What to Know About Our Standard Matching Gift Request Form

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

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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:

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.

Here's an example of Double the Donation's standard matching gift request form

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!)

Donors can complete the matching gift request process from the confirmation page when their employer uses Double the Donation's standard matching gift form

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.

Here's an example of Double the Donation's completed standard matching gift request form

 

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!

Standard matching gift form confirmation

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:

Learn more about our standard matching gift form and auto-submission offerings

New and Improved Functionality: Matching Gift Form E-Sign

New and Improved Functionality: Matching Gift Form E-Sign

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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:

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.

Auto-submission and matching gift form e-sign process

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.

Benefits of auto-submission and matching gift form e-sign

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.

Matching gift form e-sign with Double the Donation's standard matching gift 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:

Learn more about Double the Donation matching gift form e-sign auto-submission

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

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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. 

360MatchPro - Activate in seconds and start raising more from matching gifts!

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. 

360MatchPro-Drive-more-matching-gift-requests-to-completion-with-360MatchPro

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.

This image explains the 360MatchPro features listed above alongside an increasing graph to represent increasing donations.

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/ 

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. To learn more visit https://360matchpro.com/demo-request/

Double the Donation & Neon CRM Enhance Integration to Further Fuel Matching Gift Success with Neon CRM Donation Forms and 360MatchPro

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Neon CRM and Double the Donation are excited to announce their recent integration enhancement. These partners have collaborated to help drive greater matching gift success for organizations that utilize their integration. 

Double the Donation and Neon CRM’s integration helps nonprofits initiate the matching gift conversation with donors. That powerful CRM integration continues to automate personalized, tailored, and effective matching gift outreach to donors following their contribution. With this enhancement and expanded functionality, 360MatchPro can now also integrate directly into Neon CRM donation forms. By integrating 360MatchPro into those forms, organizations can identify eligible donors earlier on in the donor journey and provide personalized matching gift next steps in a timely, efficient manner.

“This enhancement of our Double the Donation integration reflects our continued commitment to helping nonprofits efficiently and effectively leverage corporate matching gifts,” says Sam Nyland, Product Marketing Manager at Neon One. “The donation form integration will increase the number of match-eligible donors organizations identify and will help organizations effectively motivate donors to submit their matching gift requests.”

This integration captures employment data during the giving process, helping organizations more easily discover their donors’ match eligibility. Once donors enter their employment information on Neon CRM’s giving forms, 360MatchPro prepares to present eligible donors their matching gift next steps on the confirmation page. Because the integration delivers those matching gift next steps close to the actual point of donation, the chances a donor completes those steps and organizations receive that revenue increases multifold.

“Donors often lack awareness of their matching gift eligibility and matching gift next steps. As a result, nonprofits often miss out on valuable matching gift opportunities,” says Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation.  “This enhanced integration with Neon CRM will close that matching gift revenue gap by allowing organizations to engage donors in the matching gift process earlier.” 

360MatchPro and Neon CRM donation forms integrate seamlessly to elevate fundraising success. By leveraging this enhanced integration, organizations will drive more matching gifts to completion with less effort and manual steps required. 

360MatchPro - Activate in seconds and start raising more from matching gifts!

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

Activating 360MatchPro on Neon CRM donation forms is a quick process. Once organizations navigate to the integration section within the Neon CRM global settings tab, they just need to retrieve their public and private API keys from their 360MatchPro account and plug them into the Double the Donation Integration section. From there, organizations can drag and drop the search field onto their existing forms to begin leveraging the integration!

Enter your public and private API keys when prompted.

Once the integration is active on organizations’ donation forms, their donors will be able to determine their eligibility and receive their matching gift next steps on the confirmation page. 

Organizations that use this integration can expect to streamline the matching gift process and earn more from this funding source. 

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

360MatchPro-Drive-more-matching-gift-requests-to-completion-with-360MatchPro

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.

This image explains the 360MatchPro features listed above alongside an increasing graph to represent increasing donations.

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

About NeonOne: Neon provides technology with a purpose to further your mission. Their nonprofit tech solutions help grow communities, inspire audiences, and scale impact. To learn more, visit: https://neonone.com/get-started/

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. To learn more visit https://360matchpro.com/demo-request/

Keela Chooses 360MatchPro by Double the Donation for Advanced Matching Gifts Integration

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Double the Donation and Keela are excited to announce a new integration between Keela’s online donation forms and 360MatchPro. The new integration and partnership will empower nonprofits of all sizes to seize their opportunity to raise more from matching gifts, engage with their donor base, and benefit from advanced tracking. 

