Matching funds increase average gift size by 41%
Matching funds increase the number of donations by 110%
Matching funds increase revenue by 120%
Most of us are familiar with the concept of corporate social responsibility and yet one of the most effective ways of giving – corporate gift matching – is still considered elusive to many corporate employees. Only 1 out of 5 employee donors know about their company’s program.
This means that the first step to getting more from matches is to introduce and educate your donors on corporate gift matching. We then make it easy for them to execute the process.
Here are some of our favorite strategies you could use to engage donor employees:
1 Webpage – Have a space on your webpage with gift matching info available. You can use an image with details, a link to a site with more information, or a full space dedicated to this.
2 Donation process – Add it to your donation page/process for faster filling in. We suggest you only request necessary information with this step, so as to not overwhelm donors. Also, by adding the employer widget at the end of the donation process too, you can make sure those who didn’t fill it in first, have the chance to fill it in now with your “thank you” message.
3 Email – Opportunities to show gratitude to your donors are not only essential, but they are an immensely positive way to keep your organization top of mind. After receiving a donation, we highly recommend you thank the donor either by email or letter, and adding a small paragraph or image regarding gift matching can do wonders. Or if you have regular emails or a Newsletter, this is the place to share since your donors subscribed to know how your organization is improving and to learn more ways they can help!
If your donor has shared his employer and is eligible, sending matching gifts reminder emails has been shown to drastically increase the number of matching gifts submitted. So don’t be afraid to email them! They want to help your cause, and there’s no better way than to be able to give more without spending more.
4 Social Media – Sometimes we forget the power of social media, especially when it’s used consistently. Let people know how gift matching works and how it’s helped your cause, and you will increase your engagement in ways that might even surprise you. For example, if you’ve had corporation XYZ match the donations of 10 of their employees, and that money helped you feed 20 more families, sharing that story will make the support stand out even more and encourage others to donate or even finish their match process!
5 End/Start of year – Many companies match gifts made even over a year ago, so end and start of year is a great time to remind donors they can still amplify their giving. This can be done through all the above actions! And since we’re still at the beginning of 2022, today is the day.
6 Automate the process – The gift matching process can be very tedious for your donors and employees, so making sure you have automated this process will save time not only for your organization, but for the donors too. It can double or even triple the number of matches processed. Email reminders are essential when it comes to match-eligible donors. With every email sent, the percentage of matches processed increases! Amply offers tier 1 service in this category, so if you want more details you can schedule a demo here.
7. Follow up – Once your donors have indicated they are interested in matching, make sure you are there to help them. If you see someone’s process is left unfinished, make sure to contact them by email or phone. Sometimes people are busy and want to help you but forget. It’s ok to send an extra email checking in to see if they need help.
I understand you can be scared to reach out and feel like you are spamming your donors, but in reality, in this saturated world you are just sharing information that, if not diversified, most people will not see, and so, expanding your reach is the best way to go. You are not bothering donors, you are empowering them.
