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Suggesting Matching Gifts: A Responsive Fundraising Approach

March 16, 2023/in About Double the Donation /by Adam Weinger

Did you know that an estimated $4-7 billion in unmatched funds goes unclaimed annually? What would it mean for your nonprofit if you could generate an extra 15% or 20% of revenue annually purely through matching gifts?

Suggesting matching gifts to your supporters can be an important step in cultivating a deeper relationship. It allows you to engage with your supporters and empower them to uncover untapped potential generosity for your organization.

But it’s not a matter of snapping your fingers and voila, matching gifts appear! In order to generate that increase in generosity, your supporters need to first be made aware of matching gifts. In order to do that, you need to educate your supporters about their company’s possible matching gift programs and suggest that they get involved.

In this helpful guide, we’ll dive into how Virtuous’ responsive fundraising framework enables your organization to build meaningful and personal relationships with your donors. Plus, increase their generosity to help you achieve mission-critical goals.

What is Responsive Fundraising?

Responsive fundraising puts the donor at the center of your fundraising strategy and enables you to grow giving through optimized donor journeys that respond to the unique needs of each individual. Through the four phases — listen, connect, suggest, and learn —the responsive approach enables nonprofits to build trust and loyalty through personalized engagement and provide the most value to their supporters.

In a hyper-connected world, donors want to feel like members of a community. They want to understand their role in the impact your organization is making. Perhaps most important of all, they want to be thanked sincerely and personally for their contributions.

Responsive fundraisers look to create deep connections that serve donors in the right way. Let’s dig in more to each part of the Responsive Framework to understand it better.

Listen

In order to successfully build a relationship with your supporters you need to learn more about them. Listening is crucial for learning and understanding who your supporters are and why they want to engage with you. Listening to your supporters can happen directly through conversations or indirectly via social listening, website activity, and email tracking. The more you listen, the more you begin to understand your supporters!

Connect

Giving is deeply personal, and you should connect with your donors in a way that acknowledges and respects that. Regardless of the channel (website, email, mail, or phone) or medium (in-person or digitally) you want to connect with donors in a way that is one-to-one, contextual, and collaborative.

Responsive fundraising ensures you connect with the right supporter at the right time with the right message. With the responsive framework, nonprofits should personalize the experience every time they connect with every donor. When a supporter visits your website, attends an event, receives an email, or gets a phone call, they should feel like they are part of an ongoing conversation with your organization — enabling you to build lasting connections and increase trust.

Suggest

Below we will dig into the “Suggest” step on a much deeper level. However, at a birds-eye view, once you’ve established trust with your donors by listening and connecting in personal ways, you have an opportunity to suggest next steps that are the best fit for each individual.

Responsive fundraising acknowledges that everyone has unique value and something to give, instead of generic, unresponsive asks that push everyone to do or give the same thing.

Learn

Experienced fundraisers know that, while there are best practices and great ideas out there about fundraising, nothing is “one size fits all.” The only way to know for sure what works with your unique supporters is to test and experiment. The results you get will help inform what you do next and how you do it.

By continually learning as you go, your organization will become more and more responsive. Responsive fundraising is a continually improving cycle. When you take a responsive approach, you’ll adapt and experiment. With clear visibility into your data and a complete, holistic view of your supporters, you’ll be able to see what’s working and what isn’t, then adjust accordingly.

The Importance of Suggesting

Suggesting a next step to your supporters is important because this is where you get to prove how well you know them. If you suggest something that is aligned with your supporter’s interests and abilities, you are more likely to get a “yes” from them. If you suggest a misaligned next step, on the other hand, you put that relationship at risk.

The good news is that the responsive framework sets you up for suggesting the right thing. If you have truly listened and connected with your supporters, you should have some clarity around the suggestion step. Just make sure you are suggesting action items that are based on who your supporters are and what makes sense for them, rather than solely what your organization wants to see happen.

Why “Suggest” and Not “Ask”

It is worth noting the language of “suggest” as an intentional decision here, as “ask” is more commonly used in the fundraising community. However, we believe that the real power lies in suggesting something to your supporters, not in asking something of them.

“Ask” is a more passive way to approach requesting a donation. Because of the history of the “fundraising ask,” this word implies a financial contribution. It also implies that giving is a financial hardship, and it can feel quite transactional in nature. While financial contributions are important, using the language of “ask” can be limiting.

To open up the possibilities, responsive fundraising focuses instead on “suggesting” next steps to your supporters. It’s a two-way street where you suggest an action, but your supporters are more than welcome to respond with their own thoughts and opinions. It’s conversational in nature. And perhaps most importantly, suggesting includes a variety of impactful behaviors beyond financial giving.

Think of it this way: An “ask” would be telling a supporter what financial contribution you want from them. A “suggestion” would be connecting with your supporter and having a conversation where you provide ideas and inspiration for how they can be more involved with your organization in a targeted and personalized way.

Why Suggesting Matching Gifts Makes Sense

When you suggest a next step to a supporter, the goal is to make the right suggestion at the right time. Often, this means not asking for more financial support, especially if they just made a donation.

You want to suggest something that further deepens the relationship but is contextual and personal. It’s also important that you suggest a next step that provides value to your organization as well. If financial generosity is a top goal for your organization, suggesting a matching gift is the perfect way to meet both your organizational needs and remain relevant and contextualized in your suggestion to your supporter.

A good suggestion should be strengthen your relationship with the supporter. Suggesting matching gifts in the right way naturally cultivates a deeper relationship with your supporters. In order to successfully initiate the matching gift process, you’ll need to educate and empower your donors. That process of education and empowerment will naturally bring your supporters closer to your organization. It’s not enough to just suggest the right thing; how you suggest matching gifts matters as well.

4 Ideas for Suggesting a Matching Gift

To effectively suggest a matching gift, your organization needs to start with education. Your team and your donors need to be aware that matching gifts exist and understand what they need to do to initiate the process.

Implementing a new method for suggesting matching gifts into your donation and cultivation strategy doesn’t have to be difficult. Below are four ways to suggest matching gifts to your donors.

Regardless of how you integrate matching gifts into your donation and cultivation processes, it’s important that you craft a strategy regarding the funding source! Ignoring matching gifts altogether is leaving money on the table. It also means you are missing out on an incredibly easy opportunity to take another step in building a long-lasting relationship with your donors.

Option 1: Suggesting Matching Gifts in the Donation Process

You can make suggesting matching gifts as easy as possible by adding it right on your giving forms. This can be accomplished by integrating your online donation tools with a matching gift solution like Double the Donation. This allows you to suggest a next step for your donors right as they wrap up their initial engagement with your organization!

You can design a giving experience that prompts donors to continue supporting and engaging with your nonprofit. Building suggestions into your process makes it easier for your team to manage while still providing clear next steps for your supporters.

When creating your online form, it is also important to consider what additional information you may need for matching gift campaigns in the future. Basic profile information such as e-mail is pretty straightforward, but you may also want to consider including a “Employer” field. When donors tell you who they work for, you have all the information you need for future communications and campaigns around matching gifts.

Option 2: Build the Suggestion Into Your Thank You Cadence

Similar to suggesting matching gifts directly on the giving form, building the suggestion into your thank you cadence helps make this an automated process. In order to implement this, first take stock of your existing thank you cadences. Every organization approaches this slightly differently, so here are some suggestions that you can build into your process wherever it makes sense.

Thank You Phone Calls

When calling donors to thank them, make sure you’re prepared to suggest a matching gift. When your nonprofit database contains helpful employer information, your staff can even prepare before the call by researching whether that employer matches employee donations. That level of personalization and thoughtfulness is truly impactful! With the Virtuous – Double the Donation integration, this step can easily be conducted within the CRM, saving your team valuable administrative time.

Thank You Emails

Add in a simple call to action in your thank you emails that prompts donors to look into whether their company has a matching gift. This can be standard language you include that links out to helpful resources (such as your dedicated matching gift page and embedded company database search tool) or suggests that they call your organization’s HR department directly for more information.

Thank You Texts

Nowadays, an increasing number of organizations are reaching out to donors via SMS. Texts are unique because of their short and sweet nature. Though you’ll want most of the text to focus on thanking the donor for their contribution, consider incorporating a quick blurb with a link to to learn more about matching gifts.