“Keela and 360MatchPro are a natural fit for an integration because they combine two advanced yet easy-to-use solutions to create something seamless,” says Nejeed Kassam, CEO at Keela. “This partnership will create lasting impacts for nonprofits and donors alike as we add matching gifts to organizations’ fundraising efforts.”

With an activated integration, donors can search their company name on the donation page and discover their match eligibility details on the confirmation page. Nonprofit organizations can then see where their supporters work and stay up-to-date with matching gift submission progress. Together, the two solutions create value for nonprofits looking to increase their matching gift revenue. 

“We’re thrilled to provide eager nonprofit clients with the integrated solution they’ve been asking for between Keela and 360MatchPro,” says Adam Weinger, President at Double the Donation. “Nonprofits were confident about the value this integration would bring them, and we can’t help but agree!”

Read on to find out more about how this integration helps nonprofits raise more from matching gifts.

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

Getting started with the 360MatchPro and Keela integration only takes a few minutes and a couple of steps. When a nonprofit organization is ready to start their integration, they can activate using their unique 360MatchPro API keys. 

Once these keys are placed and verified in Keela, orgs can easily add 360MatchPro tools to any desired forms to maximize matching gift potential. 

Toggle on the Double the Donation feature to add 360MatchPro functionality to donation forms.

After this step is complete, the fundraising begins! Donors will then be able to navigate their giving experience with matching gifts in mind, thanks to the 360MatchPro auto-complete search tool and matching gift plugin present on Keela donation forms and confirmation pages. 

Donors can learn more about matching gifts, discover their eligibility, and take next steps to getting their gift matched – whether that be via a direct link to their matching gifts experience or an opportunity to automatically submit their match from the confirmation page.

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with 360MatchPro!

Keela and Double the Donation are proud to provide a solution that makes matching as easy as 1-2-3: activate, search, match! 

Check out these additional features: 

  • 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.

Interested in increasing your fundraising revenue with matching gifts? Request a demo today to get started with corporate gift matching through Keela and 360MatchPro by Double the Donation.

About Keela: Keela is a fundraising-focused software company on the cutting edge of innovation in the sector. Our mission is to serve and support every organization that is empowering positive change. Our uniquely powerful solution bridges the gap between fundraising and communications that exists in other solutions. This allows nonprofits to improve donor relations through a targeted, multi-channel approach. Keela is officially certified as a B-Corp. This means we’re always prioritizing people over profit and never forgetting our commitment to the communities in which we operate. 

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.

This article explores what data appending is and why nonprofits should consider using this service.

What is a Data Append and Why Does it Matter for Nonprofits?

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Today’s marketers rely on customer data to make informed decisions to inspire interest, increase engagement, and ultimately sell their products and services. 

In the nonprofit space, nonprofit marketing and fundraising professionals stand to gain from strategically collecting, maintaining, and leveraging the donor data stored in their organization’s CRMs. But your supporters move, get new email addresses, and their information changes over time. That means your data can quickly become outdated, which is where data appending swoops in to save the day.

Updating and gathering data manually can be a taxing process, but data appending uses automation to streamline the work for you. We’ll clear up confusion surrounding the process to help you transform your CRM into an effective tool your nonprofit’s fundraising and marketing efforts can rely on.

Enhance nonprofit fundraising by appending donor data with Double the Donation.

What Is A Data Append?

A data append is the process of adding missing or updating existing data points in an organization’s database. The process involves comparing the information in the nonprofit’s current database to that stored in a larger, more comprehensive data source. Data append services use external data sources to fill gaps in data, including:

  • Contact details
  • Demographic data
  • Behavioral information
  • Employment details

All kinds of organizations use data appends, including for-profit businesses, charitable nonprofits, and political campaigns. For example, have you ever gotten a text message promoting a candidate in an upcoming election even though you can’t recall sharing your phone number with any political causes? Chances are they got your information—your name, phone number, and political party registration—from a data append. 

For nonprofits, specifically, data appends allow them to maintain clean donor data and gain more comprehensive insights into their supporters when they have limited information. Ultimately, accurate data can help your organization learn more about your supporters, leading to better tailored fundraising and donor cultivation strategies.

Why Is Data Appending Important?

At its core, data appending enhances your data quality by filling in gaps and correcting inaccuracies. With this information, you can strengthen your donor management and make the most of each dollar spent on your data append. 

