraising groups.

All in all, studies consistently show that donors who participate in matching gifts give more and remain more engaged over time as a result. As we navigate the ever-changing world of philanthropy this year and beyond, it’s clear that leveraging matching gift opportunities can be a game-changer for nonprofits. By staying informed about the latest trends and insights, organizations can position themselves for success and make the most of the invaluable source of funding for their missions.

Interested in learning more? Check out these recommended resources to continue growing your knowledge of all things corporate giving and matching gifts:

Promoting Matching Gifts

Your donors are unlikely to know about matching gifts unless your nonprofit promotes these giving programs to them.

Check out our resources to learn how you can effectively market matching gift programs to donors via multiple channels.

Learn more

Matching Gift Companies

Many companies offer a matching gift program (65% of Fortune 500 companies do!), but some outshine the rest.

Double the Donation has compiled a list of the top 20 companies with standout matching gift programs in the United States.

Learn more

Impact of Corporate Giving

Matching gift programs are just one of the many types of corporate philanthropy initiatives that companies have.

If you’re interested in learning about the importance of corporate philanthropy, read the following article!

Learn more

Sources

[1] Big-Give Research Initiative’s A Great Match

[2] CECP’s Giving in Numbers Report

[3] Conference Board ESG Center’s Donor Behavior Survey

[4] Corporation for National and Community Service’s Volunteering and Civic Life in America

[5] Double the Donation’s Database of Matching Gift and Volunteer Grant Companies

[6] Forbes’ Corporate Giving By the Numbers

[7] GE Foundation’s Paving the Way For Matching Gifts

[8] Microsoft’s Corporate Citizenship and Matching Gift Program Enhancement Materials

[9] National Philanthropic Trust’s Charitable Giving Statistics

[10] Nonprofit Source’s Corporate Giving and Matching Gift Statistics For Nonprofits

[11] Tech Soup’s Which Fundraising Strategies Work?

[12] Top Nonprofits’ Matching Gift Digital Strategy Analysis of the P2P Top 30

Corporate Giving and Matching Gift Statistics [Updated 2024]

Key Matching Gift Statistics Nonprofits Should Know

Match More Gifts With Double the Donation

The Impact of Matching Gifts on Nonprofit Fundraising

Matching Gift Marketing and Automation