Option 3: Email Your Donors Suggesting a Matching Gift

Another way to suggest matching gifts to your supporters is via a marketing campaign designed and delivered from your nonprofit CRM. This option allows you to conduct personalized outreach to your supporters that is based on donor signals.

For this campaign, the donor signal you want to look for is employer information (which you’ll want to have a dedicated field in your CRM to track). Remember, you’ll want to include this field on your online giving forms so that you can more easily gather the information. That way, if you know a supporter works for a company with a matching gift program, you’ll know to include that individual in your next matching gift email campaign.

To implement this campaign, consider sending an email to everyone who donated recently (e.g., last 30 to 60 days) and did not initiate a matching gift already. Alternatively, you might set this up as a re-engagement campaign, where you reach out to lapsed donors, encouraging them to donate again and look into matching gifts.

When suggesting matching gifts in any context, but particularly via an email campaign, offer to help your supporter in this process. Encourage donors to connect with a member of your staff to further the conversation. Include links that can help your supporters navigate matching gifts. Responsive fundraising is all about building meaningful connections with your supporters. Providing context and resources is a great way to make this suggestion meaningful and actionable.

Option 4: Suggesting Matching Gifts in Ongoing Cultivation Efforts

Anyone who is cultivating relationships with supporters should be prepared to have a conversation about matching gifts. The greatest obstacle to suggesting matching gifts is the education gap. Fundraisers and (some) donors understand that matching gifts exist, but they are not equipped enough to feel empowered to act on matching gifts.

Educating your supporters starts with educating your own internal team. Take advantage of the resources available. Partner with organizations like Double the Donation who provide both an integration with your online giving form and educational support for your team. Anyone who is talking to donors or prospects on a regular basis should be able to have an educated conversation if the opportunity for suggesting matching gifts arises in their cultivation efforts.

Pursuing matching gifts is a great suggestion when cultivating a relationship with someone who wants to give but is showing hesitancy about their financial ability to contribute more. If they are passionate about your mission but indicate they are not in a place to make a large donation, suggesting that they look into matching gifts is a great way to keep the conversation alive. They may not be able to donate a significant amount themselves, but if they can give a little and their company matches, they immediately double⁠—and sometimes even triple⁠—their impact. While we all know that any donation is better than none, the appeal of a matching gift may be enough to inspire a donor to action!

Other Suggestions to Make

Matching gifts are not the only engagement opportunities you can suggest to supporters. Depending on where they are in their donor journey, additional suggestions might include:

Sharing your organization on their social media profiles to spread awareness;
Inviting them to an event or a tour of your facilities;
Sharing upcoming volunteer opportunities;
Fundraising on behalf of your organization.

Make a list of all the ways a supporter can get involved with your organization, and use that as the basis for suggesting next steps to your supporters in the future.

Conclusion

Responsive fundraising is all about meeting your supporters where they are and building the relationship from there. Matching gifts are a great way to continue a conversation with your donors⁠—or even to inspire someone to donate in the first place.

Regardless of the suggestion you make, always personalize your donor outreach. When you listen and connect with your supporters, you will be fully equipped to make the next best suggestion that works for everyone – resulting in more generosity and better relationships!

Givinga and Double the Donation Partner to Enable Matching Gift Auto-Submission

March 16, 2023/in About Double the Donation /by Adam Weinger

Double the Donation is proud to partner with Givinga to help employees of companies with matching gift programs more effectively submit their matching gift requests.

“We believe there are innovative and impactful ways to expand corporate matching, and our partnership with Double the Donation gives us an opportunity to showcase our Easy Match capabilities,” said Joe Phoenix, Cofounder and CEO of Givinga. “Combining Double the Donation’s charity matching services with our corporate-giving-made-easy capabilities will allow our partners to reimagine corporate philanthropy by aligning with employees and customers to maximize impact.”

With matching gift auto-submission, donors who give to nonprofits using 360MatchPro can not only discover their match eligibility in real time as they give, but can also immediately submit their matching gift request – no redirect required.

“We’re excited to offer our nonprofit clients what they’ve been requesting since the birth of matching gifts: a way for donors to submit their matching gift requests with no hassle,” said Adam Weinger, President at Double the Donation. “Double the Donation and Givinga are aligned in our mission to close the matching gift loop to benefit nonprofits, donors, and companies alike.”

Givinga and Double the Donation look forward to expanding the possibilities for donors to give flexibly with the support of their employers, and for nonprofits to reap the benefits of matching gift programs.

The Matching Process Made Easy for Donors, Companies, and Nonprofits

The new integration between Givinga and 360MatchPro by Double the Donation means after giving on an integrated donation page where 360MatchPro is enabled, donors can immediately submit their matching gift request directly from the nonprofit’s donation confirmation page.

Employees of Givinga clients can then enter their company email address, then choose how much of their available matching funds they can request to be sent to the nonprofit. Once the donor hits “Submit” – that’s it! The matching gift request has been submitted, without any need for a redirect or re-entry of donation information.

Making Corporate Philanthropy Better, One Match at a Time

Givinga and Double the Donation’s partnership brings donors, companies, and nonprofits closer together in making a positive difference, one match at a time. If you want to learn more about our matching gift auto-submisison initiative, read more here–and if you’re just getting started with matching gifts as a nonprofit or higher education institution, request a demo from Double the Donation today!

About Givinga: Givinga is on a mission to redefine philanthropy. They’ve developed tools and technology to remove the traditional barriers to philanthropy, empowering companies to develop modern giving solutions that align with and enhance their corporate strategy. Givinga’s technology, Philantech®, supports workplace giving programs, brands seeking to enhance their charitable impact, startups reimagining B2C charitable giving, foundations looking to increase donor engagement, and more.

About Double the Donation: Automate your matching gift fundraising with the industry-leading solution from Double the Donation. 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.

Double the Donation and CharityStack Integrate 360MatchPro Into Donation Experience

March 15, 2023/in About Double the Donation /by Adam Weinger

Double the Donation and CharityStack are proud to announce a new partnership together, providing advanced matching gift functionality to nonprofits looking to raise more without having to ask for more out of their donors’ wallets.

The partnership comes in the form of an integration between 360MatchPro, Double the Donation’s most advanced matching gift software, and CharityStack’s intuitive donation pages.

“Partnering with Double the Donation was an easy choice,” said Mubarrat Choudhury, Founder at CharityStack. “With our dynamic form designs and the 360MatchPro powered matching gift search, organizations can expect to see a solid rise in matching gift engagement from their donorbase.”

Donors on CharityStack pages can now interact with 360MatchPro’s auto-complete search tool to find their company’s matching gift programs and discover their own match potential. This closes the awareness gap for the 78% of donors who are unaware of their eligibility for a matching gift from their employers.

“It’s a simple fact that matching gift automation make a huge difference for fundraisers as they strive to meet their goals,” said Adam Weinger, President at Double the Donation. “And a direct integration between 360MatchPro and CharityStack means donors interact with matching gifts at a key point in their giving process. It’s a simple addition that boost revenue for organizations without any extra effort from their busy teams.”

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

Getting started with the CharityStack and 360MatchPro integration is quick and easy to configure. From the CharityStack backend, nonprofit clients can add their 360MatchPro credentials to activate their integration. From here, it’s just a matter of toggling on matching for the desired forms. From there, donors can start discovering their match eligibility in no time!

Easily activate with CharityStack pages with your 360MatchPro API keys!

On CharityStack donation pages, donors can search their company name and 360MatchPro will present smart results from its database of over 25,000 corporations. 360MatchPro can then follow up with donors via email after their donation is complete to continue the matching gift submission process.

Donors can search their company name during the giving process on CharityStack donation pages.

Donors can then double, triple, and sometimes quadruple their gift impact with a matching gift from their employer sent directly to the nonprofit.

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with 360MatchPro!

Joint efforts between CharityStack and Double the Donation mean nonprofits can easily raise more from matching gifts–check out some more details below!

Identify more matching gift revenue opportunities: 360MatchPro 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 360MatchPro 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 360MatchPro 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 360MatchPro can handle the rest.

Ready to start your matching gifts journey? Request a demo today and make sure to let us know you use CharityStack!