There are all sorts of situations nonprofits might find themselves in where a data append is the right answer, including:

  • Missing key information. Do all of your nonprofit’s various forms require supporters to complete all core fields? For instance, your email newsletter subscription might only ask supporters for their name and email, meaning you’ll miss all of those supporters’ phone numbers. Not to mention information you’re unlikely to ask supporters for but is still useful, like demographic data. 
  • Current information is outdated. As mentioned, your supporters aren’t static, and many donors aren’t going to think to update your nonprofit when they change addresses, start using a new email, or even change their names. An append keeps you up to date, helping you maintain your connections to each supporter over time. 
  • Data got lost. It’s not ideal but it happens: your nonprofit lost data when migrating systems, something with your technology went wrong and information needs to be deleted, or someone just made a mistake and got rid of data you needed. Appends are your nonprofit’s lifeline in these scenarios. 

But beyond simply cleaning up your donor database, you stand to benefit a lot from the appending process. Backed by accurate and complete data from the append, you can:

  • Personalize outreach: Marketers use data to personalize communication, content, and offers to match each recipient’s needs and preferences. Customizing outreach to suit individual donors makes for a memorable supporter experience. Appending demographic and behavioral data can help nonprofits personalize communication.
  • Update contact information: When a supporter’s information does change, appending emails, phone numbers, and other contact information allows you to stay connected without needing to get in touch with them. 
  • Cultivate donor relationships: Sending appeals based on accurate data allows you to present valuable engagement opportunities and communicate that you care about each individual donor. When you send messages that fit donors’ interests and demographic details, they’re more likely to respond positively to your outreach.

Ultimately, data appending can enhance your understanding of supporters, which will shine through in your outreach. With your append, you get the data you need to drive greater fundraising outcomes and forge stronger supporter relationships.

Enhance nonprofit fundraising by appending donor data with Double the Donation.

How Data Appending Works

At the surface level, data appending seems like a simple process, but there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes to ensure accuracy and completeness. For the most part, your provider will take care of all the nitty-gritty details, such as gathering the data, ensuring it’s accurate, and formatting it to easily fit into your CRM. 

NPOInfo’s guide to data append services offers a look behind the scenes of what your provider will do to make sure the data will be usable for your nonprofit:

These are the steps a data append service provider will follow.

  1. Format the data from the nonprofit to be consistent, usually in a comma-separated value (CSV) format, in order to be analyzed correctly.
  2. Upload the data into a single file and send it via the service’s secure file transfer protocol.
  3. Match the organization’s database with the data in the external source by using your donors’ unique identifiers, such as their names, addresses, and phone numbers.
  4. Enhance the data by filling in missing information and correcting inaccurate data based on the corresponding records in the organization’s database.
  5. Verify and validate the appended data to ensure accuracy and completeness. This ensures the supplemental data is high-quality and will be useful for the client, which in this case is your nonprofit. 
  6. Send the data file to the client to be downloaded for their use. The file can be offered in essentially any format your nonprofit needs.

On your nonprofit’s end, the process is much simpler. From the nonprofit perspective, all you need to do is send your constituent information to a provider. You can streamline the process by taking the time to clean your database beforehand by removing duplicate information, unnecessary data, and donor profiles you don’t need (such as the information of deceased and long-since lapsed donors). 

But if you just want to send your data append provider your database information in its current state, you can do that, too. Whatever the state of your database, your service provider will take it from there! 

Types of Data You Can Append

As a nonprofit marketer, you’re likely flooded with new data points at every turn. With all the constituent data you collect through volunteer registrations, event sign-ups, and donations, it can be challenging to filter it down to the most helpful details.

When it comes to data appending, we already know the burning question on everyone’s mind: What information is actually worth appending?

Before getting an append, ensure you know which information will actually propel your marketing and fundraising efforts forward. While the append service will be happy to take you as a client, purchasing data you don’t need is far from the best use of your nonprofit’s resources.

Of course, what is the right data depends on your nonprofit’s unique situation. To help you get an idea of what you should request, here’s an overview of the most common types of data nonprofits need from appends:

Types of donor data points to append

As the graphic shows, there are a wide number of specific data points you can get from an append, but all of these can be sorted into roughly three categories.

Contact Information

Like we’ve touched on, your constituents move, change their phone numbers, and get new email addresses all the time. Having accurate contact information allows you to successfully deliver appeals and stay in contact without interruption.

