The Future of Matching Gifts: Auto-Submission Functionality

The nonprofit landscape is continuously changing, and our team at Double the Donation is constantly making improvements to our matching gift solution, 360MatchPro, to evolve along with it. To provide users with the best possible software for their fundraising needs, we’re proud to add the latest cutting-edge technology in matching gifts to our platform: auto-submission. 

This revolutionary feature makes it easier than ever for donors to complete and submit their matching gift requests to employers by turning a multi-step process into a single click. 

Looking to learn more about the functionality? You’ve come to the right place! In this guide, we’ll share everything you need to know to make the most of matching gift auto-submission.

We’re excited to be the leading provider of matching gift technology, and if you or your team has any questions about auto-submission not answered by this guide, our team is more than happy to help. 

What is matching gift auto-submission?

Matching gift auto-submission is essentially the automation of the corporate matching gift request process.

Traditionally, for donors to participate in their employers’ matching gift programs, they have to take the following steps:

• Make a donation. Employees interested in matching gifts start by donating like normal. If the donor uses their workplace email address for their contact information and the nonprofit uses matching gift software like 360MatchPro, they’ll automatically be provided with their employer’s matching gift information. If not, they can still complete a matching gift by moving on to step two. 

• Look up matching gift eligibility guidelines. If donors use a personal email address, they can still participate in a matching gift program by using the nonprofit’s matching gift database to look up their employer. For nonprofits that lack matching gift software, the donor will need to be aware of matching gifts and look up their employer’s information on their own. 

• Navigate to their employer’s matching gift management portal. To access the matching gift application, many companies direct their employees to submit a match request form through their CSR software. 

• Search for the organization they contributed to. Employees will use their company’s CSR software provider to look up the nonprofit they donated to. This is typically done by entering the nonprofit’s name, mailing address, and tax ID number.

• Select the correct organization. Upon entering the nonprofit’s name, donors must choose the right organization to give to, which can be especially important for enterprise-size nonprofits that have multiple branches. 

• Complete a matching gift application form. Once the individual has selected the correct listing from the organization search tool, they’ll be prompted to provide information about their donation⁠, such as payment type, donation amount, currency, and date of the gift. They might even be asked to upload a copy of their donation receipt.

• Confirm the details on the form. To ensure their match request is approved, donors should review the application to double-check that all information is correct. 

• Submit the matching gift request. Finally, the form is sent to the employer for review. If approved, the nonprofit will receive the match donation. 

When developing a matching gift program, companies should eliminate as many barriers to participation as possible. If a company has a laborious and complex matching gift application submission system, employees might not participate in the program.

In contrast to this lengthy process, when donors can automatically submit their match requests, the process looks like this:

• The supporter makes a donation. Supporters who give to nonprofits that use 360MatchPro can complete the donation process as normal. 

• The donor enters their corporate email address. If eligible, the donor is asked to provide their corporate email address for the match request. Then, before clicking to submit their email address⁠ on the confirmation screen—and, by extension, their matching gift request⁠—the individual is asked to confirm that they give Double the Donation permission to submit a match request to their company on their behalf.

• The match request process is complete. Double the Donation gathers data relevant to the donation and nonprofit organization and transfers the information to the donor’s employer’s matching gift management platform to process the request.

With a user-friendly matching gift process, companies can do more good for their communities, better engage employees, and build strong relationships with nonprofits. 

Key benefits of matching gift auto-submission

Streamlining the matching gift process with auto-submission benefits every party involved in the process. Let’s take a look at how auto-submission improves matching gifts for each stakeholder. 

Benefits for Donors

Donors appreciate knowing their gifts will go further with matching gifts, but complicated request processes can discourage even the most dedicated supporters. Double the Donation has long worked to streamline the matching gift submissions by:

• Helping supporters check their eligibility during the donation process
• Directing donors to their employers’ matching gift request forms
• Giving nonprofits the tools to follow up with matching gift eligible donors to drive their matches through to completion 

Now auto-submission functionality brings simplicity to the next level. With auto-submission, corporate employees can give directly to a nonprofit through their website, a peer-to-peer fundraising page, or other donation tool. From there, submitting their match requests to their company is so quick and easy that participating is practically a no-brainer.

Benefits for Nonprofits

The link between an easy matching gift process and greater nonprofit revenue is clear; when more donors successfully submit their matches, more matching gift funds get sent your way. 

This means nonprofits can tap into additional income streams to pursue their missions. Plus, since matching gift funds are likely to be unrestricted revenue, nonprofits are free to spend these extra donations on important but underfunded overhead costs. When the process is automated from start to finish, your team can focus on programming rather than chasing down donors. 

Benefits for Companies

Companies offer employee programs like matching gifts to increase employee engagement and better appeal to existing and prospective consumers. The more their employees participate in matching initiatives, the more the companies give to nonprofit causes and the better their reputation becomes. When employees see the ease of matching gift auto-submission, their participation in employee giving programs goes up. 

