Learn how to improve the donor journey with matching gifts and Double the Donation!

Improving the Donor Journey with Matching Gifts

Improve your donors' matching gift journey with Double the Donation's software.

 

Matching gifts have the power to transform your nonprofit’s fundraising strategy, whether you’re just getting started with fundraising or you’re already well-established in the space. They’re a great way to boost funds and spark donor engagement. After all, why wouldn’t donors want to double or even triple their philanthropic impact without reaching back into their own pockets? 

Well, to start, donors face seemingly insurmountable barriers, which can substantially demotivate them. Commonly, donors encounter a general lack of knowledge. This often includes figuring out where they can find their employers’ guidelines and how they can determine their eligibility from there. These obstacles become considerably more challenging if your staff doesn’t have the necessary matching gift knowledge to fill in the gaps for donors (or simply doesn’t make a conscious effort in promoting the opportunity).

Overall, the answer is simple: nonprofits don’t optimize the entire donor experience. 

Often, nonprofits focus only on the processing side of the donor experience, not the donor journey itself. However, the journey plays a major role in whether or not you secure the match. Even if it does expand their impact, why would a donor go through the hassle of completing a match if they have to blindly navigate the process with little-to-no guidance?

In order to ignite motivation in match-eligible donors, you need to get rid of the outside perspective and focus on their point of view. That is, what does their journey look like? Do they understand the matching gift process? Is your nonprofit giving them all the resources they need to complete their matches, or are they unsure of what all they need to do? 

These are the questions your nonprofit should already be thinking about, and if you’re not, it’s about time you do.

In this guide, we’ll take a look at how exactly you can improve the donor journey with matching gifts. Prioritizing their experience is the only surefire way to secure the maximum amount of matches possible, after all. By making sure your donors feel valued, they’ll be much more motivated to complete the match process.

From the initial donation to follow-up, your team needs to streamline the donor journey with matching gifts. Doing so is crucial to fulfilling your matching gift potential. In this article, we’ll cover the exact steps for accomplishing this. Together, we’ll create a bulletproof plan for securing your portion of the $4-7 billion in matching gift funds that goes unclaimed each year.

Here’s a strategic guide for creating a positive experience for matching gift donors:

  1. Step 1: A Donor Makes a Gift
  2. Step 2: The Nonprofit Conducts Outreach
  3. Step 3: The Match is Verified
  4. Step 4: Define the Post Matching Gift Process
  5. Bonus: Assessing Your Organization’s Donor Experience
  6. Concluding Thoughts

Improving the donor journey involves understanding the matching gift lifecycle.

Let’s get started!

Step 1 to improving the donor journey involves the donor making a gift.

Donor Journey Step 1: A Donor Makes a Gift.

The moment a prospect decides to make a philanthropic impact on your cause is the moment the donor journey begins. Neglecting to take charge of matching gifts from the start creates poor motivation for the rest of the process for everyone involved.

To learn how to effectively build up (and maintain) donors’ momentum, let’s dive into the immediate next steps for your team to take after a gift is made.

Consider the Online and Offline Donation Processes

Organizations of all sizes have multiple revenue streams. Each comes with a unique experience, but overall, each donation method can be divided into two main categories: online and offline. 

For your team to be well-equipped in guiding donors through the matching gift process, you’ll need to understand each perspective in full. Let’s take a look at the process flow for an online match-eligible donor compared to that of an offline match-eligible donor. We’ll provide some key takeaways below.

This is the process for improving the online donor journey.


This is the process flow for improving the offline donor journey.

These processes are somewhat complex, so let’s take a look at a few crucial takeaways:

  • During the online experience, the donor is prompted to research their eligibility at the time of making a donation.
  • The offline experience requires manual data entry in your CRM, while employer data flows automatically into Double the Donation’s tools.
  • In both processes, Double the Donation’s tools streamline the research process and provide you with unique outreach strategies.

While most online donations occur through your digital donation form, there are several avenues which offline donors use to contribute. Because of this, you should be prepared with an actionable plan for efficiently incorporating matching gifts in your existing offline processes. For instance, your team may want to:

  • Create inserts for your direct mail campaigns.
  • Highlight matching gifts in major and planned giving conversations.
  • Provide a knowledgeable team member’s contact information when hosting in-person fundraisers like text-to-give campaigns.

While the bulk of your donations may come from online avenues, offline support is just as crucial to your organization’s success. By doing everything you can to increase awareness among all donors, you’ll be much more likely to secure the support you need.

Determine Eligibility

Considering that 84% of donors say they’re more likely to donate if a match is offered, donors should be able to research their eligibility prior to hitting submit. If you’ve invested in an employer search tool like Double the Donation, your donation process is an opportune momentum to make use of it. After all, making a gift is when donor engagement is at its peak, so you’ll want to do everything you can to proactively market matching gifts at this time.

As soon as your donor submits a donation, they should be greeted with more helpful resources to determine their eligibility. This could be anything from a helpful overview of matching gift programs to step-by-step instructions. Simply updating the confirmation screen to reference matching gifts can drive results for your team. Take a look at this example from the Cat Rescue Club:

Here's an example of how to use resources to improve the donor journey with matching gifts.

Without a dedicated tool directly embedded in your website, donors will be forced to research their employers’ match programs on their own. Ultimately, this will only send them away from your site which interrupts the donation process. This can be detrimental, because prospects are much more likely to get distracted and forget about completing their donation. Plus, locating guidelines can be a hassle for donors, leaving them frustrated if they’re not given some sort of guidance. 

To help, add a streamlined search tool on the donation form and then also present all the forms, guidelines, and instructions post-donation. By giving them exactly what they need to research their eligibility, they’ll be much more likely to do so. 

Here's another example of how to use resources to improve the donor journey with matching gifts.

Donors who are unsure of the matching gift process altogether may need a bit more guidance. That is, your team may need to determine their eligibility. Smaller organizations may benefit from researching with a dedicated search tool, but researching every donor’s eligibility may be out of reach for many nonprofits. This is where email domain screening comes in handy. 

With the assistance of a robust matching gift platform, your data will flow seamlessly into your match identification system the moment a donor submits their gift. Take this data and use it to evolve your follow-up messaging. For instance, you can screen donors based on email domains to identify more match-eligible donors. This can result in a 1% increase in total revenue

Then, streamline the process even further with automation, so no matching gift prospects go unnoticed. Offline donations will still need to be put in manually, but the less manual labor, the better!

Especially for larger organizations, automated identification can substantially boost your efforts and ensure that you’re cultivating relationships with all match-eligible donors, regardless of how they donated. Take the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for example. With Double the Donation, they’ve grown their matching gift revenue by over $3.4 million!

Step 2 to improving the donor journey with matching gifts is conducting outreach.

Donor Journey Step 2: The Nonprofit Conducts Outreach.

In the nonprofit sector, time means everything. To maximize the use of your team’s time, create guidelines surrounding which donors receive what outreach at what time. Here’s what we suggest for each (and remember to adjust based on your organization’s needs).

Follow-Up Emails

Thanks to robust matching gift tools, email outreach is automated. In other words, every single one of your donors should be receiving follow up emails encouraging them to research their eligibility.