Leverage data appending to verify contact information, including:

  • Phone numbers. Contacting donors via text or phone call is one of the most personal ways you can connect with your supporters. It also opens the door to innovative fundraising strategies like text banking and text-to-give. Phone number appends ensure you have the right phone number for each supporter at all times.
  • Email addresses. Email marketing remains one of the most lucrative digital marketing avenues for nonprofits. Whether you’re making fundraising appeals, sending out volunteer schedules, or providing an update on your latest project, make sure you have the right email addresses for supporters with this data append.
  • Postal addresses. Digital marketing might be the default for your outreach, but some supporters still prefer the personal touch of direct mail. Plus, knowing people’s addresses allows you to send them engagement opportunities based on their location, such as inviting nearby supporters to in-person events and remote ones to virtual activities. Ensure your solicitations, thank-you letters, and event invitations are delivered to the right addresses with a postal address append.
  • Social profiles. As a marketer, you know the immense power that social media holds to connect you with a global audience. Get in touch with current supporters and inspire them to share your cause online by finding their social media profiles. Boost your presence online by reaching out to loyal supporters to ask them to follow you and share your posts. 

Communication is the foundation of nearly all nonprofit’s fundraising efforts, making this one of the most helpful types of data appends. If your email bounce rates have skyrocketed or you get sent straight to voicemail, a data append can verify whether you have the right contact details for constituents.

Employer Data

We can’t emphasize the importance of corporate philanthropy enough. Between matching gifts and volunteer grants, your nonprofit has a lot to gain from promoting these opportunities to supporters.

However, to promote these opportunities to the right supporters who actually qualify, you need accurate employer data for constituents. That’s where an employer append comes in handy. NXUnite’s guide to data appending explains that knowing employment details empowers your team to:

  • Uncover corporate giving opportunities. Knowing where your donors and volunteers work enables you to find their employers’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) guidelines. Then, you can determine your supporters’ eligibility for matching donations and volunteer grants.
  • Identify corporate partnerships. If several of your supporters work for the same company, that’s an indicator that the business might be a strong candidate for a corporate partnership, such as a sponsorship or an arranged corporate volunteer day. Use that information to kickstart a conversation with the company. You might even have supporters facilitate introductions with company leaders.
  • Estimate wealth data. While not a direct wealth indicator, knowing who employs your donors and what their roles are can help you estimate their incomes and giving abilities. Though append services can’t provide you with donors’ salary information, some may be able to provide job titles, which at the very least lets you know if a donor is working in an entry-level position or has risen to a senior management position. 

Between driving donor engagement and establishing meaningful corporate partnerships, employer appending has quite a few benefits worth looking into. We recommend pulling this information if you’re looking to tap into the world of corporate giving or need help identifying major giving prospects.

Enhance nonprofit fundraising with an employer append from Double the Donation.

Demographics

A supporter’s demographics can give you insight into their backgrounds, values, and philanthropic priorities. This type of data append allows you to extract important background details like:

  • Net worth
  • Ages and dates of birth
  • Gender
  • Ethnicity and race
  • Marital status
  • Political affiliation
  • Lifestyle attributes like hobbies and interests

Whether you want to send a birthday gift or verify contacts have a certain political affiliation, demographic data appends allow you to deliver highly personalized outreach that speaks to supporters’ interests.

Other Resources to Explore

Appends provide nonprofits with the data they need to strengthen their support relationships, build lasting connections, and make strategic marketing decisions. Supplement and update your database with the information you need to stay current with your supporters’ busy lives. 

The right append for your nonprofit depends on your engagement strategy and current data-gathering practices. Curious to learn more about data appending? Check out these breakdowns on specific append types: 

Enhance nonprofit fundraising by appending donor data with Double the Donation.

Double the Donation and Fundmetric Answer the Call for Advanced Matching Gifts Integration

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Double the Donation is proud to unveil a new partnership with the fundraising AI ecosystem Fundmetric to provide integrated matching gifts functionality to schools, universities, and nonprofits. Fundmetric and Double the Donation’s integration combines the power of 360MatchPro, the world’s leading matching gift automation platform, with the modern flow Fundmetric’s fundraising environment. 

“Fundmetric and Double the Donation’s partnership opens up opportunities for schools and charitable organizations to get the most from their advanced fundraising strategy,” said Mark Hobbs, CEO at Fundmetric. “Integrating DTD’s tools into our donation pages help donors get their donations matched with more speed and ease than ever.”

If organizations’ donors have trouble navigating the world of matching gifts, or maybe don’t even know about matching gifts in the first place, this could mean thousands upon thousands of dollars of lost revenue for the nonprofits these donors support. Fundmetric and 360MatchPro disrupt the status quo by introducing donors to their matching gift potentials. 