About CharityStack: CharityStack is a single platform to create your nonprofit, fundraise your first dollar, set up banking, & start making an impact. For more, visit CharityStack.org.

Legacy Plan vs. 360MatchPro [Why Your Team Should Upgrade]

March 10, 2023/in About Double the Donation, Learning Center, Learning Center /by Adam Weinger

Note: This guide contains an analysis of Double the Donation’s Legacy Plan vs. 360MatchPro intended for existing users of Double the Donation’s Legacy Plan.

If you’re interested in getting started with 360MatchPro and do not already have an account, click here to get a demo of our best-in-class matching gift automation platform.

Our Legacy Plan users are some of Double the Donation’s most loyal and dedicated customers. At one point, our embedded plugin tool was considered groundbreaking technology. Over the years, we’ve worked to develop and finetune our software, and 360MatchPro was born.

As our focus continues to move exclusively toward developing the best automation solution we can within 360MatchPro, however, we don’t want our existing Legacy Plan accounts to get left behind.

That’s why we recommend that all Legacy Plan users make the switch to 360MatchPro.

In this guide, we’ll discuss the transition as we go through the following topics:

Does Double the Donation still offer the Legacy Plan?
What is 360MatchPro?
Key Differences | Legacy Plan vs. 360MatchPro
Insights From Orgs That Upgraded From Legacy Plan to 360MatchPro
How to Upgrade Your Account

Ready to learn more about the widespread advantages of Double the Donation’s 360MatchPro⁠—and how your team can benefit from a subscription upgrade?

Let’s dive in with the basics.

Does Double the Donation still offer the Legacy Plan?

Previously known as the “Premium Plan,” Double the Donation’s Legacy Plan was discontinued in October 2021. Though no new subscriptions were sold after this date, organizations already using the tool are still able to leverage the plugin in their fundraising efforts for the time being.

A lot went into the decision to sunset the Legacy Plan offering. Key reasonings included a widening gap between the results produced by the Legacy Plan and 360MatchPro, as well as a desire to shift our focus to innovative automation through the latter platform.

This brings us to the next question…

What is 360MatchPro?

360MatchPro is Double the Donation’s flagship product⁠—a complete matching gift automation solution. This platform incorporates the matching gift plugin tool commonly associated with the Legacy Plan but goes several steps further to identify and pursue matching gifts.

Specifically, 360MatchPro incorporates:

A multi-faceted approach to uncovering match-eligible donors;
Timely and personalized follow-up email cadences;
Complete branding and personalization options;
Optimized data reporting and synchronization.

With 360MatchPro, more matching gifts are driven to completion, resulting in substantial corporate and overall fundraising revenue growth for its users. And the entire process is automated for nonprofits and their donors, producing an optimized matching gift experience for everyone involved⁠.

This provides organizations with more time to devote to the most lucrative opportunities without worrying about potential matches slipping through the cracks.

Key Differences | Legacy Plan vs. 360MatchPro

360MatchPro includes everything offered by Double the Donation’s Legacy Plan, plus innovative new features that bring nonprofit and educational fundraising to new heights.

Key Feature	Legacy Plan	360MatchPro
Hosted Matching Gift Page	✓	✓
Matching Gift Plugin	✓	✓
High-Level Summary Statistics	✓	✓
Fundraising Platform Integrations	✗	✓
Automated Email Streams	✗	✓
Matching Gift Auto-Submission	✗	✓
Detailed Analytics Dashboard	✗	✓
CSV Data Import	✗	✓
Company Exclusions	✗	✓
Advanced Customization Settings	✗	✓

Additional differences between the two subscription plans include…

Matching Gifts Within the Donation Process

Instead of taking a passive approach to matching gift promotions, such as with the Legacy Plan, 360MatchPro integrates gift-matching directly within the donation experience itself.

Specifically, the automation system empowers fundraisers to ⁠—

1. Collect donor employment information within the donation form with an embedded company search tool.

Bonus: Donors who know their gifts will be matched are more likely to increase the size of their contribution—resulting in a 51% increase in average gift amount when matching gifts are mentioned.

360MatchPro sample donation page

2. Provide employer-specific matching gift guidelines and forms from our comprehensive matching gift database directly on the donation thank-you screen.

This catches donors at their highest level of engagement where they’re most likely to pursue actionable next steps outlined on the page.

360MatchPro sample confirmation screen

This strategy makes the most of donor engagement at its highest level⁠—while individuals are actively giving to support your cause⁠—essentially incorporating matching gifts as a direct extension of the initial donation experience.

Automated and Customized Follow-Up Emails

Based on the information collected during the giving process, 360MatchPro automatically triages donors based on likely match eligibility and triggers targeted follow-ups accordingly.

These post-transaction email communications provide personalized program details and next steps⁠. This often includes minimum and maximum donation amounts, qualifying nonprofits and employees, submission deadlines, direct links to online request forms, and more.

Here’s an example of what an organization’s match emails might look like:

Automated matching gift outreach is a great way to remind donors of their match eligibility, encourage them to take the next steps, and guide them through the process. Not to mention, it provides an easy way for donors to update their request status so your team can better track matches to completion and more accurately forecast incoming revenue.

70+ Fundraising Software Integrations

Another fundamental advantage of 360MatchPro is that it integrates directly with nearly all of the most popular donation tools, CRMs, and peer-to-peer fundraising platforms out there. This makes it easier than ever for nonprofits and educational institutions to incorporate matching gifts in every phase of the fundraising process.

And if we don’t already integrate with your favorite giving solution? Don’t worry⁠—we’re developing new partnerships every day. Not to mention, there’s still a lot you can do with 360MatchPro, even without a native integration with your fundraising software.

Exclusive Matching Gift Auto-Submission Functionality

If your team is looking for innovative ways to streamline the matching gift experience for your donors, auto-submission is the new feature you’re looking for.

By enabling matching gift auto-submission functionality, exclusively available through Double the Donation’s 360MatchPro in partnership with corporate giving software providers, matching has never been easier.

Now, donors employed by select participating companies can submit their matching gifts directly from their favorite organizations’ confirmation screens. From there, 360MatchPro handles the documentation behind the scenes, providing companies with the information they need to review, approve, and pay out match requests.

This breakthrough process removes some of the most common roadblocks to matching gift completion, making corporate matching more accessible than ever before. Your donors will thank you, and you’ll have the additional match revenue to back it up, particularly as we continue to roll out the functionality for more donors and employers.

Elevated Matching Gift Conversion Rates

More corporate matches are submitted and received by donors and organizations utilizing 360MatchPro than any other matching gift solution—including Double the Donation’s Legacy Plan.

As supporters walk through the initial donation and subsequent matching gift processes, 360MatchPro is known for driving individuals further down the respective funnels. All in all, users see more individual donation revenue in addition to elevated matching gift success.

Check out the detailed findings below in a visual depiction of Double the Donation’s Legacy Plan vs. 360MatchPro:

More In-Depth Data Reporting

Though the Legacy Plan provides access to birds-eye view statistics, such as the top companies searched in an organization’s matching gift plugin, 360MatchPro brings the scope of matching gift data reporting to a new, comprehensive level.

Pictured in a sample dashboard below, 360MatchPro empowers fundraisers with smart insights into their current matching gift efforts as well as lucrative opportunities for expanding initiatives.

This 360-degree view includes analytics such as:

Total revenue, number, and percentage of donations marked as match-eligible
Total revenue, number, and percentage of matching gifts submitted
Total revenue, number, and percentage of verified matches received
Email delivery, open, and click rates

Plus, you can sync your data—donation records, employing companies, match statuses, etc.—back to your donor management system to get the most out of the information you’ve uncovered.