Set up a consistent follow-up schedule to let donors know you truly care about them completing the process. So you can understand the type of schedule your team should implement, let’s take a look at Double the Donation’s automated follow-up procedures:

  1. Donors whose eligibility cannot be determined are sent an email prompting them to search their employer using the search tool. Our automated emails have a tracking code that captures the search results and updates your database. Donors in this category receive one follow-up email.
  2. Donors who are identified via the search tool or via email screening receive three reminder emails. By default, these emails are sent out:
    1. Immediately after the donation is made
    2. 3 days after the donation is made
    3. One month after the donation is made

By implementing some sort of follow-up schedule like the one indicated above, your team will effectively show your match-eligible donors how much you appreciate their additional support. If you don’t have software that tracks this information, determine which segment of your donor base would best benefit from follow-up messaging based on existing data and available team time. 

For the best results, send a dedicated email that clearly highlights that a donor’s gift may be eligible to be doubled. Keep in mind that a simple reminder can go a long way when it comes to cultivation. Take a look at this eye-catching email from the Cat Rescue Club:

Here's an email that helps improve the donor journey with matching gifts.

Direct Mail

While automated email outreach can be a great first step, direct mail strategies can help your organization’s messaging stand out to recipients among the countless other communications in their inbox. It’s also a good idea to send direct mailings as a follow-up to your mid-sized and higher-value donations to better communicate your gratitude.

Consider the following types of mailings you might send to promote matching gifts to supporters:

  • Full-size marketing and communication packages
  • Fundraising postcards
  • Paper inserts within other direct mail materials

Regardless of the type of direct mail you choose to leverage, a few best practices remain the same. These tried-and-true tips can help simplify the matching gift process for both you and your donors:

  • Personalize your matching gift letters as much as possible. Include references to the donor’s name (or preferred nickname), most recent donation information, and employer within your letter. This shows the recipient that the message was carefully crafted just for them, which will make them more inclined to follow through.
  • Make the suggested next steps clear and easy. Once you have your donor’s attention with your matching gift mailing, how do they know what action they should take? Ensure your calls to action are prominent and easy to follow—such as a short, simple URL or QR code directing the user to your searchable employer database.
  • Invest in high-quality materials for a professional look and feel. Donors will be more likely to take your message seriously when it’s clear that you put the effort into creating a visually appealing material of the highest quality.

Luckily, all of these practices are easy to follow when you work with a dedicated direct mail fundraising platform such as GivingMail. Plus, you can save your team time and money that can be reallocated into your mission and maximize top matching gift prospects.

Phone Calls

Human-to-human interaction is more meaningful than an email. With this type of outreach, you should be more selective. It takes only a few minutes to type up an email (and no time at all with an automated reminder system), but a phone call will take up several minutes of your team’s time—several minutes that could be better spent cultivating relationships with high-value matching gift donors. 

To narrow down your list, only call those who are strong prospects. Doing this enables your team to:

  • Communicate on a deeper level and develop relationships with high-value donors.
  • Provide assistance to those who may be confused about the matching gift process.
  • Conduct quick follow-ups with donors who are much more likely to submit matches.

As you get started, you may wonder how exactly to determine which donors your team should reach out to and which should only receive automated communications. To aid in the selection process, create criteria such as the following:

  • Minimum donation amount. What do you consider to be the minimum valuable donation amount to follow up on? Many organizations set a minimum donation of $50 before they reach out, but this varies widely from organization to organization. Either choose to set this minimum based on the donation amount or the match amount since different employers offer different match ratios.
  • Donor Eligibility. Are you able to determine if their employer offers a matching gift program? Further, are they eligible for their employer’s program? If not, it may not be worth your organization’s time to chase the match.
  • Nonprofit Eligibility. Is your nonprofit eligible for the employer’s program? If not, take note for future reference and spend time cultivating other strong match-eligible prospects. This way, you don’t waste time reaching out to donors whose employers won’t match donations made to your organization.

So that you have an actionable example to follow, let’s look into some sample data from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. They set specific requirements for reaching out via phone call, which included a minimum donation amount and the organization’s eligibility for employers’ matching gift programs.

After applying a $250 minimum threshold to all donations, their list of 2,300 donors was brought down to 240. After applying some additional criteria concerning their organization’s eligibility, the number of potential match-eligible donations was brought down to 217. In other words, they reached out to a fraction of the original donors by locating their top available matches and ensuring they didn’t spend time chasing nonexistent opportunities.

Once you’ve put criteria like that in place, your team will need to prepare for the outbound calls. A script is a fantastic way to accomplish this! If you’re already doing follow-up outreach to select donors, it could be as easy as asking them if they have any questions about the matching gift process. A simple question may be all you need to initiate a conversation with some donors!

While all matching gift donors are important, it can be worthwhile going the extra mile to express appreciation to those who contribute substantially more than others.

Step 3 to improving the donor journey with matching gifts is verifying the match.

Donor Journey Step 3: The Match is Verified.

While the most challenging part of securing matching gift funds is encouraging donors to complete the process, don’t forget about your nonprofit’s role. After a donor completes a matching gift request, a substantial portion of the responsibility is shifted over to your team. 

It’s up to you to drive the verification process to completion, so your donors’ hard work to submit their matches doesn’t go to waste.

This may seem like a simple step. After all, all your team needs to do is tell the company, “Yes, your employee did in fact make a donation to our organization, and we meet your company’s eligibility requirements.” However, verification is easier said than done.

Whether it’s managing thousands of portal logins or allocating matches back to donors, the verification process can be tricky. However, it’s a vital step in the match process, and if your team doesn’t understand it in full, it can disrupt the process for donors. Ultimately, this may mean the difference in whether or not you actually secure the funds. 

If you don’t have set processes in place around matching gift verification, it might be time to consider creating some. Streamlining your verification process means you’ll be able to verify gifts more quickly, which creates a better overall donor experience.

A great place to start is by familiarizing yourself with the corporate giving platforms you may encounter during verification. Many companies outsource their matching gift programs to these third-party software providers. There are about 10 major corporate giving platforms that work with corporations, and organizations must use these portals to verify the donations and disbursement of funds. 

Since you’ll be dealing directly with these vendors, it’s important to understand the requirements for each. Let’s take a closer look at 3 of the most widely-used platforms:

Familiarize yourself with these widely used platforms so you can improve the donor journey with matching gifts.

While this part of the process depends substantially on your team, there is a way you can improve the donor’s perspective. You should give them every piece of information and form they need, whether that’s through helpful resources or through one-on-one conversations.

Make sure your team is up-to-speed on the guidelines for each major vendor. Your dedicated matching gift page can be as much of a resource for staff as it is for donors—especially if you have a search tool at your disposal. For one, this ensures you won’t overlook a single matching gift dollar. It also enables you to quickly answer donors’ questions about these systems as they arise. When your team can help them navigate any obstacles they’ve encountered, they won’t feel as though they’ve been left to fend for themselves.

Whatever you do, do not forget to verify the gift. This is the final step before receiving a check, and the last thing you want to do is slip up and miss out on the match! Fortunately, more and more companies are moving to matching gift processes that don’t require nonprofit verification!

Best Practice: Present matching gift information immediately after a donation is made on the donation confirmation screen and via separate matching gift email.

