Corporate Philanthropy + Employee Retention: The Connection

Corporate Philanthropy + Employee Retention: The Connection

/in , /by

Did you know that 71% of surveyed employees stated that it’s very important to work at a company that supports giving to and volunteering with nonprofit causes?

Or that 77% of millennials reported a sense of purpose as part of the reason they selected their current employer?

Or that employees who engage with corporate giving programs tend to have 75% longer tenures with the company?

Or that 55% of employees would even take a lower salary in order to work for a socially responsible company?

These facts⁠—and more⁠—help demonstrate the powerful internal benefits that corporate philanthropy and CSR can have on a business. And when it comes to corporate philanthropy and employee retention, the impact is substantial.

In this guide, we’ll provide companies with everything there is to know about corporate giving, staff retention, and the overlap of the two key concepts. If you’re looking to better engage your employees and keep them around for as long as possible, let’s dive in with the following topics:

Effective corporate philanthropy initiatives and high levels of employee retention year over year can each play significant roles in a company’s overall success. But many business owners fail to realize that the two ideas actually go hand in hand!

Let’s see how it works.

An Overview of Corporate Philanthropy

Corporate philanthropy is a key component of CSR (or corporate social responsibility), in which businesses dedicate time, money, and resources to promote the welfare of others. This often occurs through charitable donations to nonprofit organizations looking to drive a particular mission forward. Some of the most common examples of corporate philanthropy offerings are community grants, matching gifts, team volunteerism, event sponsorships, and more.

Thousands of businesses opt to partake in corporate philanthropy in one form or another, in no small part due to the substantial benefits that participating companies see. These advantages include⁠—but are not limited to⁠—an improved brand image, increased marketing opportunities and sales, heightened levels of team member engagement, attraction of new candidates, and (of course) elevated rates of employee retention.

What To Know About Employee Retention

Every company wants to have high levels of employee retention. Not only is it more cost-effective to maintain the same high-performing team members year after year, but it also demonstrates a positive work environment that will be attractive to new potential employees as well. This will enable your business to onboard more top team members who will, ideally, also stay at the job for years to come.

And it all comes down to this: employees who are highly engaged in their roles are more likely to be retained at a business for longer periods. Not to mention, you’ll require less time and energy devoted to hiring and onboarding new individuals, develop an inviting employee culture, and see higher levels of productivity among team members.

The Overlap Between Philanthropy + Staff Retention

Companies tend to see a significant positive correlation between investments in corporate philanthropy and employee retention results.

But why? It’s simple: corporate philanthropy initiatives lead to higher levels of employee engagement. High levels of engagement lead to lengthened employee tenures at the business.

This is because people (especially those of younger generations) like working for companies that promote social good. In fact, 54% of employees who are proud of their company’s contributions to society report being engaged in the workplace. As a result, these individuals are significantly less likely to leave their employers.

Tips for Driving Corporate Philanthropy + Employee Retention

Ready to see these benefits for your own team? Check out our top three tried-and-true practices for companies looking to increase philanthropy and retention:

1. Enable employees to play a significant role in your company’s giving.

Giving to any nonprofit will have a number of benefits to your business and its team. But when you allow employees to play a hands-on role in your corporate philanthropy initiatives and decisions, you’ll receive multiple times the impact on your engagement and retention strategies.

And that’s where workplace giving comes in!

Workplace giving is a particular form of corporate philanthropy where individual employees are encouraged to take the driver’s seat in their employers’ philanthropic initiatives. In these programs, team members are able to direct the company’s dollars toward their favorite nonprofit causes. For example, matching gifts and volunteer grants are offered when a company provides additional support to organizations that their employees are already supporting, whether through time or dollars.

With workplace giving and other employee-led programs, employees have a larger say in the businesses’ overall CSR and can feel the impacts of their employers’ giving on a more personal scale.

2. Provide many ways for employees to participate in philanthropic efforts.

Corporate philanthropy⁠—and even workplace giving⁠—is not a one-size-fits-all solution for employee retention or overall CSR. There are tons of powerful ideas for companies and their employees to get involved.

A few of our favorite ways for companies and their employees to participate in philanthropy include:

  • Matching gifts
  • Individual volunteer grants
  • Team volunteer grants
  • Group volunteer opportunities
  • Payroll deductions
  • Cause marketing campaigns
  • Employee giving stipends

In addition, the more you simplify involvement with your company’s giving programs, the higher levels of participation, engagement, and retention you’ll likely see. For example, one of the most important factors for providing employees with an optimized giving experience is the requirements of eligible contributions.