“Schools and nonprofits miss out on billions of dollars each year in matching gift revenue, and we’re here to change that,” said Adam Weinger, President at Double the Donation. “We’re proud to offer our mutual clients an answer to their request for functionality that shakes up the matching gifts process for the better.”

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts

The activation process for organizations looking to activate their integration between Fundmetric and 360MatchPro is quick and easy. All a verified user has to do is retrieve their public and private API keys from their 360MatchPro account, plug them into their Fundmetric integration settings, and add Double the Donation’s tools anywhere they’d like within their desired Fundmetric donation forms.

Enter your public and private API keys to activate the integration.

Once this is complete, donors will be able to discover their match eligibility during their giving flow and take their next actions directly from the confirmation page.

Donors can discover details on their chosen company’s matching gift program.

Actionable analytics and real-time data flow into the organizations’ connected accounts so they can continue their matching gift strategy with personalized follow ups and more.

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with 360MatchPro!

Double the Donation and Fundmetric set out to complete an integration that utilized smart data, helped orgs get set up easily, and took donor impact to the next level. See more value from the integration with the following features: 

  • 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.

Interested in increasing your fundraising revenue with matching gifts? Request a demo today to get started with corporate gift matching through Fundmetric and 360MatchPro by Double the Donation. 

About Fundmetric: Fundmetric is an AI data ecosystem that connects siloed data, enabling teams to maximize lifetime giving and increase predictability of revenue. Build your highest-converting lists and cultivate constituent interests using behavioral data and machine learning. Fundmetric’s flexible infrastructure leverages the ability to execute optimized campaigns and capture the attention of your donors in a noisy world. To learn more about Fundmetric visit https://www.fundmetric.com/ and request a demo at https://www.fundmetric.com/demoform. 

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. To learn more about Double the Donation, visit https://doublethedonation.com and request a demo at https://360matchpro.com/demo-request/.

Double the Donation and Givecloud Debut Matching Gifts Integration for Nonprofits

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Double the Donation is proud to announce our new integration in partnership with Givecloud, making the matching gift process easier for nonprofits and donors alike. 

“In a world where so many vendors make empty promises about increasing fundraising, it’s great to have a partner like Double the Donation, ” says Josh Bloomfield, CEO at GiveCloud. “360MatchPro moves the needle for our nonprofits in a very practical way.”

The integrated solution offers an answer to nonprofits asking for a solution to streamline their matching gifts strategy for their online donors, closing the awareness gap that normally prevents nonprofit organizations from seeing matching gift success. 

“Far too many donors are unaware of their matching gift potential when they make a gift to a nonprofit organization,” said Adam Weinger, President at Double the Donation. “Our integration with Givecloud will help donors deepen their impact by enabling them to pursue a match with confidence.”

Read on to learn more about the new integrated solution!

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

The activation process for mutual users of 360MatchPro by Double the Donation and Givecloud is simple. All nonprofit organizations need to do is retrieve their API keys from their 360MatchPro account, plug them into their Givecloud settings page, and start raising more from matching gifts right away!

Simply enter your public and private API keys to activate your integration.

For donors who give on a Givecloud Fundraising Form, they’ll be presented with the opportunity to search their company name directly after making a payment. Then, they’ll receive automated emails from 360MatchPro prompting them to take their next steps and drive their match to completion.

Allow your donors to search their employer to find their eligibility.

The process is seamless from start to finish, making matching gifts as easy as making the initial donation. From here, nonprofits can track and manage their matching gifts strategy from their 360MatchPro platform.

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with 360MatchPro! 

The integration between Givecloud forms and 360MatchPro and Double the Donation unlock the door for nonprofit organizations to claim more matching gift revenue made available to them by their donors’ employers. Check out these additional features: 

  • 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.

Interested in increasing your fundraising revenue with matching gifts? Request a demo today to get started with corporate gift matching through Givecloud and 360MatchPro by Double the Donation. 

About Givecloud: Nonprofits use Givecloud’s innovative Trustraising™ platform to create digital fundraising experiences that  excite donors and increase donations, advocacy and loyalty so they can spend more time and money on their mission and less on administration.  Established nonprofits can easily integrate Givecloud with their existing donor management systems.

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. To learn more about Double the Donation, visit https://doublethedonation.com and request a demo at https://360matchpro.com/demo-request/.

Haku Integrates with 360MatchPro by Double the Donation for Advanced Matching Gifts Functionality

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Double the Donation and haku have joined in collaboration to bring the power of matching gifts to nonprofit organizations by implementing an integration between haku donation forms and 360MatchPro by Double the Donation.