Step 4 of improving the donor journey is determining the post matching gift process.

Donor Journey Step 4: Define the Post Matching Gift Process.

So you’ve secured the match and received the check. Great! The process doesn’t end here though. Remember, it’s a lifecycle, so it’s an ongoing process. 

You’ve done all you can to streamline the process for matching gift donors, and they’ll appreciate it. However, you need to stay front of mind if you plan on continuing to secure these funds. Cultivation is the final piece to the puzzle, so don’t leave it up to chance. Instead, define the post matching gift process for your organization. 

While the key is revenue growth, defining your post matching gift process can take your strategies to the next level. It’s important to note that this is entirely optional but can prove beneficial over time. 

Whether post-matching-gift outreach is done upon verification or after the check is received differs between organizations and depends on your unique needs. Define the optimal time for your organization, so you’ll be consistent and not let anything fall through the cracks. Let’s take a look at a few common elements of any effective post matching gift strategy.

Thank Your Donors.

This should go without saying, but it bears repeating: always thank your donors—especially your matching gift donors!

Today’s technology enables automated communication, meaning your team doesn’t have to do anything more than customize a template to express gratitude for a match. For your high-value matching gift donors, you’ll want to manually reach out to say thank you though. After all, nothing replaces the authenticity of personalized outreach.

Every dollar counts, but manual outreach for all matching gift donors simply isn’t feasible for most organizations. What constitutes a high-value matching gift donor varies from organization to organization, so you’ll first need to determine the threshold for your nonprofit, whether it’s $50, $500, or $5,000. This will make it much easier to organize communications and determine which matching gift donors will receive manual outreach and which will receive automated emails.

Outreach for high-level donors could come from the Executive Direct (ED), a Director of Development or relevant program the donor contributed to, a Board member, or other senior leadership staff. The acknowledgments they could use to effectively convey gratitude may include:

  • Handwritten Letters
  • Personalized Emails
  • Phone Calls
  • Postcards

Depending on your team’s processes and availability, you could all go out or select a combination of a couple acknowledgement techniques.

In any case, remember that people want to be thanked in the way they gave. Whether it’s through direct mail or online, make sure to proactively contact them the same way they donated. They’ll recognize and appreciate the fact that you’re taking their preferences into account.

Send Well-Timed Solicitation.

Sending matching gift solicitation during special dates often produces results. Well-timed communication can serve as a simple yet powerful reminder for many donors.

To help determine the best dates for your organization, keep in mind that matching gift deadlines usually fall under one of two types:

  1. Within a set number of months — A company may choose to stipulate how many months it will fulfill a match up to. For instance, this could be 3, 6, or even 12 months following the initial donation.
  2. By the end of the calendar year — Employees must submit their match request within the same calendar year that the donation is made. Some companies may offer an extended grace period of one or two months.

At Double the Donation, we recommend that you conduct this outreach as soon as possible. Around 95% of our clients send the first matching gift message within 24 hours, then follow up within 7 days. Automating communication and follow-up in a timely manner is crucial.

An additional period to conduct outreach is toward the end of the year. Many company submission deadlines are around this time, and creating a dedicated strategy for mass outreach can encourage donors to submit their requests. 

This is an optimal time to connect with donors and Double the Donation makes it easy to send simple (yet effective) reminders with the end-of-year email stream. When you enable the automated stream, one end-of-year email will be sent to donors who fulfill the following criteria:

  1. The donor identified that they work for a company with a matching gift program.
  2. The donor hasn’t identified that they’ve submitted a matching gift request.
  3. The donation was made between January 1st and November 30th of the current year.

Best of all, it honors the email blacklist, sending limits, and company exclusions. All you need to do is enable it and select a date for the emails to be triggered. This eliminates the need for manual outreach and delivers value directly to match-eligible donors.

Use automated emails to improve the donor journey with matching gifts.

Bonus Idea: To hone in on your high-value donors, ask your matching gift coordinator to focus on your top 25 matching gift opportunities. Then, conduct targeted outbound calling in order to launch you toward your year-end goals. Remember, a simple reminder can go a long way.

Time permitting, you can expand your organization-wide solicitation beyond year-end. Consider other events, drives, or funds your organization has throughout the year. Then, try adding matching gift language prior to, during, or after these events as well. 

When experimenting, if you see a lift using one particular tactic, this might incentivize your team to put out solicitations during other key times.

Another way to improve the donor journey with matching gifts is to assess your organization's donor experience.

Bonus: Assessing Your Organization’s Donor Experience

So you’ve outlined your entire donor journey. You’re pretty confident that the experience is positive and effectively encourages matching gift donors to submit matches again, but how do you know for sure?

Determining where there’s a dropoff in the process can point to areas of improvement in the donor journey. Let’s take a look at a few actionable steps for doing so, so your team can easily refine the donor journey with matching gifts.

Designate a Matching Gift Owner at Your Organization.

If you haven’t already designated a staff member who owns matching gifts, consider assigning one to take care of all your organization’s matching gift needs. 

This individual should be in charge of the entire process, including all outreach. Task them with conducting appropriate follow up and gathering feedback. Once they’ve gathered this input, don’t just let that information sit there! Do something with it! 

Having someone responsible for this enables you to act on the feedback your donors provide, and implementing the suggested changes conveys to matching gift donors that your team values them.

Best Practice: Not only should this individual be fully educated on the matching gift process, but they should also understand how to navigate your matching gift database and automation tools.

Assess Your Website’s Matching Gift Visibility.

Online fundraising is ever-growing and is increasingly important for nonprofits across the board. In other words, your website serves as a fantastic resource for promoting matching gifts!

Attempt to take the view of the average user who may be curious about matching gifts. Then, walk through your website. Specifically, you’ll want to assess the degree of matching gift visibility by asking yourself the following questions:

  • Do you have a dedicated matching gift page?
  • Is your matching gift page visible in your navigation?
  • Is your matching gift page easily found via the search feature?
  • Do you have information about matching gifts on your Ways to Give page?
  • Do you have a matching gift search tool embedded above the fold on your matching gift page?
  • Are you giving donors step-by-step instructions for completing their match requests?

By increasing visibility across your website, you’ll increase awareness as a whole and improve the likelihood that match-eligible donors will complete their matches.

Best Practice: If you’re unsure of where to start in this process, go through the above steps for other organizations’ websites. Compare their matching gift visibility with yours, so you can refine your strategy and improve the donor journey all-around.

Assess Your Online and Offline Donation Process.

To take your assessment one step further, walk through your donation process step by step. When reviewing your online donation process, answer these questions:

  • Are you mentioning matching gifts in your direct mail outreach?
  • Are you providing links to your dedicated matching gift page?
  • Are you capturing or asking for employer information for offline donations?
  • Are you following up with donors via email?
  • Are you conducting personalized outreach via phone?

Once you’ve optimized your offline donation process, shift your focus to the online donation process. Specifically, you’ll need to answer the following key questions:

  • Is your matching gift tool embedded in your donation page?
  • Do you provide your matching gift search tool post-transaction?
  • Are you capturing and storing matching gifts based on donor records captured via your search tool?
  • Are you following up with donors via email?
  • Are you conducting personalized outreach via phone to any of your donors?