If you’re matching employee donations, it’s a good idea to match all kinds of donations⁠—such as website, in-person, direct mail, text, and peer-to-peer gifts. The more involvement options you provide, the more likely an individual is to get their gift matched.

Keep in mind that not every employee will want to engage with nonprofit causes in the same way. For some, matching gifts are an amazing opportunity⁠—especially if an individual already gives to a qualifying organization.

On the other hand, some employees will prefer to assist nonprofits with their time instead. For these team members, volunteerism-based initiatives such as group volunteer events and dollars for doers grants will have a larger impact on their likelihood of participating and overall engagement levels.

3. Effectively communicate the impact of your philanthropy to employees.

Beyond simplifying the process, one of the best ways to drive employee participation (and increase the benefits of your efforts) is to focus on the positive impact that your philanthropy has on the world.

Here are a few common ways that companies can do so:

  • Previous Giving Statistics: Picture this⁠—Company A is looking to utilize its philanthropic success in the previous year in order to drive the current year’s giving initiatives. In 2021, Company A donated more than $2 million to mission-driven nonprofits between individual contributions and company matches. This included donations to over 150 nonprofit causes, serving organizations in education, arts and culture, health and human services, environmental sectors, and more. The company decides to highlight these facts and communicate to employees that their participation in the program can make a difference toward total success.
  • Mission Impact: Partaking in a workplace giving program enables individuals to make a larger impact on a cause that they care about. Companies looking to drive participation in matching gift programs, for example, can highlight that an employee’s gift has the potential to do twice as much for the organization’s mission. For example, instead of feeding 10 families for a month with their generous contribution, a donor is able to leverage their company match to feed 20 families or more.

And these don’t have to be solely internal strategies, either. Prioritizing your company’s philanthropic impact can be a great way to drive team-wide engagement in the programs and, thus, increase retention rates. But these same ideas can also be used to elevate your brand in the public eye as well.

Without an effective strategy in place to communicate the value of your company’s giving initiatives, on the other hand, your team is not likely to receive the greatest benefits possible. Your philanthropy won’t keep employees at your company if nobody⁠—team members included⁠—know about the efforts.

The more a company participates in corporate giving initiatives, the higher the level of pride employees have in the business, and the more its employees will be engaged in their role. Each of these ultimately leads to significantly higher rates of retention, which, in turn, enables the corporation to invest more into its philanthropic efforts.

So if you’ve been looking for new ways to keep your high-performing employees with the business for longer, getting started with corporate philanthropy might be just what you’re looking for. Good luck!

Learn more about the benefits of corporate philanthropy and how to get involved with these other company-specific educational resources:

Find out how to drive corporate philanthropy at your company!

EIN Numbers for Matching Gift Programs: A Basic Guide

EIN Numbers for Matching Gift Programs: A Basic Guide

/in , /by

As a nonprofit fundraiser, you should hopefully know all about the enormous impact that corporate matching gifts bring to strategic fundraising efforts.

(If you’d like a matching gifts refresher before diving into what you should know about EIN numbers for matching gifts, we recommend checking out our comprehensive guide on matching gift fundamentals.)

Here’s a brief recap: matching gifts enable organizations to double existing donations when qualifying donors request corporate matches from their employers on your behalf. Yet unfortunately, millions of dollars of available matching gift revenue are left on the table each year. Two significant roadblocks to matching gift success are a lack of awareness of these programs and a lack of understanding of how eligible donors request their company matches.

And there’s one little piece of information that plays a huge role in just about any donor’s matching gift employer submission: the nonprofit’s EIN or employer identification number.

In this resource, we’ll dive deep into the world of EINs by covering the following key topics:

  1. EIN Numbers: The Definition
  2. Where Should a Nonprofit’s EIN Number Be?
  3. The Importance of EIN Numbers for Matching Gift Programs
  4. The Role of EIN Numbers With CSR Platforms
  5. How to Simplify EIN Numbers for Donors

Ready to learn more about nonprofit EIN numbers⁠—including what they are and their critical role in maximizing matching gifts? Let’s jump in with the basics.

1. EIN Numbers: The Definition

According to the Internal Revenue Service (commonly referred to as the IRS),

“An Employer Identification Number [EIN] is also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number, and is used to identify a business entity.”

But don’t think that’s referring to for-profit businesses only⁠!