Insights From Orgs That Upgraded From Legacy Plan to 360MatchPro

Don’t just take our word for it! Check out these findings from a recent analysis of fundraising organizations that made the switch:

Over 26 million individuals work for companies with matching gift programs⁠—and 5-15% of individual contributions are marked as match-eligible.
Without automation, more than 78% of donors are unaware if their company offers a matching gift program. An additional 16% know their company has a program but lack knowledge regarding eligibility criteria and submission processes.
Moving from the Legacy Plan to 360MatchPro allows users to proactively promote matching gifts, resulting in nearly 10% of an organization’s gifts being matched annually.
Clients that upgrade from the Legacy Plan to 360MatchPro identify 4-5x more match-eligible donors by streamlining matching gifts into the donation flow.
Upgrading to 360MatchPro from the Legacy Plan results in an average of 35-50% growth in match revenue in the first year.
360MatchPro’s automated matching gift emails boast a 51% open rate, which is approximately 2x the average nonprofit email open rate.
Email domain screening, which is one component of 360MatchPro’s identification process for match-eligible donations, can result in a 1% increase in total revenue for nonprofits.

360MatchPro brings matching gift opportunities directly to your donors, funneling in corporate revenue that had previously been slipping through your fingertips. And more than 70% of the largest nonprofits are already employing the solution!

How to Upgrade Your Account to 360MatchPro

Ready to upgrade your account? It’s easy!

To upgrade your subscription from the Legacy Plan to 360MatchPro, please submit a support ticket. You’ll want to include the following information to streamline the process:

The username or primary email address on file. (If you don’t have this information, please provide the name of your organization so we can locate your account)
A request stating, “Please upgrade my account from the Legacy Plan to 360MatchPro.”
An indication that you understand there will be a prorated charge to upgrade.

From there, we’ll process the request, following up via email and connecting you with an Account Executive. Our team will work to fit your organization with the right plan for your needs. Then, we’ll get you up and running with 360MatchPro as soon as possible.

You’ll be matching more gifts than ever in no time. And you can sit back and watch it happen⁠—while attending to more pressing mission matters⁠. That’s thanks to the magic of automation!

Double the Donation Releases Enhanced Blackbaud CRM™ Matching Gift Integration Using New Blackbaud SKY API®

March 6, 2023/in About Double the Donation /by Adam Weinger

Double the Donation is excited to debut an enhanced Blackbaud CRM™ integration with Blackbaud’s new SKY API® technology. As a Premier ISV Partner in the Blackbaud ecosystem and a SKY API early adopter, Double the Donation is thrilled to release this updated iteration to the Blackbaud CRM integration.

This innovative solution will further streamline the matching gift process and help organizations continue to take advantage of the billions of dollars in unclaimed matching gift revenue.

“Blackbaud is constantly looking for ways to innovate and propel our technology forward, and the 360MatchPro and Blackbaud CRM integration using our new SKY API technology does just that,” said Bill Walsh, Director of Innovation Blackbaud. “With this enhancement, organizations can utilize the leading matching gift solution and raise more from matching gifts without sacrificing staff time or effort.”

This enhanced matching gift technology makes it even simpler for Blackbaud CRM users to connect their Blackbaud and 360MatchPro instances and start raising more from corporate matching gifts.

“It’s been an exciting process as our development team started working with Blackbaud’s new SKY API technology, and we are thrilled to release this enhanced integration functionality,” said Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation. “This new technology allows organizations to focus on the most important parts of their mission while still increasing matching gift revenue with the power of 360MatchPro.”

360MatchPro and Blackbaud CRM’s integration equips fundraisers with the industry leading matching gift software, effortlessly connecting donors to next steps and raising more for the causes that matter most.

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

With this seamless integration and streamlined activation process, you can connect your Blackbaud CRM and 360MatchPro instances in minutes.

Once you’ve connected Blackbaud CRM to your 360MatchPro account, you’re all set! 360MatchPro allows you to send automated email notifications to donors to determine their matching gift eligibility and then connect donors to their matching gift application form based on their employer information. This means donors can start the matching gifts process with just one click making it even easier to drive revenue with matching gifts.

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with 360MatchPro!

360MatchPro ensures your matching gift opportunities don’t fall through the cracks.

Take advantage of this solution to:

Identify more matching gift revenue opportunities: 360MatchPro 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 360MatchPro 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 360MatchPro 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 360MatchPro can handle the rest.

Ready to drive matching gifts for your next fundraising effort? Schedule a personalized demo to learn how matching gifts can fund your mission.

About Blackbaud: The Blackbaud Partner Network is a group of leading technology and services firms providing the social good community with the solutions, applications, and strategies they need to make a difference in their local communities and worldwide. To learn more about Blackbaud’s Technology Partner program, visit: http://www.blackbaud.com/partners

Double the Donation and Harness Giving Release 360MatchPro Matching Gifts Integration

March 1, 2023/in About Double the Donation /by Adam Weinger

Double the Donation and Harness Giving have teamed up to provide nonprofits with advanced matching gift automation functionality with a 360MatchPro integration with Harness Giving forms.

“At Harness, we believe that the giving process should be empowering for the donor and stress-free for the nonprofit,” said Miraj Patel, Founder and CEO at Harness Giving. “By incorporating matching gifts seamlessly into our giving forms, donors are equipped with the tools to double their impact without major efforts from the nonprofit. It’s a clear win-win for everyone.”

The new integration allows donors to discover their match eligibility via a search from Double the Donation’s database of over 24,000 companies. Once a donor finds their company, they are presented with information on their employer’s matching gift program and are guided to complete the matching gift process.

“Our aim is to close the donor awareness gap and help nonprofits claim some of the $4-7 billion left on the table each year,” said Adam Weinger, President at Double the Donation. “With this new integration, Harness and Double the Donation are aligned in our mission to help organizations raise more from matching gifts.”

Now, mutual clients of Harness and Double the Donation can boost their fundraising potential by activating the turnkey integration. Read on to learn more about how 360MatchPro operates on Harness Giving pages.

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

With the new Harness Giving and 360MatchPro by Double the Donation integration, you can easily set up a connection without any custom coding required. Just enter your API keys from your 360MatchPro account to your Harness Giving platform, toggle Employer Matching on for your desired forms, and you’re ready to go!

Once you’ve completed the setup process, donors will be able to search their employer’s name on the donation page via the 360MatchPro auto-complete search tool. 360MatchPro can then send them their next steps via email to help move that gift to completion!

The new functionality integrates seamlessly with the Harness Giving donation experience, meaning your donors can discover their eligibility while your giving pages maintain their modern Harness Giving style.

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with 360MatchPro!

The 360MatchPro and Harness Giving integration empower donors to deepen their impact on the organizations and campaigns they care about most, and empowers nonprofits to pursue their matching gift opportunities with more advanced and easy-to-use functionality. Check out these extra benefits:

Identify more matching gift revenue opportunities: 360MatchPro 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 360MatchPro 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 360MatchPro 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 360MatchPro can handle the rest.

Ready to get started with raising more from matching gifts? Request a demo today and let us know you use Harness Giving for your fundraising!

About Harness Giving: With a focus on recurring giving, our subscription platform helps nonprofits create seamless, gratifying experiences – from marketing and fundraising to stewardship. Donating should never feel out of reach, so our customizable tools encourage people to give in ways that suit them best, helping nonprofits tap into a wider network of donors.

What to Know About Our Standard Matching Gift Request Form

What to Know About Double the Donation’s Standard Matching Gift Form

January 13, 2023/in Learning Center, About Double the Donation, Company Updates, Learning Center /by Adam Weinger

Corporate matching gifts can offer a significant revenue source for charitable organizations. In order to leverage the programs, a nonprofit’s donors typically must submit a matching gift form to their employers. The form essentially allows an individual to provide details about their own qualifying donation and request an associated corporate match.

Unfortunately, this has long been a critical drop-off point for organizations looking to make the most of available matching opportunities. Many donors lack an understanding of the request process that is required of them. That’s why, for more than a decade, Double the Donation has created software aimed to simplify the process by providing company-specific details, next steps, and more.

Now, we’re taking it a step further with our easier-than-ever-before standard matching gift form. And in this guide, we’ll tell you all about it as we walk through the basics:

What is Double the Donation’s standard matching gift form?
How does the standard matching gift request form work?
Key benefits of our standard form for donors, nonprofits, and companies
Getting started with our matching gift request form

Unclaimed matches hinder the impact potential of charitable organizations, their donors, and the businesses partaking in workplace giving programs alike. By streamlining and automating the request process altogether, we can take an additional step toward maximal usage.

Let’s see how Double the Donation’s intuitive standard matching gift request form can help.