Best Practice: Nearly half of all nonprofit website traffic comes from mobile and tablet users. Because of this, you’ll want to consider the matching gift process for mobile donors. How much information do they have to rifle through to complete the process? To start, limit text and images on matching gift appeals as much as possible without sacrificing value.

These are our concluding thoughts on how to improve the donor journey with matching gifts.

Concluding Thoughts

We hope that you’ve found the information within this guide insightful and helpful for improving your nonprofit’s donor journey. Whether or not your matching gift donor’s experience is positive or negative can be the defining factor in whether or not you secure future matches. In fact, it may even determine if you ever receive a matching gift in the first place.

Creating a positive experience is easier said than done, though. It takes a full understanding of the matching gift process from start to finish and requires you to put yourself in your donor’s shoes. From the moment someone makes a gift to the moment you follow up, your team must proactively prioritize and improve the donor experience.

Above all, remember that donors are the backbone of your organization. If you want to keep them around, you need to do everything you can to optimize their time and support. By leveraging the tips presented in this guide, you’ll be off to a great start! 

From here, consider these actionable next steps to take back to your team:

Step 1: Consider your current donation processes.

Step 2: Talk about matching gifts with your donors and proactively follow up.

Step 3: Streamline your verification processes.

Step 4: Continue to engage with match-eligible donors outside of solely matching gifts.

Now that you’re well-versed in what a positive donor journey looks like with matching gifts, feel free to share your newfound knowledge with your team. Go into it with enthusiasm and you’re sure to improve the donor journey in no time!

About Double the Donation

At Double the Donation, our mission is to help nonprofits increase fundraising from corporate giving programs. Our services make receiving matching gifts and volunteer grants quick and easy. By partnering with our expert team, nonprofit organizations can focus on what’s truly important: serving their core missions—whether that’s education, community enrichment, scientific research, or charitable giving. 

Regardless of your mission, our team of professionals and our robust matching gift platform will help you to improve the donor experience all-around.

Author: Adam Weinger

Adam Weinger is one of the leading experts on corporate giving programs.

He’s the president of Double the Donation, a company that helps organizations raise more money from employee matching gift and volunteer grant programs. The company partners with nonprofits of all shapes and sizes, including arts and cultural organizations, hospitals, educational institutions, and community-based organizations.

 

Click to see how Double the Donation can enhance your donor journey.

Marketing Your Matching Gifts Program

78% of donors whose employers will match their donations have no idea their gifts could count for double. That means your organization could be missing out on hundreds (or thousands!) of dollars in matched gifts. What steps can you take to let your donors know about potential matches?

There are a few ways you can tell your donors about potential matches and encourage them to submit them to their employers. Here are some simple ways to spread the word!

Include a note in your appeal

One of the most powerful places to place information you want donors to see is in the post-script of a letter or email. Next time you send an appeal, try including a short post-script encouraging donors to give and to submit that gift for a match. You’ll want to include a little instruction on how to do so! Keep it brief, pointed, and descriptive so donors get the message without detracting from your appeal.

Here’s what it could look like:

P.S. As our community adapts to the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more families rely on donors like you to keep our food bank’s shelves stocked. A gift of just $15.75 will feed a family of four for a week! Visit ourwebsite.com/donate to feed a family today!

P.P.S. Do you want to make an even bigger difference? Use the plugin on our donation page to see if your employer will match your gift! A few seconds and a couple of clicks could make your gift go twice as far.

A simple one- or two-sentence note in your appeal could encourage donors to double their gift—and their impact. Give it a shot during your next campaign and see what happens!

Brother Wolf Animal Rescue started off their Giving Tuesday Now email with matching gift information.

Highlight your matching gifts program on social media

The idea of plugging your matching gifts program on your social media channels might initially sound like a bad idea. Donors generally look at a nonprofit’s social channels for updates about their work, impact reports, stories from clients, and information about upcoming events and campaigns. Is there really a good way to promote your matching gifts program?

Yes! You just have to make it appealing to your donors. Instead of talking about how important matching gifts are to your organization, focus on showing donors how much good they can do in the world by submitting their gifts for a match. Donors give because they want to make a difference; if you can show them that they can double their impact in just a few seconds, they’ll be more likely to give.

Here’s how (and how not) to plug your matching program in a social post:

Weaker: Every month, our organization provides groceries to hundreds of local families. We rely on support from donors in our community to make that happen! If you’re interested in supporting our organization as we keep our food pantry full, please donate at the link below. You can even use the matching gifts tool on the page to see if you can double your donation!

Stronger: You know how important community is, especially during times like these. When you support our food bank, you’re doing more than just donating—you’re feeding hungry families! Now, you can double your gift in just a few seconds. Use the matching gift tool on our donation page to see if your employer will match your gift. Just a few clicks can provide twice the food to your community! 

A few simple changes to the copy can make a big difference! Instead of posting about your organization and your new tool, try talking about your donors and how they can make a bigger difference in the world without spending extra money. They’ll be more inspired to give!

San Francisco City Impact created eye-catching images to promote gift matching on their social media channels.

Add some (subtle) details to your donation form

Online shopping, bill payment, and other transactions are more common by the day. While that means people are increasingly comfortable donating online, it also means donors are on autopilot when they’re making a gift. Some may even use tools that auto-fill common forms like personal information and payment methods. That means they’re more likely not to look at each area of your form, including your matching gifts tool.

Try catching your donors’ attention by drawing their eyes to your matching gifts plugin. You could do this a few ways:

  • Add a few words about matching gifts to the top of your donation form
  • Update the matching gifts title and description with friendly, eye-catching copy
  • Add a line or two of copy above the plugin and consider making the text a contrasting (but complementary!) color

You could also try adding your matching gifts plugin to your confirmation page! That will give donors the option to submit their gift to their employer even if they missed it during the donation process.

Some online donation platforms, like Qgiv, have integrations with matching gift services like Double the Donation so you can simply toggle on the service and provide a way for donors to find and initiate matching gifts with their employers right on your donation form.

Merit School of Music uses the Qgiv and Double the Donation integration on their main online donation form.

Caption: Merit School of Music uses the Qgiv and Double the Donation integration on their main online donation form.

Conclusion

Anything you can do to draw more attention to your matching gifts campaign and encourage donors to use your matching tools is a bonus! The more your donors are aware of matching options, the more likely they are to use them. That means more revenue for you and more satisfaction for your donors! Try including matching information in your appeals, highlighting your matching gifts tools on your social media posts, and use subtle design elements to draw attention to your matching plugin or integration on your donation form. And be patient! It takes time for donors to change their donation behaviors and patterns—give them matching tools, gently encourage their use, and keep an eye on your bottom line. Your donors are passionate about the work you do—they’ll start using those tools soon!


This blog post was contributed by Abby Jarvis from Qgiv. Abby Jarvis is the Nonprofit Education Manager at Qgiv, a company dedicated to building powerful online fundraising tools that empower nonprofits to thrive and grow. In her 7 years at Qgiv, Abby has become passionate about studying industry best practices, learning how they can help nonprofits be more effective, and sharing that information with fundraisers. When she’s not teaching fundraising workshops at Qgiv’s Fundraising Labs or at conferences, she chairs the fundraising committee on a nonprofit board in her hometown of Lakeland, Florida.