In regards to nonprofits, an EIN is critical for identifying the organization as being an officially registered 501(c)(3) cause. By extension, this nine-digit number (formatted as XX-XXXXXXX) verifies an institution as a tax-exempt nonprofit, to which charitable donations are considered tax-deductible by the U.S. government.

You might even think of an organization’s EIN as the nonprofit (or business) version of a social security number.

This is the unique identifier belonging solely to the entity in question⁠. No two groups share the same tax ID number, which allows the figure to pinpoint a particular organization and track all sorts of critical financial data. For nonprofits, this includes donations, tax receipts, and more.

2. Where Should a Nonprofit’s EIN Number Be?

Whether you’re a donor attempting to locate your favorite charity’s EIN number for a matching gift program or a nonprofit aiming to ensure your EIN is easily accessible to your audience, understanding the prime location for this information is essential.

So, where should an organization’s EIN number be found?

On the organization’s website

A nonprofit’s website is one of its most valuable assets for driving fundraising, improving donor engagement, and providing educational resources to viewers. As such, it’s critical that an organization incorporates its EIN number in multiple prominent locations across its site.

That’s why we recommend nonprofits include this information on their:

  • About Us page
  • Ways to Give page
  • Frequently Asked Questions page
  • Dedicated matching gift page

Keep in mind that if donors have to search particularly hard or click through a whole trail of breadcrumbs to locate your tax ID, they’re likely to call it quits before reaching the intended destination⁠.

And if they need your EIN to submit their matching gift request, you might just miss out on that possible match⁠. That’s why it’s essential to keep this information as openly accessible as possible.

Within donor communication materials

Beyond your nonprofit website, it’s also a good idea to include your EIN within a number of donor-facing communications. This typically includes:

  • Donor acknowledgments
  • Tax-exempt donation receipts
  • Matching gift follow-up emails

Not only does providing your tax ID number in communication materials ensure donors have access to the information they need for their matching gift requests, but it can also help when it comes time to report their charitable contributions as tax-deductible!

Through third-party resources

There’s also a good chance that an organization’s tax ID number is available online through a third-party resource such as Charity Navigator, GuideStar, or the IRS itself. These sites can be useful for donors and prospects looking to learn more about nonprofit causes they support.

As a nonprofit, however, you should not rely on this being the case⁠—let alone the available resources providing accurate and up-to-date information. Thus, make sure to prioritize getting your organization’s EIN number out via your own website and communication materials.

3. The Importance of EIN Numbers for Matching Gift Programs

Most companies that offer matching gift programs will require the receiving organization’s EIN number to successfully process the matching gift request and ultimately disburse the funding.

The EIN requirement will typically be in addition to other information about their employee’s donation, such as:

  • Donation amount
  • Date of donation
  • Nonprofit name
  • Nonprofit address
  • Copy of the donation receipt (which should also include the EIN)

Without the organization’s ID number, the donor will likely be unable to submit their online match request⁠—or if they do submit it without an EIN included, the request may be denied.

The purpose of the above information is so that the matching gift company can verify that the initial donation was made, along with it having been contributed to a qualifying nonprofit cause. Not to mention, having access to the organization’s official tax ID number also ensures that the employer is able to give to the same organization its employee did.

4. The Role of EIN Numbers With CSR Platforms

Thousands of companies with workplace giving programs utilize CSR platforms (sometimes referred to as corporate giving platforms, matching gift software vendors, etc.). These solutions were developed to help businesses manage their philanthropic initiatives. For many, that means matching gifts.

If your donors work for those companies (which it’s fairly likely that they do), participating individuals are often required to submit corporate matching gift requests through their employer’s CSR software portal.

And to complete their request, they’ll need the EIN number of the organization to which they gave.

Many companies even choose to automate their matching gift facilitation through the use of corporate giving software. When this occurs, donors simply fill out an online form provided by the CSR platform. The donation information entered (including EIN) is then quickly scanned against the business’s pre-determined matching gift criteria. This typically includes minimum and maximum donation amounts, types of qualifying nonprofits, and more.

The request is then approved or denied, and, if approved, the funding moves toward the distribution process. So as you work to drive as many matching gifts as possible⁠—with as few roadblocks as possible⁠—it’s essential that you provide individuals with the information they require.

5. How to Simplify EIN Numbers for Donors

So you understand why your organization’s EIN is essential to matching gift fundraising. But what can you do to make this information easily accessible and simplify the process of obtaining the figure for donors?