Top tip! Consider working with one of our suggested CSR platforms as your #1 choice for workplace giving program management. But if you’re not ready for that, our standard matching gift form is a great backup!

What is Double the Donation’s standard matching gift form?

There is a range of ways that a donor can submit a matching gift request to their employing company, and a lot of that depends on the company the individual works for. For example, one old-fashioned company might still accept paper forms that require employees to complete and scan or mail back to process. At the same time, a different business may have moved to a completely online system using a digital submission portal.

Regardless of the method with which documentation is completed, a matching gift form generally encapsulates the same information. Most often, these include three types of data points:

Donor Information ⁠— Details about the donors themselves; Frequently some combination of name, contact information, and perhaps an employee identification number.
Recipient Nonprofit Information ⁠— Provides an overview of the nonprofit the individual donor supported; Typically asks for the organization name, mailing address, EIN, and other contact information.
Donation Information ⁠— Pertaining to the recent transaction; Generally involves a donation amount and date.

As you might guess, a lot of the above information can be a bit redundant for the donor. Now, Double the Donation’s standard matching gift form pulls the necessary data points directly from the transaction, as well as information collected from nonprofits, to automatically fill in the document. Once completed, a PDF is immediately sent to the matching gift coordinator via email designated by the company.

It’s an easier process for donors and ultimately results in a greater matching gift program impact.

How does the standard matching gift request form work?

Perhaps you’re thinking, “sounds great⁠—but how does it actually work?” In that case, let’s see the process in action for participating companies, step by step.

1. An individual makes a donation to their favorite nonprofit cause, entering their employer’s name in Double the Donation’s company search tool.

If their employing company has enabled matching gift e-submission through our standard request form, the donor will be prompted to authorize Double the Donation to submit a match on their behalf. (Typically, all the individual is required to do is enter their corporate email address and check a box!)

2. Double the Donation automatically fills in the blanks on our standard matching gift form to provide the employing company with the information they need.

Generally, donor and transaction information is pulled from the donation record itself, while nonprofit details are made available through pre-filled organization profiles within 360MatchPro.

3. The auto-filled match request form is emailed in a PDF document to the matching gift coordinator identified by the company.

From there, the employer reviews the match request, as usual, to ensure the initial donation meets the company’s predetermined match eligibility criteria. Assuming it does, the match is approved, and funding is provided to the nonprofit cause!

Key benefits of our standard form for donors, nonprofits, and companies

The more you can simplify the matching gift process, the better your overall results will be. This is true whether you’re on the corporate or the nonprofit side of things. And luckily, Double the Donation’s standard match request form is designed to do just that for both parties⁠—plus your common denominator, employee donors.

Let’s dive into a few key advantages for each perspective.

For Donors

Donors love participating in matching gift programs (in fact, 84% of individuals report being more likely to give if they know a match is being offered). But when the process involved gets too complicated or time-consuming, even dedicated and eligible donors sometimes fail to complete the task.

When all that’s asked of them is to enter their corporate email address, on the other hand, individuals will be much more likely to follow through. And in doing so, participating donors receive the benefit of knowing their support is going twice as far for a cause they care about.

For Nonprofits

According to matching gift research, only 8% of eligible donors know their employers offer a matching gift program and know how to go about submitting a match request. This significant knowledge gap plays a huge role in more than $4 to $7 billion in available match funding going unclaimed each year.

By simplifying the request process and providing an easy way for donors to submit requests to their companies, Double the Donation’s standard match form results in increased funding for nonprofit organizations.

For Companies

Companies that accept the standard matching gift form receive all the benefits of offering a matching gift program in the first place⁠—in larger quantities. After all, the more a business donates to charitable causes, the better its overall CSR. Optimal CSR leads to elevated employee engagement (productivity, longevity, recruitment, etc.), improved image (increased sales and brand loyalty), and more.

Leveraging Double the Donation’s standard match form simplifies employee participation, thus maximizing program use levels.

Getting started with our matching gift request form

We’ve designed our standard matching gift form to be as simple as possible⁠—while still accomplishing the intended task. And that includes the ease with which organizations and businesses can get set up.

Interested in taking the next steps? Here’s how you can quickly begin leveraging the benefits of the common match request form for your team.

For Nonprofits

If your nonprofit employs Double the Donation’s matching gift automation solution, there’s good news! Your donors are already set to partake in streamlined e-submission through our standard request form. When a qualifying individual makes a donation using your online giving form and selects their employer during the donation experience, they’ll be prompted to submit their match request automatically from your gift confirmation screen.

To ensure the match form is completed with accurate information, be sure to fill out your Organization Profile in 360MatchPro. This also increases the likelihood that matches are approved by participating companies. And it simplifies the process for you, your donors, and their employers.

If your organization has yet to get started with 360MatchPro, you can schedule a demo here to see our tools in action⁠—and learn more about the impact of the standard match form.

For Companies

Double the Donation’s matching gift form can certainly simplify the matching gift request process for employees. Still, we recommend that companies leverage a complete corporate giving platform to manage their philanthropic efforts. But if you’re looking for a temporary solution to streamline matching gifts from the donor’s perspective or would like to accept our standard matching gift form in addition to your more built-out process, getting started is quick and easy.

Here’s how:

If your company has developed an employee matching program for the first time, click here to add your initiative to our comprehensive database. As you provide information about your company’s submission process, be sure to select that you’d like to use Double the Donation’s standard form.

On the other hand, if your company’s existing program is already listed in Double the Donation’s database, click here to suggest updates to your program guidelines. Then, indicate that you’d like to accept the standard match form. You’ll be prompted to enter the name, phone number, and email of the person who manages the company’s giving initiatives.

And that’s it! From there, the specified contact person will receive completed match request forms each time an employee makes a donation to a qualifying nonprofit and selects the automated e-submission choice.

Final Thoughts

The future of matching gifts is here, and it’s increasingly reliant on innovative technology to streamline and simplify the process. Double the Donation’s standard matching gift form is one example of this. As corporate philanthropy continues to become a higher priority by companies across the globe, the demand for matching gifts⁠—and standardized processes with them⁠—will continue to grow.

Ready to learn more about corporate matching gift programs and the tools that power them? Check out our other recommended resources:

Matching Gift Auto-Submission + CSR Platforms | What to Know. Taking our standard matching gift form a few steps further is innovative matching gift auto-submission. Browse this guide to see how auto-submission functionality, in partnership with key CSR providers, can help.
Top 24 Matching Gift Companies: Leaders in Philanthropy. Find out how many standout businesses are already partaking in corporate philanthropy! Explore these top matching gift companies to see what makes them shine and get inspired to increase your own impact.
Corporate Matching Gift Process: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide. The better you understand the matching gift process, the more your team can participate in it to drive maximum results. Walk through our detailed, step-by-step guide to learn more and see matching gifts in action.

New and Improved Functionality: Matching Gift Form E-Sign

January 5, 2023/in Learning Center, About Double the Donation, Company Updates, Learning Center /by Adam Weinger

Matching gift programs have been revolutionized in the last several years, with companies of all shapes and sizes getting involved. And with this transformation is also that of matching gift forms. Ideally, employers want to offer a request process that is quick and easy for team members to participate and reduces administrative workload behind the scenes. So where does matching gift form e-sign come in?

Dive in to explore key trends and current happenings regarding employee match fundraising, particularly in terms of matching gift e-sign. We’ll walk through:

Historical significance of matching gift form e-sign functionality
The move away from paper matching gift forms
Discontinuation of Double the Donation’s prior matching gift form e-sign feature
The future of matching gift fundraising
Breakthrough auto-submission with CSR partners
E-submission with our standard matching gift form

Double the Donation has long been at the forefront of corporate giving innovation. That’s why we’re here to provide your team with the context you need to understand matching gift technology, functionality, and more.

The historical significance of matching gift form e-sign functionality

Historically, many companies required donors to submit matching gift request forms on paper. After all, General Electric launched the very first matching gift program in 1954, when electronic mail was still the stuff of science fiction. Over the next few decades, many matching gift programs used the paper form model for their original program launches as they were created.

Now, let’s fast forward to 2011, when Double the Donation was established. Some forward-thinking companies had already begun offering online submission to simplify the matching gift process for their employees. As a result, Double the Donation was perfectly positioned to help these donors submit their matching gift requests by linking directly to those online portals. But some companies were dragging their feet and still requiring paper matching gift forms.