Double the Donation and Totem announce a new partnership!

Totem Insights Chooses Double the Donation for Exclusive Matching Gifts Integrated Solution

Double the Donation is proud to announce an exclusive partnership with Totem Insights, a six-in-one supporter engagement platform, with an integration of the Double the Donation matching gifts solution into the Totem donation management fundraising platform. The integration provides nonprofits with the ability to engage with and receive matching gift funds from the over 26 million individuals who work for companies with matching gift programs. 

“Here at Totem, we are always seeking to create more efficient and streamlined experiences for donors by continuously releasing new features that make our donor management system even more robust,” said Alan Wei, CEO and Co-Founder of Totem Insights. “With the understanding that donors are more likely to give if their donation is matched, we believe that the Double the Donation by Double the Donation integration achieves the goal of providing a better donor experience while helping nonprofits increase their fundraising dollars.”

Totem users are now able to include the Double the Donation streamlined matching gift search tool as a field on their donation forms. As donors search for their company name in that field, their transaction record is updated in Double the Donation. This functionality of the Double the Donation platform ensures that every matching gift opportunity is identified, driven to completion, and reported back to the nonprofit — all automatically. 

“Lack of donor awareness is the number one reason for the $4-7 billion in matching gift revenue left on the table every year,” says Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation. “We are so excited to be Totem’s exclusive choice for a matching gift solution partner.”

Double the Donation’s database of matching gift companies takes the guesswork and time out of the matching gift process, leaving nonprofits time to focus on top opportunities with the Totem and Double the Donation integration.

Activate in seconds and start raising more from matching gifts!

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

The Double the Donation and Totem integration can be activated by the Totem support team in a matter of minutes, so you can get straight to matching gifts—no complicated IT work is required. 

Find your company name with ease

Donors can enter their company name to see their match eligiblity.

 

 

Once integrated, Double the Donation presents donors with multiple opportunities to identify their employer during the donation process without interrupting the flow of the donation experience. The autocomplete search tool maps your donor’s entries to corresponding company names and follows up on each submission with a link to the donor’s company matching gift request form.

The integration also immediately recognizes corporate email addresses and populates the search field with the corresponding company, making it even easier for donors to discover their eligibility for a match. And with 1 in 3 donors more likely to give if they are match-eligible, nonprofits who use Totem and Double the Donation can take their fundraising strategy to the next level with the help of gift matching. 

Double the Donation collects this data and transforms it into actionable insights for your organization so you can keep your donor information streamlined and consolidated. The results are higher matching gift request rates and revenue, higher percentages of donors with current employer information on file, and a wealth of useful corporate philanthropy-related data for nonprofit teams.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

drive more matching gifts to completion with Double the Donation

 

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with Double the Donation!

Totem seeks to help nonprofits cultivate more donations, develop an effective fundraising strategy, discover untapped database potential, and more. Double the Donation enhances that mission by incorporating corporate philanthropy and matching gifts to the fundraising conversation. 

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

How Double the Donation tools drive value

To get started on your matching gift journey with Totem and Double the Donation, schedule a private demo of Double the Donation today. 


About Totem Insights: Totem offers a single platform to handle all of your constituent, donor, member, volunteer, program, and event needs. With years of experience working with and for nonprofits of all sizes, Totem remains dedicated to finding new solutions and providing top-notch, human support to the “helpers” amongst us.  At Totem, we help the helpers. Learn more at www.totemfgf.com

About Double the Donation:  Automate your matching gift fundraising with the industry-leading solution from Double the Donation. The Double the Donation platform provides nonprofits with tools to identify match-eligible donors, drive matches to completion, and gain actionable insights. Double the Donation integrates directly into donation forms, CRMs, social fundraising software, and other nonprofit technology solutions to capture employment information and follow up appropriately with donors about matching gifts. To learn more about Double the Donation, visit https://doublethedonation.com and request a demo at https://doublethedonation.com/get-a-demo/

GiveSignup | RunSignup Debuts Corporate Matching Gifts Integration with Double the Donation

GiveSignup | RunSignup is proud to debut a new corporate matching gifts integration with Double the Donation, the leading provider of matching gift and volunteer grant solutions to nonprofits and educational institutions.

Nonprofits that use Double the Donation as their corporate matching gift platform can now enable the integration on any GiveSignup | RunSignup fundraising run/walk/ride, virtual event, challenge, donation website, donation form, and standalone fundraising campaign.

When $4-7 million in corporate matching gift revenue is left on the table every year, nonprofits miss out on revenue that could be used to power their missions. Double the Donation helps nonprofits capture their full matching gift potential through powerful automated matching gift identification, completion, and reporting. Integrated with GiveSignup | RunSignup, Double the Donation closes the matching gift revenue gap with minimal configuration and setup.

“GiveSignup | RunSignup is proud to recommend Double the Donation as our preferred partner for corporate matching gifts,” said Bob Bickel, Founder of RunSignup. “The time-saving, custom automation available through their system can’t be beat. We hope all our nonprofits take advantage of this new partnership!”

The integration is simple for nonprofits with a Double the Donation account to activate (Don’t have an account yet? Request a demo!). With one click in the GiveSignup | RunSignup platform, nonprofits can link their Double the Donation account to any event, donation website, donation form, or fundraising campaign that they create.

Double the Donation makes it easy for donors, too! When giving through GiveSignup | RunSignup donation pages, each donor is automatically evaluated for their matching gift eligibility and presented with the next steps for their company’s matching gift program.

“Seamlessness is a hallmark of Double the Donation integrations,” said Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation. “It’s important for donors to move smoothly through the donation process while the nonprofit simultaneously captures essential matching gift eligibility information. Double hte Donation and GiveSignup | RunSignup combine to provide that seamless experience for nonprofits and their donors.”

Close the revenue gap for your next race with the new integration between Double the Donation and GiveSignup | RunSignup!

This image explains that activating 360MatchPro will only take seconds, and it will help you start raising more funds from matching gifts.

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

Double the Donation integrates seamlessly with GiveSignup | RunSignup software, making the setup process quick and easy. Once you obtain a Double the Donation account, you can begin adding the powerful gift matching tool to your website and race forms.

Simply log on to your GiveSignup | RunSignup account, and navigate to the “Corporate Matching Gifts” tab. This can be found by first selecting the “Donations” option. This page will then prompt you to enter your Double the Donation credentials.

This image shows the option to enter 360MatchPro credentials into the RunSignUp platform.

These API keys can easily be obtained once your Double the Donation account has been provisioned. They are designed to link the gift matching tool on your donation forms directly to your Double the Donation dashboard.

After this step is completed, you will be ready to begin increasing your revenue through corporate gift matching! Now you can check out the Double the Donation tool on your donation websites or race forms.

This image shows the 360MatchPro tool on a RunSignUp page.

This streamlined search tool allows donors to type in the name of their employer directly onto the form. Then, a drop down menu will appear and suggest possible options. This keeps the donor running smoothly through the donation process.

This image shows the 360MatchPro search tool in use.

Once a donor enters their employer information, the Double the Donation database scans an extensive database of employer gift matching programs. If the donor is identified as match-eligible, an automated yet personalized email to help them drive their gift match to completion.