“We are thrilled to launch our partnership with Double the Donation. This innovative platform is one of the most advanced ways of helping nonprofit organizations increase their impact by deepening their corporate matching programs,” said Jaclyn Levi, Chief Strategy Officer at haku. “As a company dedicated to helping our customers drive their impact in seamless and efficient ways, haku’s partnership with Double the Donation is an ideal fit.”

The new integration allows nonprofits to interact with their donors directly after a gift is made, presenting them with information about their company’s matching gift program and encouraging them to take their next steps toward matching gift request submission.

“Double the Donation has been the leader in matching gifts automation software for years now, and we’ve found that the most effective way to get more from matching gifts is by meeting donors where they are,” said Adam Weinger, President at Double the Donation. “Our integration with haku allows nonprofits to engage with new donors and raise awareness about matching gifts in an exciting way.”

The integration is now available for all mutual clients of haku and Double the Donation to activate on their various donation forms.

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts

The activation process is incredibly easy thanks to the native integration between 360MatchPro and haku. Organizations who have a 360MatchPro account can enter their haku account and enter their API keys into whichever donation form builder they’d like and toggle the integration to active.

Once this step is complete, orgs are ready to go with their matching gift outreach! Directly after the giving process, donors will be able to easily find if they are match eligible through the auto-complete search field on the 360MatchPro matching gifts plugin.

From here, donors can immediately take their next steps toward getting their gift matched, and the nonprofit is apprised of updates along the way in real time!

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

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with 360MatchPro

haku and Double the Donation’s integrated solution aims to provide nonprofits with an easy-to-use and intuitive solution to their matching gift outreach needs. Some more features allow organizations 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.

Interested in increasing your fundraising revenue with matching gifts? Request a demo today to get started with corporate gift matching through haku and 360MatchPro by Double the Donation.

About haku: haku is a technology platform enabling non-profits to more effectively and efficiently grow their impact. Through our innovative all-in-one platform and unwavering customer service, non-profits have an easy, effective, and customizable way to engage supporters through a myriad of fundraising channels with haku.

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. To learn more about Double the Donation, visit  https://doublethedonation.com and request a demo at https://360matchpro.com/demo-request/.

How to Manage Your CyberGrants Portal For Smart Nonprofits

How to Manage Your CyberGrants Portal [For Smart Nonprofits]

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Corporate matching gifts are one of the best ways for nonprofits to maximize their fundraising with bonus donations and increased donor engagement. And how exactly do nonprofit organizations receive funding through these matching programs? It all starts with a request from the initial donor and typically is processed through a corporate giving or CSR platform.

In terms of CSR platforms, one key platform to keep in mind is CyberGrants.

Corporate giving platforms like CyberGrants are sold to corporations looking to manage their philanthropy. But there’s another side of the platform that is designed specifically for nonprofits⁠—a portal with which fundraisers can manage their incoming matches, verify initial donations, facilitate volunteer grant requests, and more. And best of all? It’s free!

If you’re interested in learning more about CyberGrants for nonprofits and how to best manage your CyberGrants portal for maximal success, you’ve certainly come to the right place. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the following:

In the end, you should have a solid foundation of knowledge surrounding CyberGrants and its nonprofit-specific tools that can lead your organization in the right direction.

Ready to dive in? Let’s get started with the basics.

What to Know About CyberGrants

With over 400 corporate customers, CyberGrants is one of the largest providers of matching gift and corporate giving software for companies⁠, and it’s known for allowing the most customization of any CSR platform. In summary, each company that organizes a matching gift program through CyberGrants can adjust its donation verification process, types of gifts to match, email notifications, number of subaccounts, and more.

From the perspective of the organizations receiving the matches, this can sometimes lead to an overwhelming process. That’s why we recommend nonprofits setting themselves up for CyberGrants success by documenting and keeping up with the information they need to complete their end of the matching gift process. And we’re here to provide you with tips and tricks on how to do so!

How to Manage Your CyberGrants Portal - and what to know about CyberGrants

Benefits of CyberGrants for Nonprofits

Some of the largest matching gift companies in the world⁠—including Verizon, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, American Express, and many more⁠—use CyberGrants to manage their corporate giving. The more companies that utilize any particular platform, the more likely your organization is to qualify for matching gifts made available through said platform. Thus, CyberGrants is a particularly beneficial portal to get started with.

Learn how to manage your CyberGrants portal so you can accept matches from companies like these.

