Matching Gifts: When Spouses Both Donate to a Nonprofit
For most nonprofits, the topic of matching gifts is confusing enough as it is. However, the fine print can make it even more confusing, often turning donors away from taking advantage of corporate philanthropy. For instance, what happens when two spouses (both of which work for companies with matching gift programs) submit matching gifts separately to your organization?
Oftentimes, when a nonprofit’s fundraising team can’t find out the answer, the organization gives up when it could have received both matches. To fully understand situations like this, let’s dive into a few key questions:
- Are Both Spouses Eligible to Receive a Match for the Same Organization?
- How Can Nonprofits Promote Matching Gift Programs for Spouses?
- How Can a Matching Gift Database Help Identify These Opportunities?
Corporate philanthropy, like matching gift programs, is vital to nonprofit success. Let’s dive into common matching gift guidelines for situations like this.
1. Are Both Spouses Eligible to Receive a Match for the Same Organization?
In most cases, both spouses are able to submit a matching gift request to their respective employers. Assuming the standard case where companies match donations dollar-for-dollar, a single donation would effectively be tripled. We rarely, if ever, see a rule preventing a gift from being matched by multiple companies.
A more common occurrence is for both spouses to work for the same company that offers matching gifts. If that’s the case, one of three things typically occurs:
- The company will provide a double match. For example, rather than matching at a 1:1 ratio, the company will match at a 2:1 ratio.
- The company will provide the same matching gift ratio but will double the limit. For instance, instead of matching all donations up to $5,000 annually, the company will match donations up to $10,000 annually.
- The company provides the couple with the same benefit that an individual employee receives.
To stay up-to-date on your donors’ matching gift eligibility, jump ahead to learn about matching gift databases.
2. How Can Nonprofits Promote Matching Gift Programs for Spouses?
Your organization may already incorporate many of our top ways to promote employee matching gifts, but don’t forget to also promote matching gifts for spouses.
For instance, do you provide donors with acknowledgement letters after they submit the matching gift request or upon receiving the actual grant from the company? If so, that would be a great time to encourage donors to ask their spouse if his or her company offers a matching gift program, too.
Simply reminding them that their donation could make even more of an impact increases the likelihood that they’ll look into it. Once a donor has gone through the match request process themselves, they’ll realize how straightforward it is.
From here, ask them to also find out if their spouse’s employer offers a similar program so the donation can be tripled! Since they’ve gone through the simple match request process themselves, they can relay the necessary information to their spouse.
Remember, if you subscribe to Double the Donation’s service, direct your supporters to your organization’s matching gift and volunteer grant webpage with our tool. That way, they can instantly determine their eligibility and submit the appropriate forms.
3. How Can a Matching Gift Database Help Identify These Opportunities?
While most employers will match both donations made by spouses, company guidelines do vary. As a nonprofit professional, you’ll need to stay on top of your donors’ personal data, such as their eligibility for matches through their employers. The research phase is an ongoing, arduous process. That’s where Double the Donation, the industry’s leading matching gift database, can help!
With Double the Donation, both your nonprofit team and your donors can instantly receive up-to-date information on their employers’ giving programs. This includes available guidelines, forms, requirements (e.g. donation minimums and maximums), and other relevant information. Plus, it easily integrates with other software, so you won’t have to worry about transferring all your data.
For larger organizations, check out 360MatchPro by Double the Donation. This comprehensive software enables email automation, customizable matching gift tracking, and other useful automation features!
With either platform, your nonprofit won’t miss out on important corporate giving opportunities. Whenever two spouses donate to your organization, they’ll instantly know if they are both eligible for matches through their employer, simply by searching their companies’ names. No more confusion on anyone’s part!
Think your organization could benefit?
Matching gifts are not something your nonprofit wants to overlook. They’re fairly straightforward to acquire, but it can get tricky when two spouses both donate to your nonprofit. In some cases, they work for separate matching gift companies, and in others, they work for the same company. It’s all about making sense of companies’ guidelines.
Now that you know typical outcomes and how to identify these opportunities, start maximizing your matching gift potential!