That’s all there is to it! This simple setup process can be activated in seconds so that you may drive donations through corporate gift matching.

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

drive more matching gifts to completion with Double the Donation

 

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with Double the Donation!

Double the Donation uses industry-leading practices to ensure a valuable and efficient gift matching experience. Its many features take care of the gift matching process so that you can focus your time on your organization’s top priorities.

Double the Donation will:

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

 

Ready to see it in action? Schedule a demo for a personalized session to discuss the gift matching needs of your organization.


About GiveSignup | RunSignup: GiveSignup | RunSignup is a leading all-in-one platform for fundraising and endurance events. More than 21,000 events, supporting over 8,000 nonprofits, use GiveSignup | RunSignup’s free and integrated solution to save time, grow their events, and raise more. Built on a powerful CRM, our expertly crafted, open, and all-in-one solution powers nonprofit revenue generation and supporter engagement from run/walk/rides to ticket events to donation websites, forms, and fundraising campaigns. For more information, visit www.givesignup.org or www.runsignup.com.

About Double the Donation: Automate your matching gift fundraising with the industry-leading solution from Double the Donation. The Double the Donation platform provides nonprofits with tools to identify match-eligible donors, drive matches to completion, and gain actionable insights. Double the Donation integrates directly into donation forms, CRMs, social fundraising software, and other nonprofit technology solutions to capture employment information and follow up appropriately with donors about matching gifts. To learn more visit: https://doublethedonation.com/get-a-demo/

DonorDrive Chooses Partnership with Double the Donation to Drive More Matching Gift Revenue for Nonprofits

DonorDrive Chooses Partnership with Double the Donation to Drive More Matching Gift Revenue for Nonprofits

DonorDrive is proud to announce a new built-in integration with Double the Donation, the leading matching gifts automation platform.

The new partnership drives more revenue for nonprofit organizations through a tight integration between DonorDrive donation forms and Double the Donation’s automated gift matching identification and workflows. With $4-7 billion in matching gift revenue left unclaimed every year, the new integration is essential for nonprofits looking to bridge the gap.

“Our mission at DonorDrive is to power our nonprofit clients’ missions by making available the best-in-class strategies, tools, and partners” said Marc Rubner, CEO at DonorDrive. “Our new partnership with Double the Donation supports this mission through our integration with the solution.”

The new integration with Double the Donation is quick for nonprofits to activate and easy for donors to navigate. Nonprofits using the integration will capture donors’ matching gift eligibility when they give, then automated personalized communication streams will drive matching gifts to completion. Donors who are match-eligible move seamlessly through the entire integrated workflow to swiftly match the gift they’ve just made, thereby doubling revenue for the nonprofits they’re supporting.

“Double the Donation Matching drives immediate results for DonorDrive clients with the new integration,” said Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation. “We’re focused on a frictionless donor experience, which preserves donation form conversion rates while capturing the employer information that’s essential for doubling revenue.”

The new Double the Donation integration with DonorDrive will help nonprofits take advantage of the corporate matching gift opportunities their donors are eligible for, working together toward closing the $4-7 billion matching gift revenue gap.

Activate in seconds and start raising more from matching gifts with 360MatchPro and DonorDrive

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

Activating the Double the Donation integration within DonorDrive is easy. The support teams will take care of everything for you! And once you’re integrated, it’s time to get the most out of your new Double the Donation Matching automation.

As donors make a gift to your organization, they will have the opportunity to search for their company’s name. The helpful text above the company name search fields lets the donor know why you’re asking for their employer information — to double the impact of their gift!

The 360MatchPro streamlined company name search field on your DonorDrive donation form presents an easy-to-navigate drop-down list of matching gift companies for your donor to select from.

The Double the Donation streamlined company name search field on your DonorDrive donation form presents an easy-to-navigate drop-down list of matching gift companies for your donor to select from.

But the matching gift journey doesn’t stop there. After your donor submits their gift, it’s time to direct them to the next steps they need to take to get it matched by their company. The Double the Donation integration will inform the donor right on the confirmation page whether they’re eligible for a matching gift and what to do next.

360MatchPro takes donors from your DonorDrive confirmation page to their company's matching gift form with one click.

Double the Donation takes donors from your DonorDrive confirmation page to their company’s matching gift form with one click.

The donor can navigate directly to their company’s matching gift form or view additional guidelines with one click. That one click means double the revenue for your organization!

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

Drive More Matches to Completion with Double the Donation!

The combination of DonorDrive donation forms and Double the Donation matching gift automation will seamlessly lead donors through the donation and matching gift process for all your fundraising events. Keep in mind the following benefits of Double the Donation:

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

360MatchPro and DonorDrive provide value to your nonprofit

Put the integrated solutions to work for your next fundraising event! Schedule a demo of Double the Donation to learn how to maximize your matching gift revenue.


About DonorDrive®: DonorDrive is an enterprise-level fundraising platform that turns everyday people into powerful fundraisers. With over 20 years of fundraising innovation, DonorDrive has helped hundreds of nonprofits, like Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Arthritis Foundation, and World Vision grow and become industry leaders. Through innovative solutions such as Live FundraisingTM, Express DonateTM, Facebook Fundraisers, and the Fundraising Motivation EngineTM, DonorDrive has enabled nonprofits to raise over $1 Billion. To learn more visit, www.donordrive.com.

About Double the Donation: Automate your matching gift fundraising with the industry-leading solution from Double the Donation. The Double the Donation platform provides nonprofits with tools to identify match-eligible donors, drive matches to completion, and gain actionable insights. Double the Donation integrates directly into donation forms, CRMs, social fundraising software, and other nonprofit technology solutions to capture employment information and follow up appropriately with donors about matching gifts. To learn more visit https://doublethedonation.com/get-a-demo/

Double the Donation Partners with Give Lively to Offer Corporate Matching Gifts Solution to 10,000+ More Nonprofits

Double the Donation Partners with Give Lively to Offer Corporate Matching Gifts Solution to 10,000+ More Nonprofits

Double the Donation, the leading provider of matching gift and volunteer grant solutions to nonprofits, is excited to announce the integration of its 360MatchPro corporate matching gift solution with Give Lively, a New York City-based tech company reimagining the future of nonprofit fundraising for free.

Give Lively built and supports a powerful and practical nonprofit fundraising platform that provides unlimited access to free digital, peer- a360MatchPro adds gift matching to your donation pagesnd event-based fundraising technology. The rapidly growing tech company facilitates hundreds of thousands of donations every year for its 10,000+ nonprofit members, all of which can now benefit from industry-leading corporate matching gift automation from Double the Donation.

“We believe nonprofits, no matter their size, should not sacrifice their means to satisfy their missions. Our direct collaboration with them reflects this; their needs propel the development of our product,” said David DeParolesa, CEO of Give Lively. “Double the Donation addresses an area of fundraising that our nonprofit members find invaluable for their fundraising strategy. We’re proud to offer them the opt-in opportunity to add the 360MatchPro matching gift solution and open up new avenues for fundraising perhaps unknown to their donors.”