Benefits for Corporate Giving Vendors

Corporate giving vendors design software for companies that streamlines and improves workplace giving programs like matching gifts. When vendors offer matching gift auto-submission functionality, they make it easier for companies, employees, and nonprofits to tap into a widespread employee giving program, matching gifts. As a result, these CSR platforms see increased usage and satisfaction among corporate clients who want to optimize their employees’ giving experiences. In the end, this improves these software vendors’ SaaS renewal rates, attracts new corporate clients, and drives up long-term revenue.

The quicker and simpler it is to participate in corporate matching gift programs, the more likely individuals are to take the required steps. As a result, nonprofits and companies alike can expect significantly more match-eligible donations driven to completion⁠, which is a win-win for everybody!

How new auto-submission functionality works

Auto-submission sounds great, but how does it actually work?

We’ve already gone over the basic process, but let’s hone in on a few key steps. Particularly, we’ll look at steps two through four in the following infographic which explains just what the software does with a donor’s employment information.

• During the donation process, the individual supplies the name of their employer. This allows the nonprofit to determine whether the individual qualifies for a corporate match. By embedding Double the Donation’s auto-complete company search tool into the donation form, supporters can provide this information straightaway during the giving process.
• Matching gift program guidelines are provided. As soon as the donor is redirected to the gift confirmation screen, they’ll be met with matching gift criteria specific to their employer’s matching gift program. This should include minimum and maximum donation amounts, match ratios, qualifying employee and nonprofit types, submission deadlines, and more. This way, they can easily determine whether their donation is eligible for a corporate match.
• The individual is asked to enter their corporate email address. With a donor’s corporate email address and permission to submit their matching gift application on their behalf, Double the Donation utilizes data collected during the donation process to provide the donor’s employer’s corporate giving partner platform with the information it needs to process the request. Data transferred will typically include the donation amount, organization given to, payment date, and more.

In the end, corporate matching gifts are paid out to your organization the same way as if an individual had manually submitted their matching gift request on their own. To learn more about how this technology works, check out this video exploring 360MatchPro’s auto-submission functionality:

Our trailblazing auto-submission partners

Double the Donation leverages partnerships with other innovative technology providers to expand its services and functionality. Matching gift auto-submission is no different.

Auto-submission is on the rise, and we’re happy to show off three CSR vendors who have partnered with Double the Donation to bring this cutting-edge technology to donors:

Millie

Millie is a social impact platform designed to make workplace giving and volunteering accessible, fun, and impactful. They are big believers that change comes from everyone, and Millie is on a mission to empower businesses of all sizes to start and grow social impact programs. Whether a company has 100 employees, 5,000 employees, or anything in between, Millie helps engage teams with donation matching, volunteer programming, fundraising campaigns, gifting, ERG tools, and more.

Employees of companies that utilize Milie’s software can leverage matching gift auto-submission to submit match requests to their employers more easily. For nonprofits using 360MatchPro, donors will be asked on the gift confirmation page to enter their corporate email address. From there, an email will be sent requesting the donor verify their recently submitted donation and subsequent matching gift request⁠, which will then be completed and processed by Millie.

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POINT

POINT is known for being a robust yet user-friendly volunteer management app for nonprofits, volunteers, and companies. POINT aims to be an all-in-one solution for corporate social responsibility needs⁠, including volunteering, giving, matching, and partnering⁠.

To leverage matching gift auto-submission through POINT, qualifying donors enter their email address into the POINT app. The email address is automatically verified with POINT, providing the user with a list of nonprofits associated with their app profile to choose from. They will then be asked to select the organization the donation match should be sent to. From there, the submission is processed behind the scenes.

Selflessly

Selflessly helps HR and company culture leaders increase employee engagement through its corporate giving and volunteering software solution. Selflessly makes it easy to make a social impact by providing companies with all the tools they need in one platform. Employees can donate to nonprofits, coordinate volunteer opportunities, create team campaigns, receive matching gifts, and more. They prioritize inclusive workplaces to support all employees and the causes they care about.

Individuals working for companies that use Selflessly to manage their matching gift programs can log into their employer’s Selflessly portal and request a donation match to their favorite organizations. Now, when those organizations utilize Double the Donation’s auto-submission technology, the request process is as easy as entering their corporate email address when giving. Double the Donation and Selflessly will handle the rest!

Discover even more about matching gift auto-submission

Matching gift auto-submission goes a long way toward increasing the number of completed match donation requests. For organizations like yours, that will mean more corporate revenue and engagement opportunities, with fewer eligible gifts slipping through the cracks. And, best of all⁠, your donors are going to love it!

Interested in learning more about matching gifts and best practices your organization can take to increase corporate revenue? Check out these other educational resources:

• Corporate Matching Gift Process | A Complete Step-by-Step Guide. Take a deep dive into the matching gift process for your organization and its supporters with this detailed resource. The more you know, the better you can guide donors through the experience.
• Marketing Matching Gifts In Your Donation Process. Tons of individuals have no idea their employers offer matching gifts, which is why it’s important to market opportunities to your donors. Here’s how to do so directly within the donation process!
• Matching Gift Disbursement FAQ: Your Top Questions Answered. How does the matching gift disbursement process work? We answered many frequently asked questions in this guide to provide insights into what really happens behind the scenes.