Leveraging matching gift automation software like Double the Donation can help in two keys ways:

  • Providing a dedicated matching gift web page with an explanation of matching gifts and an embedded search tool, alongside an organization’s EIN and other contact information
  • Offering customizable and automatically triggered post-donation follow-up emails to inform and remind donors about matching gifts

For example, check out how two leading nonprofit organizations display their EINs on their dedicated matching gifts pages for supporters:

American Heart Association

Here's how AHA uses EIN numbers for matching gift programs.

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Here's how LLS uses EIN numbers for matching gift programs.

Sometimes the process of identifying the right EIN number can be particularly difficult for nonprofit supporters. For example, some large schools, universities, and multi-chapter organizations may have multiple tax ID numbers⁠—often a different EIN for each component of the overall cause.

In that case, you might want to include brief instructions within your matching gift follow-up emails that direct donors to the correct information. This can be as simple as incorporating a note near your matching gift company instructions. For example: “Kindly visit our dedicated matching gift page and look for the correct EIN for your matching gift request.”

If your organization has a single EIN number, you might still choose to include a reminder that the information is available on your matching gift web page. Alternatively, you could insert the number directly into your matching gift follow-up email for even easier access.

The more your organization simplifies the matching gift process for its donors, the more individuals are likely to participate⁠—namely, following their matching gift request from beginning to end.

By highlighting EIN numbers for matching gift programs, your team can ensure your match-eligible supporters have the information they need to complete their employer’s submission process. You’ll receive additional corporate funding, and your donors are able to make an even more significant impact on a cause they care about. That’s what we like to call a win-win!

Want to learn more? Make the most of matching gifts with our other top fundraising and corporate giving resources here:

Double the Donation can help optimize your organization's EIN numbers for matching gift programs.

Nonprofit Basics: Education Management Solutions

Nonprofit Basics: Education Management Solutions

/in /by

Finding the right software to manage your educational institution and programs is essential to the successful functioning of your business. Ideally, one technology can address multiple processes you have in your organization, including registration and student enrollment, one-time and recurring payments, and student reporting.

What Are Education Management Solutions?

Education management solutions are software programs that help school administrators and teachers manage the day-to-day of running a school. All of the top education management solutions on the market today are cloud-based. Education software should include robust data gathering and management tools that allow students and families to input, edit, and access their information as well as provide a database for you to filter, search, and run reports for you and your team. 

Solutions should be definition integration via API or built-in integration to Student information systems, CRMs, and more. 

User experience for your solutions should factor in the experiences of your team, your parents, students, and faculty.

Features To Look For in an Education Management Solution

It’s important that whatever system you put in place to manage your programs has all the features needed to ensure your team’s success. Here are a few features that we’d recommend looking for while evaluating your options:

Key Education Management Features

Student Enrollment Options

Ease of student enrollment is crucial for your software stack. Create customized forms and fields to gather the information you need, as well as an easy way for families to pay. 

The data generated by these processes can be managed by you and your team easily including generating reporting and statistics from this data, managing day-to-day tasks like recording notes, tagging students by where they are in the application process, and automatic tools like email communication and payment plans.

School Registration Software

Ensuring you have all the necessary data on students registering for your classes and programs is crucial to your success. 

A good software can replace manpower that can otherwise be focused on marketing, growing your offerings, and improving customer service. 

A good registration software should allow you to:

  • Customize form fields 
  • Run reports on any data collected
  • Be mobile friendly 
  • Embed on your website

These features will ensure that your registration software will work seamlessly for your team and audience and integrate well with your other education management solutions. 

Online Payments

Making it easy for students and families to pay will make or break the profitability of your programs. Streamline the checkout process by offering payment plans to lower the barrier of payment entry, increase enrollment, and ensure you have consistent cash flow.
Look for a software tool that integrates payments into the registration process and embeds on your website. You’ll see a 27%+ increase in on-time payments when your students can pay on your website, as they trust your business and won’t hesitate to make a payment.
Payment plans allow families to commit to purchasing your classes and programs, without the hassle of remembering to pay each cycle. You’ll save time not managing open invoices or manually billing families each month.

Reporting

The ability to extract the information you need to answer business questions is crucial. Whether it’s creating a roster report with custom information each teacher needs about their students, or you’d like to see a sales report for specific classes and registration data – your technology partner should provide a multitude of reports to meet all of your business needs. 

Crucial reports for schools include: 

  • Sales reports for monthly, quarterly, and annual stats for leadership 
  • Roster reports 
  • Medication reports and/or health reports
  • Class contact lists 
  • Overdue or unpaid balance report 

Your education management solution should be able to run these reports for you, saving your team valuable time and energy.