$4-7 billion in matching gift revenue is left on the table every year and the gap can be attributed to a lack of donor awareness of corporate matching gift programs. According to Double the Donation’s analysis, 78% of match-eligible donors do not know their company offers a matching gift program, and only 7% of donors at companies with matching gift programs get their gifts matched. 360MatchPro by Double the Donation ensures that every matching gift opportunity is identified, driven to completion, and reported back to the nonprofit — all automatically.

“Every nonprofit we speak with knows that corporate matching gifts are an important source of fundraising revenue, but many don’t know how to increase their matching gift numbers,” said Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation. “The 360MatchPro platform closes the matching gift awareness gap by identifying match-eligible donors and guiding them through the complicated matching gift process, all without any manual action by the nonprofit.”

The Give Lively and Double the Donation partnership integrates in minutes and can raising your fundraising revenue by double or even triple the amount.

Activate in seconds and start raising more from matching gifts with 360MatchPro and DonorDrive

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

To begin your matching gifts journey, establish a 360MatchPro account with Double the Donation. Then, take your new 360MatchPro account and connect it to your existing Give Lively account. Once connected, 360MatchPro will automatically begin searching for matching gift opportunities and driving them to completion as donors give through your Give Lively forms!

easily integrate with API keys in minutes. No coding required!

With your 360MatchPro account plugged into your Give Lively platform, the 360MatchPro tool is enabled globally across your confirmation pages. After a donor makes a donation to your organization, they’ll be prompted to search for their company to see if they are match eligible via the 360MatchPro autocomplete search tool. That means donors can go straight from your organization’s confirmation page to their company matching gift application form, streamlining the donor’s journey to doubling their donation!

About 10 percent of the workforce—that’s approximately 26 million individuals—work for companies with matching gift programs. The Give Lively and 360MatchPro integration makes it possible for your organization to reach that population by giving donors the resources they need to get their gifts matched through an easy-to-use search tool, consistent communication through automated emails, and a platform that keeps track of the gift matching process every step of the way.

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

This header image states: "Drive more matching gifts to completion with 360MatchPro!"

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with 360MatchPro!

With the new integration from Give Lively and Double the Donation, you can take advantage of corporate philanthropy and claim millions of dollars in fundraising revenue via corporate gift matching. The 360MatchPro tool helps you every step of the way from identification of match-eligible donors to leading those donors to their employer’s gift matching page to tracking matching statuses and other fundraising trends. 

360MatchPro can change your fundraising strategy for the better

Give Lively’s goal is to help nonprofits of all sizes take advantage of the digital fundraising movement by dramatically improving the giving experience for everyone. The 360MatchPro integration helps Give Lively accomplish that mission with features like the following:

  • 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.

Request a demo today to get started with improving the giving experience for you and your donors. 


About Give Lively: Give Lively believes nonprofits shouldn’t sacrifice their means to satisfy their missions. They are a philanthropist-funded, social impact-driven tech company that collaborates directly with nonprofits to build better fundraising tech and give it away to them for free. Visit www.givelively.org to learn 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. To learn more about Double the Donation, visit https://doublethedonation.com and request a demo at https://360matchpro.com/demo-request/

Qgiv Expands Integration with Preferred Partner Double the Donation into Peer-to-Peer Fundraising and Auction Forms

Qgiv Expands Integration with Preferred Partner Double the Donation into Peer-to-Peer Fundraising and Auction Forms

Qgiv is pleased to announce an expansion of its preferred partnership with Double the Donation, the leading provider of matching gift and volunteer grant solutions to nonprofits and educational institutions. Double the Donation is now available on Qgiv peer-to-peer fundraising forms which will give Qgiv’s peer-to-peer and auction participants the ability to check their matching gift eligibility and submit matching gift requests to their employer within seconds.

This expansion comes less than a month after Qgiv debuted an integration between Qgiv standard giving forms and Double the Donation Matching.

“It means a lot not just to us at Qgiv but also to our clients to ensure that the latest and best functionality is being released as soon as it’s available,” said Todd Baylis, CEO and co-founder of Qgiv, Inc. “Double the Donation shares that commitment, and for that reason, we’re proud to work alongside them as our preferred matching gifts provider.”

360MatchPro is now available on Qgiv peer-to-peer fundraising forms.

360MatchPro is now available on Qgiv peer-to-peer fundraising forms.

With the new integration, nonprofits fundraising through Qgiv peer-to-peer fundraising and auction forms now have access to the same matching gift identification and automation capabilities as those using Qgiv standard donation forms. Double the Donation automatically identifies matching gift opportunities throughout the native Qgiv donation process, then follows up with donors to ensure that all opportunities are converted into additional revenue for nonprofits.

“We’re happy to partner with a provider like Qgiv that prioritizes client success so highly in technical decision-making,” said Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation. “That mindset backed the expansion of our integration into Qgiv’s auction and peer-to-peer products.”

In the United States, $4-7 billion in potential matching gift revenue going unclaimed every year. The Double the Donation integration offers nonprofits fundraising through Qgiv the opportunity to close that gap.

 

About Qgiv: Qgiv, Inc. is a leading digital fundraising platform founded in 2007. From their headquarters in Lakeland, FL they currently serve more than 4,500 nonprofit and faith-based organizations in the United States and Canada. Their no long-term contract pricing, unlimited access to tools and support, and integrations with leading CRM and email tools make it easy for nonprofits to experiment with new technology and grow their digital fundraising programs. Qgiv is committed to helping nonprofits raise more by anticipating and addressing their needs and challenges through customer-led development and close attention to industry best practices. To learn more about the Qgiv platform, visit www.qgiv.com.

About Double the Donation: Double the Donation helps nonprofits and educational institutions increase fundraising from corporate matching gift and employee volunteer grant programs. Double the Donation maintains a database of employee matching gift and volunteer grant programs. With more than 20,000 entries in the database, Double the Donation presents match-eligible donors with their company’s specific program requirements, including a direct link to their company’s online matching gift submission portal or PDF download. To learn more about Double the Donation, visit https://doublethedonation.com

Here are some best practices for securing matching gifts.

5 Ways to Encourage Matching Gifts Post-Donation

Matching gifts are an excellent way of adding further value to a donor’s gift. But how do you convince your donors to apply for matching gifts after their donation is made? Here are five ways you can encourage donors to pursue a matched gift from their employer.

Encouraging matching gifts on your confirmation page is a great way to secure extra revenue.

1. Ask on your confirmation page

A customizable donation confirmation page is a great way to put in a request for donors to seek a matching gift. For example, you could slip in a request to seek a match below the thank you message that reads, “Make your gift go twice as far! Ask your employer if they’ll match your gift!” Be sure to provide links to resources about matching gifts beneath the message. Many donors are unfamiliar with matching gifts, so it’s important that you teach your donors what matching gifts are and provide instructions on how to determine if their employer matches gifts.

One really convenient way to kickstart the process is embedding a matching gift search tool, like that of Double the Donation, on the confirmation page. If your online donation platform has a matching gift service integration, like Qgiv and Double the Donation, make sure you’re taking full advantage of it by adding it to your online donation form or confirmation page.

Your confirmation page doesn’t have to be a transactional message. It’s a great place to share additional information and ask donors to get more involved. Asking donors to seek a match is a great way to deepen their involvement with your organization. This can be accomplished easily by embedding Double the Donation’s matching gift search widget onto your confirmation page and encouraging donors to search for their employer.