How could Double the Donation support donors whose companies required paper forms? Our solution was to develop cutting-edge matching gift form e-sign functionality. With Double the Donation e-sign, donors could simply complete a pre-filled online PDF and send it to their company’s matching gift program managers that way.

And it worked! We saw an immediate increase in the percentage of these paper-only donors who submitted matching gift requests. But at the same time, the transition to electronic-only submission in the industry was already accelerating.

The move away from paper matching gift forms

As online submissions are increasing, the inverse is true for historic paper forms⁠—in the past few years, we’ve seen paper forms becoming significantly less popular.

For context, when Double the Donation got its start, about 70% of match-eligible employees had a paper or PDF option for submitting their matching gift requests. But by 2017, the percentage of match-eligible employees eligible to submit a paper form dropped all the way to 7.1%. And the number who actually chose to use the forms was even lower.

That’s because online portal submission is easier, faster, more secure, and all-around better for donors, the companies they work for, and the organizations they support. It’s been proven time and time again: When both an electronic submission option and a paper one are offered to the same employee group, more matching gift submissions are completed through the online process.

In fact, some of the most well-known philanthropic companies have adapted to an online-only submission process over the past few years. Check out these quotes from the following employers:

IBM: “New process for 2017. Next year, we will introduce an online process for matching grants and eliminate the use of printed applications.”
Merck: “Please discontinue the use of all paper request forms. Matching gift funds should be submitted via the Merck website.”
Alliant Energy: “We moved to an online request process only in 2015. This will provide a more efficient method for our Foundation.”
Prudential: “We will no longer offer paper forms for the Matching Gifts Program.”

And that was just the tip of the iceberg!

Discontinuation of Double the Donation’s prior matching gift form e-sign feature

So what did this mean for us?

With these process changes occurring, the percentage of donors submitting paper match requests continued to fall. By the end of 2018, only an estimated 4% of donors ⁠used the historical paper-only approach—and that figure has decreased steadily since then.

All these factors led us to the easy decision to shift our focus away from the e-signing of paper forms and toward the future of matching gifts.

Now, you might ask⁠—But haven’t you heard the statistic that 50% of companies use paper matching gift forms?

We certainly have! But it’s important to remember that in a changing industry, statistics and assumptions have to be continually re-assessed. Double the Donation commits to always looking into the data to recognize when we need to re-evaluate. This is one of those situations.

It may have been true years ago that 50% (or so) of companies required paper matching gift form submission. However, more recent analysis has shown that this statistic is not just outdated⁠—it doesn’t tell the full story.

Think about the different companies that have matching gift programs. Businesses of all shapes and sizes come to mind, from Home Depot with half a million employees to the local pizzeria that employs five individuals. Home Depot requires electronic form submission, while the local pizza joint requires paper forms. You can see that Home Depot’s program affects significantly more donors than the pizzeria.

In other words, ask yourself this:

What is more useful for your organization to know in this scenario: that 50%—or at this point, likely less⁠—of companies require paper forms or that a tiny percentage of match-eligible donors use paper forms? Which statistic should you base your fundraising decisions on?

Our answer to the previous question is exactly why we’ve started weighing our analysis by employee count⁠. And the resulting statistics tell a compelling story. The biggest matching gift programs affecting the largest percentages of donors have already moved away from paper matching gift forms. And we’re seeing smaller programs following suit, as well!

Therefore, at Double the Donation, we’re doing the same with our own development priorities.

The future of matching gift fundraising

The move to online matching isn’t the only trend we’re seeing in corporate social responsibility. In the past decade, we’ve also kept our fingers on the pulse of another trend: the increasing consolidation of workplace giving solutions.

More and more often, companies are turning to workplace giving platforms like Benevity, CyberGrants, YourCause, and more to help facilitate their matching gift programs. And it’s not just the Fortune 500 companies that are doing so! In fact, many breakthrough solutions⁠—such as Millie, Selflessly, Givinga, and POINT—have been designed specifically to aid small and mid-sized businesses in offering powerful matching gift programs.

Leveraging this type of software empowers charitable companies to do more with their philanthropic initiatives while minimizing the administrative workload. Meanwhile, we’ve also noticed that companies that outsource facilitation of their giving process can offer more streamlined and optimized processes for employees wanting to get involved. This tends to result in elevated program usage, highly engaged team members, and more dollars funneling into nonprofit causes overall.

Breakthrough auto-submission with CSR partners

In the spirit of continuous improvement when it comes to matching gift technology and the match request process, Double the Donation has recently released a new game-changing feature⁠—auto-submission.

This innovative functionality, made possible through strategic integrations with forward-thinking corporate giving platforms, enables employees to request matches directly from an organization’s gift confirmation screen. This allows them to bypass the request process almost entirely. All they typically have to do is provide their email address and authorize Double the Donation to submit their match.

We’ve certainly come a long way since paper forms; now, some donors don’t have to complete a form at all! And this benefits every party involved. Employee donors can request their matches in less time and with fewer roadblocks. Nonprofit organizations receive increased match funding and more highly engaged supporters. Companies see elevated program usage, satisfied employees, and better public images.

E-submission with our standard matching gift form

And that’s not all! The Double the Donation team has also developed a standard online matching gift form that employers can use to authorize automated electronic submissions themselves.

We recommend that all companies participating in workplace giving enlist the aid of a dedicated CSR platform. But for companies that may not be ready to take that next step but are interested in simplifying the matching gift request process, it’s now quick and easy to get started with our new standard submission form.

This basic form collects all the data an employer would need to review and approve a match request. This includes:

Donor information ⁠such as their name, corporate email address, and/or employee ID number;
Donation information ⁠such as donation amount and transaction date;
Nonprofit information ⁠such as name, website, mailing address, EIN, and more.

And it’s all automated so that donors can submit their matches quickly and easily, ultimately removing common roadblocks and driving more matching gifts to completion.

Top tip! Nonprofits looking to make the most of matching gift auto-submission and Double the Donation’s standard matching gift form should be sure to fill out their Organization Profile in 360MatchPro. This allows the right information to be incorporated into the automated submission form, making it more likely that the match is ultimately approved and paid out.

Final thoughts

Matching gift submission processes are becoming increasingly standardized, centralized, and digitized. So how can we support nonprofits, schools, and other fundraising organizations in this shifting environment? The answer lies in guiding donors through the electronic portal submission process.

At Double the Donation, we focus on giving donors confidence, speed, and accuracy when submitting their matching gift requests. That means prioritizing personalized automation flows and database accuracy.

We’re heading into the future, and we hope you’ll join us!

Interested in learning more about Double the Donation’s innovative matching gift tips and tools? Check out these other educational resources:

Matching Gift Auto-Submission + CSR Platforms | What to Know. Dive deeper into Double the Donation’s standout auto-submission process and the corporate giving partners that make this offering possible. Here’s what you should know!
Corporate Matching Gift Programs: The Definitive Guide for Growing Your Revenue. Read up on matching gift basics⁠—such as guidelines, top programs, best practices, and more⁠—with our most comprehensive resource on the topic.
Matching Gift Process: A Complete Step-by-Step Walkthrough. Understand the ins and outs of matching gift programs from start to finish. The more you know, the better you can position your team to collect available funds!

Double the Donation and 4aGoodCause Expand Integration to Improve Matching Gift Experience

January 2, 2023/in About Double the Donation /by Adam Weinger

Double the Donation and 4aGoodCause have enhanced their integration to further help nonprofits harness the power of corporate matching gifts. These partners continue to simplify the matching gift process for fundraising teams and their donors. 4aGoodCause now integrates with 360MatchPro, Double the Donation’s most advanced matching gift tool.

With the new 360MatchPro integration, 4aGoodCause users can seamlessly promote matching gifts during the donation process itself. 360MatchPro’s streamlined search field can now embed directly into 4aGoodCause forms to capture donor employment data. Once donors successfully submit their contribution, they will receive personalized, tailored, and actionable matching gift next steps. This enhancement creates a more empowering, frictionless donor experience while also helping nonprofits drive more matching gifts to completion.