Other Resources to Explore

Nonprofit Basics – Learn more nonprofit management essentials by exploring other expert resources.

Increasing Student Enrollment – If you’re among school professionals tasked with increasing student enrollment, here are nine practical tips that will help you increase student enrollment.

Class Registration Software: Top Providers to Explore – Have you been pulling your hair out trying to decide which online class registration software to choose for your business? With so many good options out there, selecting the right software for your business can be really challenging. Lucky for you, we’ve narrowed down your options to just a few!

Learn more about matching gift disbursement with this guide.

Matching Gift Disbursement FAQ: Your Top Questions Answered

/in /by

Matching gift disbursement plays a considerable role in nonprofits’ matching gift fundraising success. This is essentially the go-between for companies that offer matching gift programs and the organizations that receive their matching gift funds.

Yet the matching gift disbursement process remains a mystery for many nonprofits and their donors (and even some companies, too). Unfortunately, groups that don’t understand what goes into corporate matching gifts are unlikely to use these programs to their greatest advantage⁠—which is where this comprehensive Q&A guide comes in!

In the next eight sections, we’ll answer some of the most common questions asked about matching gift fundraising⁠—particularly the behind-the-scenes processes that go into these corporate giving programs.

1. What is matching gift disbursement?

Matching gift disbursement is the process that takes place between corporations and nonprofits in which matching donation funding is requested, approved, and transferred from a matching gift company to its nonprofit recipient. The process is sparked by an individual donor, having been identified as matching gift eligible, who submits a matching gift request through their employer.

The particular steps can vary from company to company, with the basic premise being the same. Employers want to verify that their employees are making charitable donations to legitimate causes. After doing so, they authorize the match request and submit their matching donation to the nonprofit cause.

Once matching gift disbursement is complete, nonprofits have two donations.

2. What are CSR vendors?

CSR vendors are known by many names, such as corporate social responsibility software, corporate giving software, matching gift management software, and more. This type of tool is used by thousands of companies with matching gift programs to manage their corporate philanthropy initiatives.

CSR software providers equip companies with powerful resources to manage and automate their workplace giving programs. Overall, they create a better user experience for the businesses, their employees, and the nonprofits they partner with.

Some of the most common examples of these providers include:

  • Benevity
  • YourCause
  • Cybergrants
  • Selflessly
  • Millie
  • Point
  • Bright Funds
  • America’s Charities

Each of the above-listed CSR platforms works with different companies, small and large, to facilitate matching gifts and manage the matching gift disbursement process from beginning to end. The software typically utilizes automation practices in order to speed things up and require less on the part of the donors, nonprofits, and companies alike.

A CSR giving provider such as these will likely provide their corporate clients with an online portal from which employees can complete their match requests. From there, the platform may screen requested donations according to predetermined matching criteria (such as minimums, maximums, nonprofit types, etc.) and approve or deny submissions accordingly.

Some of these CSR vendors even facilitate employee donations themselves, functioning as an online giving tool where individual donations are then passed along to the receiving organization, along with the qualifying corporate match.

3. What’s the difference between CSR and matching gift software?

See also: If CSR platforms manage and automate matching gifts, how does that compare to nonprofit matching gift software (like Double the Donation)?

There are two overarching categories of matching gift software. These are matching gift software for companies and matching gift software for nonprofits. And the main difference is just that: the primary buyer and user of the platform, which then dictates the functionality of the software. Here’s a brief overview:

  • Corporate giving software for companies: Socially responsible companies typically purchase matching gift management software to facilitate their end of the matching gift disbursement process⁠—namely, the submission, review, and approval of employee requests.
  • Corporate giving software for nonprofits: Nonprofit organizations, on the other hand, often utilize matching gift software to increase donor awareness about these programs, screen for match-eligible donations, and track matching gift disbursement efforts throughout.

As donors walk through the giving process with their favorite charities, they are often first met with the nonprofit’s matching gift software. This may be while browsing the organization’s “ways to give” page, directly within their online giving form, or through a post-transaction follow-up email.

The majority of match-eligible donors remain unaware of their employers’ programs, so the nonprofit’s matching gift software aims to inform each individual about the widespread availability of company gift-matching and provide a simple way for donors to determine their own eligibility status. For many companies, this includes incorporating direct links to matching gift request forms⁠—which, again, are often managed by a CSR platform.