From there, registering your organization with the nonprofit portal will allow you to increase the visibility of your cause among charitable givers, elevate your matching gift eligibility, and simplify matching gift requests for your donors⁠—all of which elevate the likelihood of matches being driven to completion.

Not to mention, pre-registering your cause with platforms like CyberGrants will streamline the process for you and your team when matching gifts do become available. You’ll already have the legwork down, meaning you’re ready to verify gifts and accept matches with ease.

CyberGrants’ Matching Gift Verification Process Overview

The exact matching gift process⁠—from initial donation and employer match request to nonprofit verification and corporate match disbursement⁠—can vary greatly from one company to the next. On the nonprofit end, one of the biggest priorities has to do with verifying with the company that an employee donor’s contribution was actually made.

Today, the majority of companies that use CyberGrants require the NPO in question to verify that the organization received the employee’s initial donation. However, other employers do not require manual verification at all, instead opting to authenticate donations through gift receipts or rely on the goodwill of their employees.

For each matching gift request from CyberGrants, the NPO will receive a unique Gift ID to identify that donation via automated email. From there, the Gift ID and donor’s last name will be used to verify the donation in the CyberGrants portal. Depending on the company’s settings, a donation amount, contribution date, and access code may be provided as well.

Take a look at this example of a matching gift request;

Learn how to manage your CyberGrants portal with sample emails.

Meanwhile, here’s a sample matching gift request with different information, including an access code;

Learn how to manage your CyberGrants portal with sample emails.

In each sample email, the organization is prompted to follow the instructions provided by CyberGrants on behalf of the donor’s employer. In both cases, the matching gift recipient is asked to navigate to the CyberGrants website, enter the supplied information, and verify the donor’s gift.

From there, the company can approve the match and disburse the appropriate funding to the organization.

FAQ | How to Manage Your CyberGrants Portal

Still have questions? Many organizations do⁠. We’ve compiled a list of some of the most-asked questions (and answers) from nonprofits looking to manage their CyberGrants portals to produce the greatest results.

What is FrontDoor?

FrontDoor is CyberGrants’ consolidated portal with which nonprofits can register to manage and verify gifts across employers and programs with ease.

Currently, companies that utilize CyberGrants for matching gift management have the choice to opt into participating via FrontDoor’s portal. At this time, CyberGrants is actively advocating for more companies to get started with FrontDoor⁠ and make the most of innovative features, such as the Donations Tab. This allows nonprofit users to verify donations in a single window, rather than requiring that they manually log into each company or subaccount’s portal through a separate URL.

Here’s what it looks like for nonprofit users;

How to manage your CyberGrants portal using FrontDoor

Overall, FrontDoor makes the verification process faster and easier for users and enables nonprofits like yours to get more out of available matching programs.

What are subaccounts?

Subaccounts are essentially additional accounts nested within an organization’s main account and can be created by the nonprofit itself or by a donor, depending on a company’s subaccount creation and management settings.

Let’s take a look at a company with a few subaccounts nested in their main portal;

How to manage your CyberGrants portal with subaccounts

And here’s a company that chose to create a central portal with no subaccounts;

How to manage your CyberGrants portal with no subaccounts

Generally, subaccounts can reflect an organization’s multiple chapters, branches, or locations within the organization, or they can be nominated by a donor who didn’t see an account that reflected their desired organization. However, it’s important to keep in mind that the more subaccounts in a portal, the greater the likelihood that there will be matching gift requests that end up “hiding” from them.

Most companies have subaccounts within their company portal. The number of subaccounts able to be created is dictated by the company (for example, there might be an unlimited number of subaccounts that can be created or this ability may not even be available to their employees). Some have over 70, while others have only a central portal or 2-3 subaccounts.

Why do we receive grants from companies for which we have not confirmed any matching gift requests?

Not all companies require verification from the organization for matching gifts and volunteer grant requests. Typically, if a company doesn’t ask the nonprofit to verify a gift or volunteer hours, it is because the employee has already verified the gift by attaching a donation receipt or proof of hours volunteered with their submission request.

Some, but not all, of these companies will send email notices of approved requests that let the nonprofit know when a payment is on the way. Companies may also utilize CyberGrants to allow their employees to make payroll deductions to an organization, which may or may not result in an email notification being triggered through the system.

What happens if we receive a request we don’t qualify for?

Occasionally, your organization may receive a gift verification request from a company even though your cause doesn’t qualify for the company’s matching program. For example, this may occur in cases where a company matches solely to educational institutions or won’t match to religious or politically affiliated organizations, and your organization falls into an excluded category.

