10 Examples & Insights from the Matching Gift Idea Exchange
In June 2024, Double the Donation organized the industry’s first-ever Matching Gift Idea Exchange. This was an opportunity for nonprofits, schools, and other groups to share their best matching gift materials and be inspired by their peers’ ideas as well.
Why?
Matching gifts are a powerful tool for fundraising organizations, allowing them to maximize donations and engage supporters more deeply. However, few organizations are truly maximizing their matching gift potential, and a lack of promotion is a leading reason why.
In this blog post, we’ll delve into 10 inspiring examples and key insights from the completed Matching Gift Idea Exchange. From streamlined matching processes to creative promotional tactics, these examples demonstrate the power of matching gifts to significantly enhance fundraising with valuable inspiration and practical tips.
- Supplement your match page with video content.
- Make the page accessible from your site navigation.
- Host a matching gifts tool on event pages, too.
- Meet your donors where they are with SMS messaging.
- Leverage direct mail to promote matching opportunities.
- Pair corporate matching with matching gift challenges.
- Thoroughly thank donors for matching their gifts.
- Acknowledge companies that match to your cause.
- Promote matching through personal and mass emails.
- Turn corporate matching into a dedicated campaign effort.
Note: Explore how many clients use Double the Donation’s tools to streamline and enhance their matching gift promotions. Not a client yet? No worries! Click here to request a personalized demo.
1) Supplement your match page with video content.
An organization’s matching gifts page is one of its most invaluable assets, especially when it comes to marketing matching gifts effectively. Implementing the right content on the page is essential for driving more matches to completion!
What this Organization Did Well:
OKCMOA, or Oklahoma City Museum of Art, has embedded a minute-long informational video on their matching gifts page. This resource, which the organization submitted as part of our Matching Gift Idea Exchange, quickly overviews the matching gift opportunity, how it helps nonprofits, and how donors can determine their eligibility and next steps using Double the Donation’s matching gift database embedded above.
Best Practice For Your Team:
Take a multimedia approach on your organization’s dedicated matching gifts page. We recommend incorporating a combination of text, video, and graphic elements to best grasp and retain your audience’s attention while they learn about matching gifts on your site.
Double the Donation clients can access a free, pre-made matching gift video (plus a ton of other graphics and materials) or request a custom-branded version for a fee within the platform.
2) Make the page accessible from your site navigation.
It hardly matters how well-designed your matching gifts page is if no donors can locate it on your website. That’s why making your information easily accessible is a must! Prominently featuring matching gifts on your navigation menu ensures a seamless donor experience and signifies the importance of matching gifts in your fundraising.
What this Organization Does Well:
Blue Faery (the Adrienne Wilson Liver Cancer Association) makes matching gift information easy to locate. All a user has to do is access the drop-down menu from the main “Donate” button and select “Matching Gifts.”
Best Practice For Your Team:
Add a link to your matching gifts page to your main site navigation! Feel free to nest it under relevant parent pages, such as your “Donate” button or “Ways to Give” compilation for the best results.
3) Host a matching gifts tool on event pages, too.
Sometimes, an organization will host separate event pages or microsites to market upcoming opportunities (hint: this is a fairly common practice for run/walk/rides and other peer-to-peer fundraisers!). If that’s the case for your team, you’ll want to be sure you’re promoting matching gifts throughout your event pages as well—after all, those gifts are often eligible to be matched, too.
What this Organization Does Well:
The Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research is a largely peer-to-peer-based organization, and much of its revenue comes from large-scale fundraising events like the annual Tour de Pier. In order to ensure eligible gifts get successfully matched, the nonprofit has implemented a dedicated Matching Gifts page on its event microsite—complete with a matching gift search tool and an overview of the programs.
And, in order to mitigate any confusion, the fundraising team even provides the correct name and tax ID number an individual should use when they go to submit their matching gift requests.
Best Practice For Your Team:
At the very least, mention matching gifts with a dedicated callout on your event or campaign pages. Even better? Establish a separate matching gifts page on your event site to ensure your audience is exposed to the idea and provided with the information they need to get started.
4) Meet your donors where they are with SMS messaging.
According to Nonprofits Source, mobile donations have increased by more than 205% in the past year, and 51% of nonprofit website traffic originates from a mobile device.
What does that mean for you? Your donors’ phones are where they’re at—and you can meet them there with text message engagement strategies.
What this Organization Does Well:
This text message campaign from Save the Children demonstrates the ease with which a matching gift can be requested right from a donor’s mobile device. An individual receives one or both of the texts below and can initiate their match without hesitation simply by clicking the provided link. Talk about frictionless giving experiences!
Best Practice For Your Team:
Take a multi-channel engagement approach by incorporating SMS into your outreach strategy in addition to standard follow-up emails and more.
Note: Double the Donation offers automated SMS messaging for its Enterprise-level users. Interested? Learn more about upgrading your account here.
5) Leverage direct mail to promote matching opportunities.
In today’s digital world, it can be easy to forget about the power of direct mail marketing. However, incorporating snail mail into your matching gift promotional strategy can have a big impact.
What this Organization Does Well:
Scripps College leverages beautifully designed, eye-catching direct mail cards as a way to draw its supporters’ attention to matching gifts. And, to empower donors to take the next steps without delay, the institution implements a scannable QR code that directs recipients to its online matching gifts page.
Best Practice For Your Team:
Diversify your messaging with direct mail! If you already have a direct mail fundraising package going out, try adding an insert dedicated to matching gifts. Otherwise, consider a matching gift-focused postcard to spread the word.
6) Pair corporate matching with matching gift challenges.