When a donor clicks to navigate to their employer’s online matching gift portal, this is typically where they cross over into the territory of matching gift software for companies. Now, the donor is prompted to complete their match request by providing donation information through the online portal.

Here's what the matching gift disbursement looks like.

4. How are matching gifts disbursed with a CSR platform?

Although each CSR vendor has its own matching gift disbursement process, these four essential steps are typically involved:

Step #1: A donor submits a request through their company’s CSR platform.

Once a nonprofit supporter makes their donation, they should (hopefully) be directed to their employer’s online match request portal. Oftentimes, the instructions and links for doing so will be made available through the organization’s matching gift widget, which pulls information from thousands of companies listed in a comprehensive matching gift database. In other scenarios, the donor will not be automatically provided with their employer’s giving program information but is encouraged to seek it out and begin the process on their own.

Upon landing at their company’s corporate giving portal, the employee donor is ready to make their request. This typically involves completing an online form with basic information about the initial donation. The details required in the form can vary from one business to the next. However, these often include the name and contact information of the nonprofit (including their tax ID number), along with a copy of the donor’s charitable gift receipt.

The donor then clicks “submit” and pats themself on the back for completing their portion of the matching gift process.

Step #2: The employing companies review the request.

Next, the company reviews employees’ matching gift requests and makes a decision as to whether the initial donation is matching gift eligible. Most companies will choose to go either the automatic or the manual approval routes:

  • Automatic approval: Many businesses—particularly those utilizing a CSR platform to manage their matching gift disbursements⁠—enact an automated approval process for employee match requests. This typically involves the software screening the provided employee donation information against the company’s predetermined matching eligibility criteria.
  • Manual donation confirmation: On the other hand, some companies will opt for a more involved process regarding their matching gift review process. For example, Company A may decide to reach out to the nonprofit an employee submits a match request for in order to personally verify the initial donation that was made. Company B might accept a valid gift receipt as proof of donation but choose to manually screen the match request for any potential red flags.

Step #3: The company authorizes match funds to be sent through the CSR platform.

Once the donation match request is approved (either through automated or manual review processes), the matching gift funding is ready to be transferred from the contributing business to the receiving organization. When a company utilizes a CSR platform, this step involves authorizing the corporate giving vendor to disperse the funds on the company’s behalf.

Keep in mind that if an employer sees multiple donors giving to the same fundraising organization, the employer might end up batching multiple matching donations together within their CSR platform before releasing the funds.

Step #4: The organization receives a donation from the CSR platform.

At this last stage in the matching gift disbursement process, the nonprofit simply sits back and waits for the match funding to come through. Unfortunately, fundraisers should not be holding their breath, as it can take a while for matching gifts to travel throughout each step along the way.

Eventually, the nonprofit will receive a matching donation from a donor’s employing company, which should be entered in the CRM alongside the initial gift. Keep in mind, though, that a matching gift from the Home Depot may be unknowingly processed and recorded under the name of the CSR platform rather than the company itself⁠—so keep an eye out for incoming checks from those service providers as well.

If a company does not work with a CSR management platform, the match request process may look a bit different, while the matching gift disbursement should be largely the same. For example, some companies still collect paper submissions, while others utilize downloadable PDF documents or simple online forms (which can still be made available through a nonprofit’s matching gift solution).

From there, the company will manually review the request to compare against their matching criteria, determine an outcome, and make their matching gift.

5. How do I know if a donation is from a matching gift?

Because matching gifts are often processed through a company’s CSR platform, the donation record in an organization’s database may not contain the contributing company’s name, let alone the donor who had initially requested the match. As such, it can be difficult for organizations to locate matching gifts in their CRM and track them effectively.

To better track your nonprofit’s matches, the first thing you can do is keep an eye out for any corporate donations flowing into your donor database.

Now, these might come in a few ways⁠. Take a look at these examples, based on the way a company manages its gift-matching initiatives:

  • Here's how to tell if a donation is the result of a matching gift disbursement.In-house matching gift management: A company that manually manages its matching gift program internally may disburse a matching donation in its own name. So if you see a donation from “Larry’s Law Firm,” you may want to flag that gift as a corporate gift. Then, scan your donor information for any recent donors who are marked as being employed by the company. Compare against that individual’s personal donation and matching gift status⁠—and with any luck, you’ve found your matching donor.
  • Outsourced matching gift management: Companies that outsource their matching gift disbursement to third-party CSR vendors, on the other hand, can be even more difficult. For these, look out for names of common corporate giving companies (e.g., Benevity, YourCause, CyberGrants, etc.), and make a note if any gifts flow into your CRM from these companies. Then again, you can work to narrow down your recent matching gift donors and determine who and where the match came from.