“Integrating with 360MatchPro is an easy win for our clients. This enhancement allows our good causes to initiate the matching gift conversation with donors as those donors complete their online gift. It makes the decision to seek a corporate matching gift an easy and natural extension of the online giving process. I look forward to our clients raising more through matching gifts.” Ronald Pruitt, President of 4aGoodCause.

In addition to helping nonprofits identify more match eligible donors, this enhanced integration will automate matching gift outreach to donors post-contribution and capture data insights and analytics for nonprofits. By leveraging this 360MatchPro and 4aGoodCause integration, nonprofits will be able to track donor engagement with matching gift tools and improve the entire matching gift experience. As nonprofits benefit from time savings and increased matching gift success, they can focus on other important aspects of donor engagement.

“Although matching gifts can provide an invaluable fundraising lift, manually determining donor eligibility and following up with eligible donors can be a major investment of time,” says Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation. “Our enhanced 4aGoodCause integration solves those challenges to help nonprofits raise more from this funding source and use that extra revenue to benefit their mission.”

360MatchPro works seamlessly with 4aGoodCause, allowing fundraisers to benefit from the power of matching gift automation. Backed by this automation, nonprofits can be confident in their matching gift strategy.

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

Setting up the 360MatchPro and 4aGoodCause integration is simple and straightforward for your team. Quickly connect 360MatchPro and 4aGoodCause using the process in our integration guide. Then, the 360MatchPro search tool will appear across all of your 4aGoodCause forms.

Once you activate the integration, all of your forms will be ready to go! Donors can now determine their eligibility during the donation process and then access their matching gift next steps directly on the confirmation page.

Using this integration will help you raise more with less effort!

Looking to learn more? Check out our in-depth integration guide to get started.

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with 360MatchPro!

360MatchPro ensures your matching gift opportunities don’t fall through the cracks.

Take advantage of this solution to:

Identify more matching gift revenue opportunities: 360MatchPro 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 360MatchPro 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 360MatchPro 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 360MatchPro can handle the rest.

Ready to drive matching gifts for your next fundraising effort? Schedule a personalized demo to learn how matching gifts can fund your mission.

About 4aGoodCause: 4aGoodCause is an easy-to-use, effective, and affordable fundraising CRM for small nonprofits. Nonprofits can use 4aGoodCause to launch unlimited fundraising campaigns for donations, event registration, crowdfunding, and peer-to-peer giving. Donors love the easy-to-use giving pages. Nonprofits love the simple CRM and low fees. 4aGoodCause delivers personal, friendly customer service backed by 24+ years of experience with nonprofits. To learn more, visit https://4agoodcause.com/request-a-demo/

What to Know About One-Off Corporate Matching Gift Programs

December 19, 2022/in Matching Gift Companies, About Double the Donation, Learning Center, Learning Center /by Adam Weinger

Tons of companies offer generous gift-matching programs where the business agrees to match donations made by employees to a wide range of charitable causes. Those are great⁠—and fairly well-known in the nonprofit space. However, there’s another type of corporate matching program that’s less widely understood, and that is one-off matching gift programs.

One-off matching gift programs generally involve specific partnerships between one corporation and one nonprofit organization. And the results can be grand!

If you’re interested in making the most of corporate matching opportunities for your mission, you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, we’ll walk you through a series of questions and answers pertaining to one-off matching initiatives.

These include:

What are one-off (or unique) matching gift programs?
What are the benefits of one-off matching programs for nonprofits?
How should I set up a one-off matching gift program?
What best practices should I incorporate into my one-off matching program?
How does auto-submission simplify participation?
How do I enable auto-submission for my unique program?

Ready to dive in? One-off matching gift programs have the potential to bring your organization’s corporate fundraising to the next level.

Let’s start with the basics.

1. What are one-off (or unique) matching gift programs?

One-off matching gift programs are those that are unique to a single organization—in this case, yours!

For this to take place, a nonprofit typically partners with a corporation. The two teams work to organize a matching gift program with narrower criteria than a normal match program would have. Specifically, donations to your nonprofit are the only ones being matched.

You might wonder why a company would offer this particular type of donation-matching initiative. And there can be a ton of reasons, depending on the scenario.

For one example, let’s say you run an organization dedicated to breast cancer research and treatment services. Now, imagine that a corporate CEO has a soft spot for missions like yours. They come to your nonprofit team with a proposal. They’d like to match employee donations to your organization throughout the span of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

While this company may not typically have the bandwidth to match all team member donations, a one-off matching gift program can serve as an excellent way to get involved with corporate philanthropy. Alternatively, the business might offer a traditional matching gift initiative with a 1:1 ratio year-round⁠—but choose to elevate giving during particular times by offering a temporary 2, 3, or even 4:1 match to select causes through a one-off program.

2. What are the benefits of one-off matching programs for nonprofits?

Though narrower in scope, one-off matching gift programs offer many of the same benefits that traditional matching gift programs do. Plus, this unique offering can unleash a number of exclusive advantages just for your cause.

These might include:

Building deeper connections with charitable-minded corporations. Whereas a typical matching gift program may lead to a company contributing to hundreds or thousands of nonprofits, a one-off matching gift program is just between you and your corporate partner. Therefore, it provides enhanced opportunities for strengthening your relationship. You might even be able to turn it into a recurring program!

Widening your fundraising reach to encompass new supporters. When promoted effectively, one-off matching gift programs have the potential to direct first-time donors to your organization. A company’s employees may otherwise never have been made aware of your cause. But when their employer highlights the giving opportunity, your nonprofit is at the forefront of their minds. You might even uncover some new, long-term supporters this way!

Elevating donor engagement with unique match opportunities. Perhaps your one-off matching partner employs individuals who are already involved with your cause. You have the chance to further their engagement through the program, too! In fact, studies show that simply mentioning matching gifts in donation appeals results in more than a 71% increase in response rate and a 51% increase in average gift amount.

3. How should I set up a one-off matching gift program?

Interested in getting a unique matching gift program set up for your nonprofit organization? It might be overwhelming if you’re not sure where to start, but it doesn’t have to be difficult.

We recommend following these three key steps.

Locate a corporate matching gift partner.

One-off or unique matching gift programs are, by definition, developed on an ad hoc basis. Luckily, that opens up a world of possibilities⁠—because just about any company could offer such a program.

We recommend taking a similar approach in your search as you might pursue a traditional corporate sponsorship. This might mean:

Identifying companies your donors work for that don’t have existing matching gift programs. Then reach out to them, share that you have a lot in common with them already (your donors and their employees), and would like to launch a one-off donation-matching initiative. Point out that it can be a great way to get into corporate giving⁠.
Encouraging donors to advocate for a one-off matching program on your behalf. Your donors can be some of your greatest assets! If they work for companies without existing programs, see if your supporters would be willing to pitch the idea to their employer on your behalf.
Suggesting unique opportunities for amplifying existing matching gift programs. Perhaps there’s a company that you receive a lot of matching gifts from already. Consider proposing the idea of an increased match ratio to set your prospective one-off program apart. This can be a great place to highlight well-known giving days, awareness and affinity months, and more as key motivators for increasing the standard match for your organization.

Throughout your search, keep an eye out for companies with similar missions and visions as your own. This will help ensure your values align with one another and can maintain a mutually beneficial partnership. And don’t forget to mention the vast benefits to participating companies as well!

Determine one-off program matching guidelines.

Like a traditional matching gift program, your one-off matching initiative will likely involve a number of giving guidelines. These typically include:

Minimum and maximum donation amounts;
Matching gift ratios;
Types of qualifying employees (i.e., full-time, part-time, retired);
Submission deadlines;
Forms and request processes.

In this regard, the only difference between a one-off and a standard match program is the nonprofits eligible for funding. Because that question is easy⁠—the applicable organization is yours!

Still, it’s a good idea to discuss associated criteria with your matching gift partner before rolling out your program. This will enable your team to better communicate eligibility standards and ensure match requests have the required information for approval.

Add the one-off program to your matching gift database tool.

If you’ve made an effort to elevate corporate fundraising at your organization, you’ve likely invested in a matching gift database. This tool makes it quick and easy for you and your donors to locate information regarding thousands of matching gift companies.

