By: Double the Donation
This year, Giving Tuesday is taking place on November 29th. And it’s quickly approaching!
Is your organization prepped and ready for this massive worldwide day of giving? If you don’t have an existing strategy in place to make the most of matching gifts, you might end up missing out on a key potential revenue source.
Luckily, we’re here to provide insights into corporate matching gift programs on and beyond Giving Tuesday 2022. This will include the following:
- How do matching gifts impact Giving Tuesday success?
- Best practices for optimizing Giving Tuesday with matching gifts
Ready to dive in and bring your upcoming Giving Tuesday efforts to the next level? Let’s begin.
How do matching gifts impact Giving Tuesday success?
According to nonprofit fundraising statistics, more charitable giving takes place within the last few months and weeks of the year than at any other time. That’s because during what is known as the year-end giving season, philanthropic-minded individuals tend to feel increasingly generous toward the organizations they support—and much of it begins on Giving Tuesday.
At a time when fundraising groups are expecting significantly elevated engagement levels among their supporters, having the
tips and tools in place to highlight matching gift opportunities is essential. Otherwise, it’s like running a “buy one, get one free” sale—during a season of increased spending—without communicating the bargain to your audience; you’re likely to miss out on a ton of engagement potential.
Best practices for optimizing Giving Tuesday with matching gifts
We’ve covered the benefits of matching gifts, and you likely see that they’re a win-win situation for the companies, donors, and nonprofits that participate. But how can you integrate these offerings into your organization’s fundraising strategy this Giving Tuesday?
It’s easy! Here’s what we recommend doing:
1. Mention matching opportunities in Giving Tuesday appeals.
Did you know that donors are more likely to give charitably if matching gift opportunities are being promoted alongside the fundraising appeal? Or that many individuals will even give more when a matching gift is being offered? This leads to findings that mentioning matching gifts tends to result in a 71% increase in response rate and a 51% increase in average donation amount.
At a time like Giving Tuesday, when thousands of organizations are vying for limited donor support, using matching gift appeals to stand out can be a particularly effective strategy!
2. Collect employment information within the giving process.
Over 26 million individuals work for companies with matching gift programs, although more than 78% of them have never been informed of the opportunity put in place by their employer. As a result, billions of dollars in matching gift revenue go unclaimed each year. The best thing your team can do to help close the funding gap is to drive awareness for eligible donors—and there’s no better time to get started than Giving Tuesday!
But how can your organization determine who qualifies for the programs? We recommend collecting donor employment information directly within the donation experience. And it’s easier than ever with the right technology—such as the seamless integration between Double the Donation’s 360MatchPro and raisin’s online giving forms. This partnership enables Double the Donation and raisin clients to add an autocomplete search tool on their donation pages, encouraging donors to search for their companies and uncover matching eligibility.
3. Drive donors to complete matching gifts post-donation.
Immediately after donors hit “submit” on their initial donations is one of the most impactful opportunities for marketing matching gift programs. At this point, they’re likely still riding the high of their Giving Tuesday donation momentum, and you’ll want to leverage that to your best advantage. That’s why we suggest making the most of your organization’s confirmation or thank-you screens. This should utilize the information collected in the previous step—on the donation page—in order to share company-specific guidelines and next steps.
For example, a donor who entered their employer’s name as Matching Gift Company A should be automatically provided with direct links to the business’s online matching gift forms, in addition to minimum and maximum donation amounts, types of qualifying nonprofits and employees, and submission deadlines. The less research an individual has to conduct on their own, the more likely they are to complete the action you’re requesting of them—to submit their match!
4. Follow up with match-eligible donations.
Despite your promotional efforts during the donation experience, a donor may ultimately leave your giving page without having requested their corporate match. And that’s okay—especially when you have follow-up strategies in place.
Our #1 recommended tactic for following up with donors regarding matching gifts after they’ve contributed? Automated matching gift emails. Ideally, this outreach should be sent within the first 24 hours after the initial gift is made and should contain targeted information about their employer's matching gift programming. Remind donors of the potential for doubled donation impact by requesting a matching gift, and you can see your organization’s Giving Tuesday success continues to grow.
Matching gifts can make a big difference come Giving Tuesday. But they’re not a strategy that’s exclusive to Giving Tuesday or even other year-end giving. In fact, most companies offer these programs all year round, and, as a result, nonprofits can leverage the opportunity from January 1st to December 31st.
So get your organization’s matching gift plan in gear for Giving Tuesday, but don’t forget to keep up with your efforts long into the new year and beyond. Good luck, and happy matching!
About Double the Donation:
Double the Donation is the leading provider of matching gift and volunteer grant solutions to nonprofits and educational institutions. The 360MatchPro platform provides nonprofits with tools to identify match-eligible donors, drive matches to completion, and gain actionable insights. 360MatchPro integrates directly into donation forms, CRMs, social fundraising software, and other nonprofit technology solutions to capture employment information and follow up appropriately with donors about matching gifts.