Identifying incoming matches is critical for effective tracking and reporting purposes. And without correctly associating matching gifts with the donors who requested them, an organization can hardly optimize its engagement and follow-up strategies.

Yet Neon One fundraising data reports that in 2020 alone, 10.8% of nonprofits had incorrectly attributed a gift to either Benevity or YourCause, rather than mark the donations from these platforms as corporate matches. And of nonprofits falling into this category, nearly 87% tracked more Benevity and YourCause revenue than they did matching gifts⁠—meaning they have significantly more untracked matches than tracked.

When a nonprofit lacks this information, they likely won’t be able to close the loop with the donor and mark their matching gift disbursement cycle as completed. Additionally, they can’t communicate their appreciation for the individual going above and beyond to submit a company match, which can lead to a missing piece of the donor engagement puzzle. Not to mention, unorganized corporate matches can clutter your donor database without proper maintenance.

6. What happens after a match is received?

What an organization does after receiving a matching donation has a significant impact on its matching gift fundraising success overall. But unfortunately, many nonprofits’ honest answers to the above question would be ⁠— nothing.

So let’s rephrase: “What should happen after a match is received?”

When you determine that an individual has secured a matching gift for your organization, we recommend including a note on their donor profile. The donor tag should list the matching gift and initial donation amount, along with the employing company. This enables your nonprofit to optimize your communications with the donor as well as keep their matching gift eligibility status in mind for future fundraising efforts.

Then, be sure to follow up with the individual after receiving their employer’s donation as well. Although the matching funds didn’t come directly from their wallet, it’s important to recognize that the individual’s initial gift and follow-up participation is what made the corporate match possible. Doing so will construct a positive impression of the matching gift process for donors and increase the likelihood that they request a matching gift for the next donation they contribute to your organization.

Here's what happens after the matching gift disbursement process.

7. What data results from matching gift disbursement?

The most effectively and efficiently run nonprofits are being driven by the power of fundraising data. Knowing how your organization’s existing fundraising strategies are operating, as well as your current and historical measurements of success, can provide you with the insights you need to move forward into greater results.

Luckily, strategic matching gift fundraising can result in loads of valuable data points for any nonprofit. We recommend prioritizing the following key matching metrics:

  • Total match revenue
  • Number of match-eligible donations
  • Percentage of match-eligible to total donations
  • Number of matches requested
  • Percentage of match-eligible gifts submitted
  • Number of matches secured
  • Percentage of match-eligible gifts secured
  • Average matching gift size

And on a more personal scale, the #1 most important detail to know is the companies your donors work for. Having a record of (at least the majority of) your donors’ employment information will allow you to adjust your matching gift promotion strategies accordingly, providing each individual with company-specific program information to their employer. This enables your team to drive more matching gifts to completion with targeted communication, tracking, and forecasting.

8. What role do nonprofit CRMs play in matching gift disbursement?

Based on the above suggested key performance indicators, you can probably tell there’s a lot to track when it comes to matching gift fundraising⁠. This is especially true if you’re looking to maximize your efforts and scale up your matching gift initiatives (which, if you don’t want to miss out on free and unrestricted funding for your cause, you should be).

And the best tool for tracking fundraising data is your nonprofit’s CRM.

But how exactly does your donor database fit into the matching gift disbursement procedure? It essentially comes into play at the very end of the process. As your organization receives matching gift funding⁠—whether through the company itself or via a secondary CSR platform⁠—those donations flow into your CRM as any other contribution would. The way your team organizes the gifts and to whom the donations are attributed can impact the effectiveness of the matching gift follow-up steps highlighted above.

For example, we recommend asking match-eligible donors to keep you informed throughout the match request process with their employer. Have they submitted their match? Determined their gift did not qualify for a corporate match? Verified the donation with the company?

The easiest way to do this is by automating donor messaging while leveraging your CRM’s communication tracking functionality. And this can be an especially seamless procedure if your database integrates with top matching gift software⁠ such as Double the Donation.

If you’re looking to locate previously made matching gifts, you may want to take the time to comb through your nonprofit CRM. As you do so, keep an eye out for CSR platforms that may have disbursed company matches yet flown under your organization’s radar.