If a company doesn’t offer a standard matching gift program, however, they likely won’t show up in a search of the database tool. But you want your donors to seamlessly locate information on your one-off program⁠—without it populating for other ineligible causes.

Luckily, Double the Donation streamlines the process with dedicated functionality for managing unique matching gift programs in 360MatchPro. All you have to do is go into the backend of your matching gift portal and fill out a brief form regarding the offered program.

From there, the program will appear when donors search for the company name in your organization’s database tool. Here’s what it might look like:

*This functionality is currently only available for 360MatchPro Enterprise.
Not a 360MatchPro Enterprise client? Get started with Double the Donation by requesting a demo here, or find out how to upgrade your account here.

4. What best practices should I incorporate into my one-off matching program?

Want to take your organization’s unique matching gift program to the next level? Consider these smart tips and tricks to better engage your donors and your corporate partners.

Encourage your corporate partner to promote the program to employees.

A matching gift program is only as good as the employees who know about it. Uninformed team members, after all, are not likely to benefit from available corporate matching. Thus, they’re not sending additional match revenue your way.

One of the best things a company can do to drive corporate giving participation⁠—and, as a result, get the most out of its program offerings⁠—is to make its employees aware of the opportunity in the first place. From the nonprofit’s end, it’s a good idea to encourage proactive employee outreach in order to aid your partner in doing so.

Your team can even help drive the efforts by sending co-branded graphics, social media and email templates, sample communications, and more.

Market the opportunity to your audience.

Just like you expect your matching gift partner to promote your one-off program to their employees, it’s a good idea to market the opportunity to your audience as well. This might include:

A social media post highlighting the program and recognizing your matching gift company for their generosity;
A blog post on your organization’s website sharing program information and how to get involved, if applicable;
Personalized outreach (phone calls, emails, letters, etc.) to existing and prospective donors who work for the company hosting your unique match program.

Plus, by sharing co-marketing materials with your organization’s network of support, you can help provide additional benefits to the matching gift company. When they recognize significant value from your partnership, the company will be more likely to offer workplace and corporate giving initiatives alongside your organization in the future.

Enable auto-submission functionality to streamline participation.

You want your donors to be able to take part in your matching program as easily as possible. One of the best ways to simplify participation for your supporters is to enable new matching gift auto-submission functionality through Double the Donation.

This feature essentially removes obstacles and drives more corporate match requests to completion. And we’ll share a more in-depth explanation in the next few sections!

5. How does auto-submission simplify participation?

One-off matching gift programs can suffer from many of the same roadblocks that traditional programs face. For example, common hindrances to successful matches include a lack of understanding surrounding the matching gift request process from the donor’s perspective.

Matching gift auto-submission functionality can help by providing readily available eligibility criteria and allowing streamlined requests.

Now, donors can submit their matches without ever leaving your organization’s website⁠. Nor do they have to provide additional (often repetitive) data in a separate platform. With auto-submission enabled, all donors typically have to do is enter their corporate email address on your gift confirmation page. Then, voilà⁠—Double the Donation handles the rest of the submission process behind the scenes.

By incorporating auto-submission for your unique matching gift program, everybody benefits! This includes:

Your organization as you receive increased matching gift revenue and elevated donor engagement;
Your donors as they leverage one-click matching gift requests, enabling them to make the most of their nonprofit contributions without dedicating more time and resources;
Your corporate match partner as they see maximal program usage, more satisfied employees, and a positive brand image.

Here’s what the process can look like for your donors:

Step 1) An employee of your corporate matching company makes a donation on your organization’s website and enters the company name.

One-off matching gift search tool example

Step 2) The donor enters their email on the confirmation screen, authorizing Double the Donation to auto-submit their match request.

One-off matching gift auto-submission example

6. How do I enable auto-submission for my unique program?

Now you have a solid understanding of the benefits of auto-submission⁠—both in terms of one-off and general matching gifts. So how do you actually set it up for your unique matching program?

If you already use 360MatchPro Enterprise, it’s as easy as clicking a button in the backend of the platform. When you add a one-off matching gift program to your organization’s search tool (as outlined above), it will prompt you to enable auto-submission functionality.

Once donors begin participating in your one-off matching gift program, their data will be collected for streamlined and automated requests. From there, Double the Donation will prefill the matching gift form and pass the information along to the company hosting the unique match (or the company’s CSR platform).

In order to see the best results from auto-submission forms, be sure to fill out your comprehensive Organization Profile within 360MatchPro.

This detailed profile should include your:

Organization’s name
Phone number
Tax ID number (or EIN)
Website URL
Full mailing address
Form W-9
501(c)(3) IRS affirmation letter

This allows us to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information in our automated request process. And in the end, it increases the likelihood that matches are completed without a hitch.

(Hint: Your Organization Profile helps streamline auto-submission for other companies’ more general matching gift programs as well!)

View our knowledge base article to learn more about your Organization Profile.
Or click here to explore Double the Donation’s innovative matching gift auto-submission!

Wrapping Up

Sourcing a one-off matching gift program may be one of the best ways to make your organization stand out from the crowd. And it will enable you to grow mutually beneficial corporate relationships that can last long beyond the matching program itself.

Not to mention, with the right tips, tricks, and tools, getting started has never been easier.

Interested in learning more about matching gift programs and best practices for elevating corporate fundraising at your organization? Check out our recommended resources:

Top 24 Matching Gift Companies: Leaders in Philanthropy. Thousands of companies match employee donations, but these programs stand out. Browse this list of particularly impactful matching gift companies from Double the Donation.
Matching Gift Auto-Submission + CSR Platforms | What to Know. New auto-submission streamlines the matching gift process for one-off and general corporate programming. Dive deep into this innovative functionality and the providers that support it.
How to Identify Corporate Sponsorships [With 360MatchPro]. Matching gifts aren’t the only type of corporate giving program available! Find out how to identify top corporate sponsorships and potential one-off matching gift companies with this guide.

What is Responsive Fundraising?

The Importance of Suggesting

Why “Suggest” and Not “Ask”

Why Suggesting Matching Gifts Makes Sense

4 Ideas for Suggesting a Matching Gift

Option 1: Suggesting Matching Gifts in the Donation Process

Option 2: Build the Suggestion Into Your Thank You Cadence

Option 3: Email Your Donors Suggesting a Matching Gift

Option 4: Suggesting Matching Gifts in Ongoing Cultivation Efforts

Other Suggestions to Make

Conclusion

The Matching Process Made Easy for Donors, Companies, and Nonprofits

Making Corporate Philanthropy Better, One Match at a Time

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with 360MatchPro!

Does Double the Donation still offer the Legacy Plan?

What is 360MatchPro?

Key Differences | Legacy Plan vs. 360MatchPro

Additional differences between the two subscription plans include…

Matching Gifts Within the Donation Process

Automated and Customized Follow-Up Emails

70+ Fundraising Software Integrations

Exclusive Matching Gift Auto-Submission Functionality

More In-Depth Data Reporting

Insights From Orgs That Upgraded From Legacy Plan to 360MatchPro

How to Upgrade Your Account to 360MatchPro

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with 360MatchPro!

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with 360MatchPro!

What is Double the Donation’s standard matching gift form?

How does the standard matching gift request form work?

Key benefits of our standard form for donors, nonprofits, and companies

For Donors

For Nonprofits

For Companies

Getting started with our matching gift request form

For Nonprofits

For Companies

Final Thoughts

The historical significance of matching gift form e-sign functionality

The move away from paper matching gift forms

Discontinuation of Double the Donation’s prior matching gift form e-sign feature

The future of matching gift fundraising

Breakthrough auto-submission with CSR partners

E-submission with our standard matching gift form

Final thoughts

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with 360MatchPro!

1. What are one-off (or unique) matching gift programs?

2. What are the benefits of one-off matching programs for nonprofits?

3. How should I set up a one-off matching gift program?

Locate a corporate matching gift partner.

Determine one-off program matching guidelines.

Add the one-off program to your matching gift database tool.

4. What best practices should I incorporate into my one-off matching program?

Encourage your corporate partner to promote the program to employees.

Market the opportunity to your audience.

Enable auto-submission functionality to streamline participation.

5. How does auto-submission simplify participation?

6. How do I enable auto-submission for my unique program?

Wrapping Up

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