However, regardless of the company’s requirements, employees can still submit match requests, which is why your team may see ineligible verification requests flowing in. Even if your organization verifies the initial gift in your portal, it’s likely that the company will reject the match request and no payment will be sent.

Will all pending matching gift and volunteer grant requests show up on the Donations Tab?

Unfortunately, not all requests will show up in FrontDoor’s Donations Tab. Some companies have opted out of using the tab entirely, whereas others have opted in only partially. In these cases, some requests may not populate in your organization’s Donations Tab.

To know if a particular company has opted in, you can submit a support request to the company via CyberGrants. From there, we recommend recording and organizing their response so your organization can develop the proper verification process in the future.

Why is there a gift under the Donations Tab that is from a company not listed under the Company Portals Tab?

If a gift is listed under the Donations Tab and not under the Company Portals Tab, the company might be new to CyberGrants and is still being configured. Or alternatively, this is your organization’s first gift request from the company.

The gift can be confirmed in the Donations Tab, but you will likely want to add the company to your sidebar for easier access to future gifts. To do so, input the donor’s last name and the gift ID into the Add Company section at the bottom of the portal’s sidebar. Submit and confirm access, and the company should be visible immediately after refreshing the page. If not, you can send a support ticket, and CyberGrants should be able to add the company from their end.

Best Practices for Nonprofits Using CyberGrants

Now that you understand the basics of CyberGrants, let’s go over a few tried-and-true tips for making the most of the platform.

To simplify the process as much as possible and minimize the amount of overhead required, we recommend the following;

1. Create a login sheet.

Companies that have yet to fully transition to CyberGrants’ FrontDoor have a different link to their company portal that cannot be accessed through the main FrontDoor link.
As such, it’s a good idea for organizations to identify those that don’t use FrontDoor and establish and maintain detailed documentation for these companies⁠—including the URL and login information for each.

Additionally, it’s ideal that an organization uses the same contact information for each company portal beyond FrontDoor. Most essentially, be sure to utilize a single email address for your CyberGrants logins as the main notification channel for gift verifications. This will establish that all emails requesting confirmation of gifts will be sent to the correct inbox that your staff will have access to and know to check on a regular basis.

2. Establish a process for locating “hidden” gifts.

Each company that uses CyberGrants can configure if and how they want to notify organizations about new matching gift requests⁠—and some companies opt not to enable notifications at all.

As a result, nonprofits should have an established system in place to regularly check for matching gift requests that either ⁠—

  • Don’t show up in the Donations Tab;
  • Haven’t been automatically emailed to the organization.

Fortunately, these “hidden” gift requests should make up a small percentage of the total gift requests that the nonprofit receives, so these checks could be infrequent⁠—such as a few times a year.

Keep in mind that although many companies allow twelve or more months for submitted requests to be approved by the organization, some offer as little as 90 days from the date of submission. Thus, teams should factor each company’s deadlines into their decision-making process regarding exactly how frequently to check that company’s portal for gifts.

3. Make a plan for subaccounts.

Sometimes, an organization will receive an email from CyberGrants informing them that a company’s employee has nominated the nonprofit for inclusion in their Employee Giving Program. When this occurs, the organization has a few options regarding how it can respond.

For example, the nonprofit can choose to follow the instructions provided in the email to review and edit the information in the nomination request. Then, they can later confirm it, which will create a new subaccount in that company’s portal.

Alternatively, the organization can respond to the request and ask that CyberGrants associate the nominated account with one of the existing subaccounts for that company. This option can be helpful when the organization has several existing subaccounts and does not want any more to manage and follow up with. (Hint: Nonprofits should especially monitor and limit the number of subaccounts created in portals that utilize hidden gifts.)

4. Produce a “Portal Information” document.

To simplify gift verification, we recommend that nonprofits have a dedicated document they can reference while confirming initial donations. This document should host basic details about your organization (such as mailing address, contact information, EIN, and more) and ACH information, if applicable.

Each company requires different data for its verification process. Some ask for little to no information, while others may request a list of current board members, race/ethnicity breakdowns of the population served, and even the nonprofit’s annual budget. Having a unified location from which to derive all these particulars will make it significantly easier for the organization to confirm its pending gift requests.

CyberGrants is an invaluable tool for nonprofits looking to make the most of matching gifts. By managing your organization’s portal well and taking steps to streamline and standardize matching gift requests, you can set your team up for ongoing success using all the resources at your disposal.

Interested in learning more about matching gift programs and best practices to maximize your organization’s success? Check out our other educational resources:

Get started with matching gift best practices, with Double the Donation.