Conclusion

Matching gift revenue can make a significant impact on your nonprofit. Having the knowledge surrounding every step of the matching gift disbursement process will allow you to better manage, track, and improve your organization’s efforts.

It all comes down to effectively enacting your team’s role in the disbursement procedure while simultaneously understanding the tasks being carried out by the other parties involved (i.e., your donors and their employers) to get from start to finish.

Once you’ve established this foundation of strengthened know-how, it will result in powerful matching gift benefits for your organization and its beneficiaries, your donors, and the corporations you’ve partnered with.

Feeling Blessed Offers Matching Gift Automation to Nonprofits with Double the Donation

Feeling Blessed Offers Matching Gifts Automation to Nonprofits with Double the Donation

/in /by

Double the Donation and Feeling Blessed are now partners, providing an integration and giving Feeling Blessed clients to the most advanced matching gifts automation tool from Double the Donation. 

“Feeling Blessed allows organizations to raise more from their supporters via an intuitive online and mobile experience,” shares Muhammed Tauseef Rab, Founder and CEO at Feeling Blessed. “We’re proud to now offer our clients the ability to maximize their fundraising with Double the Donation.”

The new integrated solution helps organizations raise more by helping donors identify their match eligibility and take their next steps to fulfill their matching gift requests from their employer. The partnership aims to close the gap of 78% of donors unaware of their employers’ matching gift program policies.

“We’re excited to offer nonprofits using Feeling Blessed the opportunity to streamline their matching gifts outreach and marketing to their donor and supporter bases,” says Adam Weinger, President at Double the Donation. “We’re looking forward to the value corporate philanthropy will provide to donors and nonprofits alike.”

Nonprofits who are mutual clients of Feeling Blessed and Double the Donation can identify match-eligible donors, automate timely outreach, and deliver back actionable analytics.

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

No IT or custom development work is needed for organizations to activate their Double the Donation and Feeling Blessed integration! All a client needs to do is enter their API keys from their Double the Donation account into their Feeling Blessed account, and Double the Donation’s search tool and thank-you page plugin will appear across their donation forms.

Easily connect your Double the Donation portal to your Feeling Blessed portal in just a few steps.

For donors, the process is seamless and intuitive. When a donor gives a gift to an organization with an active integration on a Feeling Blessed donation form, they’ll be asked to provide their employer name during the giving process.

Donors can search their employer name to discover their match eligibility.

If the donor is eligible for a matching gift from their employer, Double the Donation will surface information about the company’s program on the Feeling Blessed Thank-you page. From here, donors can start their matching gift submission process with the click of a button – and organizations can manage automated follow ups from their own Double the Donation accounts.

 

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with Double the Donation!

Feeling Blessed and Double the Donation’s new partnership brings the ease and value of corporate matching gift automation to a whole new population of nonprofit organizations looking to raise more each year. Clients of Double the Donation can take advantage of a number of features to leverage their matching gift strategy. 

  • Identify more matching gift revenue opportunities: Double the Donation enables you to automatically collect matching gift eligibility from donors using email domains, within donation forms, on confirmation screens, or by email. The more matching gift opportunities Double the Donation discovers and shares with donors, the more matching gift requests your donors will successfully submit.
  • Drive more matches to completion, from form submission to corporate payment: Direct donors immediately to their matching gift forms after the donation process is complete. Then, provide the right information to the right donors at the right time with custom emails based on match eligibility. Target follow-ups drive more completed submissions than ever before, bringing exponentially more matching gift checks from companies through your door.
  • Reallocate your time from routine follow-up to your top opportunities: Your time is valuable, so why spend it chasing small dollar-value matching gifts? Let Double the Donation automate your matching gift outreach while flagging your highest-value opportunities, allowing your team to personalize follow-ups to the most valuable match-eligible donations. Rest easy knowing that Double the Donation can handle the rest.

 

Ready to start raising more with matching gifts? Schedule a personalized demo today. 

About Feeling Blessed: Feeling Blessed is a donation platform with a mission to empower Muslims to become consistent givers. We use technology to create a community of donors and charities who together have embarked on a journey to reinvent giving. Organizations reach their financial goals quicker by joining the platform seamlessly and presenting their causes to all the donors on the platform. For more information please check out our website nonprofits.feelingblessed.org/

About Double the Donation: Automate your matching gift fundraising with the industry-leading solution from Double the Donation. The Double the Donation platform provides nonprofits with tools to identify match-eligible donors, drive matches to completion, and gain actionable insights. Double the Donation 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.