Did you know that corporate or employee matching gifts represent only a single form of matching donation opportunity an organization might have? Matching gift challenges, or major donor matches, can also play a significant role in boosting a nonprofit’s fundraising. And they’re typically not mutually exclusive, either—meaning donors can have the chance to multiply their gifts twice!
What this Organization Does Well:
UWC-USA noted in the Matching Gift Idea Exchange that it combines the power of corporate matching gifts with other forms of donation matching, including major donor matching gift challenges. In a campaign, interest is typically generated by offering a major donor match. Then, once supporters have navigated to the campaign page, UWC promotes corporate matching gift opportunities as well.
The results? The organization shared that campaign revenue is typically about 30% higher than for those without a matching gift offer. Plus, a significantly higher percentage of donors check to see if their companies provide a donation match!
Best Practice For Your Team:
Try running a double-matching campaign! If you can find a major donor willing to put up a significant match amount, leverage that opportunity in addition to corporate matching gifts to get donors’ gifts multiplied again and again.
7) Thoroughly thank donors for matching their gifts.
There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to getting a gift matched. Thanking your donors for their involvement allows you to communicate your gratitude and close the loop at each step of the process.
What this Organization Does Well:
UNCF makes a serious effort to thank its matching gift donors at multiple touch points in the supporter journey. That includes upon the submission of their matching gift request and after the company pays out the matching donation.
To best grab the recipient’s attention and get their message across, the organization does so with a well-designed postcard (or two!).
Best Practice For Your Team:
Showing thanks is essential for any donor relationships, and communicating gratitude to your matching gift donors is essential for retaining their support in the long run. As you do so, remember that they went above and beyond in requesting a matching gift. You, too, should go above and beyond in your thanksgiving.
8) Acknowledge companies that match to your cause.
When it comes to thanking donors for matching gifts, it’s generally recommended that you center your efforts around the individual who requested the match. However, acknowledging the company (AKA the entity that pays out the match) can go a long way in building long-term relationships, too.
What this Organization Does Well:
Michigan Technological University uses its matching gifts page for an additional purpose: highlighting leading matching gift companies that have completed matches to the school in the past year. This way, the companies listed can feel the appreciation of their support and donors accessing the page can gain at-a-glance insights into top matching gift companies in their network.
Best Practice For Your Team:
Shine a spotlight on examples of companies that have supported your cause with matching gifts in the past. Not only is this an excellent way to thank these matching gift contributors (with additional publicity), but it can also inspire more donors (from the spotlighted companies and otherwise) to want to get involved.
9) Promote matching through personal and mass emails.
More than likely, email makes up a significant portion of your supporter engagement strategy. There are emails you send to all donors (mass marketing) and those you send one at a time.
For the best matching gift results, consider a mix of both types of outreach to grab your audience’s attention and drive more submissions to completion.
What this Organization Does Well:
Save the Boundary Waters takes a multi-faceted approach to promoting matching gift opportunities through email marketing. When a donor gives, they receive a personalized copy of the automated email (powered by Double the Donation) on the left. This encourages them to pursue a match for their recent gift while they are still at the height of their engagement with the organization.
Then, the team also regularly promotes matching gifts through a segment of its digital newsletter sent to all donors, on the right. This allows the organization to drive awareness of the programs across its entire audience at once!
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Best Practice For Your Team:
Double the Donation research indicates that organizations that send a single matching gift email see an estimated 31% of eligible donations submitted for matching. Meanwhile, a second reminder email increases submissions by 45%, and a third email brings the total percentage of submitted eligible gifts to 49%.
So, what does that mean for you? To engage the greatest number of donors and achieve the best results, incorporate more than one matching gift email into your follow-up cadence. For even better results, vary the formatting and structure between newsletters, email blasts, personal reminders, and more.
10) Turn corporate matching into a dedicated campaign effort.
Rallying support around matching gifts can significantly amplify the support received from donors. Generating enthusiasm through campaigns, events, and other dedicated communications can go a long way in increasing awareness and participation in the programs.
What this Organization Does Well:
In this final submission from the Matching Gift Idea Exchange, Community Ministry has launched a dedicated campaign effort called the “Hunger Heroes.” This initiative included a campaign logo, a one-pager overviewing the opportunity and how donors can get involved, an email blast, and a number of related social media posts.
Donors who get their gifts matched by their employers then earn the “Hunger Heroes” designation as a way to celebrate their above-and-beyond support and leverage social proof to drive additional engagement in the campaign.
Best Practice For Your Team:
Make matching gifts fun and exciting by adding a layer of novelty. Try providing donors with a digital “Matching Gift Donor” certificate or hosting an event alongside a big matching gift push.
Final Thoughts & Next Steps
As the above examples from the Matching Gift Idea Exchange show, there are countless ways for nonprofits and schools to innovate and improve their matching gift efforts. By implementing the strategies highlighted above, organizations can unlock additional funding, strengthen relationships with donors, and drive greater community impact.
All in all, we hope these insights have inspired you to bring your matching gift efforts to new heights. Stay tuned to participate in the Matching Gift Idea Exchange next year!
In the meantime, check out these additional resources to grow your knowledge of all things matching gifts:
- Free Downloadable Guide: Top Strategies for Marketing Matching Gifts. This comprehensive resource provides actionable tips and proven tactics to help you effectively promote matching gift programs to your donors. Get the guide to learn more and spread the word about these programs.
- Grow Your Fundraising Revenue: Access Real 360MatchPro Case Studies. Discover how other nonprofits have successfully increased their fundraising revenue with 360MatchPro. See the tangible results achieved and learn how you can replicate their success to boost your donations.
- 8 Ways to Encourage Donors to Submit Employee Matching Gift Requests. This resource offers practical strategies to motivate your supporters to take advantage of their employers’ matching gift opportunities. Implement these strategies to unlock the full potential of matching gifts.