Be sure to remind donors about matching gifts on your gift receipts.

2. Ask donors to pursue a match in their receipt

Another option for asking donors to seek matching gifts post-donation is to include an ask in their receipt. Whether you send an automated receipt or a printed thank-you letter, let donors know their gift can go farther. Like a donation confirmation page, a receipt can include more than just transaction details. Your receipt is an invitation to donors to get more involved with supporting your cause.

Include a request to seek a matching gift alongside other relationship-building requests⁠— like signing up to volunteer, follow your organization’s social media accounts, etc. That request can link to a blog post about matching gifts or to a dedicated matching gift page on your website. Be sure whichever page you direct donors to allows them to search for their employer and proceed to apply for a match.

Follow-up emails are a great opportunity for matching gifts.

3. Send follow-up emails to donors

If you’re not sending follow-up emails to donors after their gift, now is the time to start! Donors want to know how you used their gift, what progress you’re making, and what your plans are. Satisfy their curiosity with regular email updates! You’ll provide proof to your donors that their gift was noticed and the funds they gave were used well.

Within your follow up emails, reiterate the benefits of matching gifts. Do your research into local companies with matching gift programs and include a list of companies that match gifts. Hopefully, your donors will see their employer on the list and will be inspired to apply.

Include an employer search bar so donors who don’t see their employer listed can quickly search for them. As you become aware of more local businesses offering a matching gift benefit to their employees, update your list to include them. The larger the list, the more likely your donors will find their employer and seek a match on their own.

Be sure to track the status of your matching gift revenue!

4. Check the status of pending matches

If your online donation form includes a matching gift search function or other corporate giving functions, make note of transactions with an expected match. Then, be sure to schedule follow-ups until the gift is fulfilled.

It’s easy for donors to indicate they will apply for a matching gift. It’s often easy for them to complete the associated paperwork, too. The hard part is finding the time to sit down and do it. Your donors are busy people!

Following up with donors as they pursue matching gifts is a great way to motivate them to complete the necessary paperwork. You don’t want to be too pushy, so schedule your follow up calls and/or emails with enough time between them to ensure you’re not badgering your donors.

A weekly check-in after the first call should be sufficient. If your donor requests that you reach out less, be sure to abide by their wishes and adjust your schedule accordingly.

As you receive the expected matches, be sure to update your CRM to reflect that the matching gift was received! This way, you’ll know to stop calling your donor to seek updates on the matching gift process.

Don't forget to reach out to your donors after a match has been secured.

5. Reach out to donors when gift matching is successful

Sometimes, a great way to inspire donors to give again and pursue another match is to let them know their hard work paid off! When you receive matching donations and link them to a donor’s gift, give them a call to personally thank them. Your donor was directly responsible for the additional funds you received.

During the engagement, let them know how much you appreciate them applying for the matching gift. Explain to your donor how those additional funds will be used. Thank them and mention that you hope you can count on them for future support as well.

After you’ve had time to put the donor’s funds to use and have provided them with an update, encourage them to give again with a personalized appeal. In the appeal, mention their matched gift and express how much it helped. Then, ask your donor to grow their support with a recurring gift. Explain that their recurring donation might also be matched by their employer so that their regular income can make a huge difference for your cause.

Conclusion

Encourage your supporters to seek matching gifts after they give. Include requests for matching gifts directly on your donation confirmation page and receipts, promote matching gifts in follow up communications, and call to thank donors when their matching gifts are received. When it comes time to ask your donors for another gift, be sure to ask them to seek a match from their employer again.

Normalizing the matching gift process for donors will ensure the completion of more matching gift requests in the future and more matches to support your cause. For more information, check out these matching gift best practices!


This was a guest post contributed by Shay Lessman at Qgiv.

Promoting corporate giving is a great way to earn bonus revenue for your nonprofit.

Corporate Giving: 6 Ways to Raise Awareness and Scale Impact

Matching gifts offer powerful benefits to both donors and nonprofit organizations. Nonprofits enjoy virtually twice the amount of donations, and donors are pleased to know that their donations are going even further. If the matching gift is from a company, the business itself can enjoy some tax benefits as well as an increased social image.

This by far is a win-win scenario!

Matching gifts can be a great way for development practitioners to push their funding campaigns forward. It’s amazing how many charities leave money on the table because they failed to help their donors engage in the corporate matching gift annuities.

Corporate giving allows your donors to make a larger impact with their gifts.

What is a Matching Gift?

Corporate matching gifts are a type of philanthropy in which companies financially match donations that their employees make to nonprofit organizations. When an employee makes a donation, they’ll request the matching gift from their employer, who then makes their own donation.

Many businesses run corporate giving programs whereby they match employee donations with contributions to eligible nonprofit organizations. Matching gifts can double, or even triple, certain donations, which can greatly assist fundraising campaigns.

For example, an employee donates $2,500 to an eligible non-profit organization and files a matching gift request. The employer company then approves this application and makes a 1:1 employee donation, writing a check of $2,500 to the same non-profit organization, thereby doubling the donation on the behalf of the employee. The nonprofit gets $5,000 from the donation, and the employee essentially donates $5,000, while only $2,500 comes from their own pocket.

Different companies employ different guidelines concerning matching donations. Employees are made aware of their company policies and ideally, should be aware of the percentage their companies are matching in donations. This information is often held by the human resources department of the company, who also may be responsible for making the employees aware of it.

Matching donations are a great way to enable nonprofit organizations to do more as donations increase while also helping businesses improve their corporate social responsibility.

Why Do Nonprofit Organizations Target Matching Gifts?

It’s a free flow of money! While any donation is free cash, matching gifts are an additional source of fundraising revenue that can help bankroll your organization.

NPOs need every bit of cash they can receive. As opposed to asking for new contributions, raising funds with matching donations lets you ask existing donors to do more without donating more of their own money. Many businesses with matching gift programs provide online portals for staff to submit requests for gifts, so it’s a painless, fast process for your donors that adds enormous returns for your nonprofit organizations.

First, nonprofit organizations have to address some important questions in order to leverage matching gifts:

  • Where do your donors and their partners work?
  • Are your donors knowledgeable about corporate gifting programs?
  • Do your donors know about appropriate matching gift requests?

As a nonprofit, your job is to raise awareness about matching gifts. By answering the aforementioned questions, you will know whom to approach and with what information, so you can be more effective with your resources and time.

Here, we have covered six ways to make your donors aware of matching gifts:

  1. Create Dedicated Matching Gift Pages
  2. Educate Donors About Matching Gifts Within the Donation Process
  3. Remind Donors to Request a Match in your Acknowledgement Letter
  4. Encourage Matching Gift through Social Media
  5. Be sure to Utilize Email Newsletters for Matching Gift Promotion
  6. Include a Line About Matching Gifts Beneath Your Signature

Let’s walk through each of these best practices and what they can mean for your nonprofit!

Be sure to promote giving on dedicated matching gift pages.

1. Create Dedicated Matching Gift Pages

It is not just that you want donors to be informed about the matching gifts; you also want them to keep these programs at top of mind. One way to do this is to create a dedicated page on your site that has all the information about matching gifts.

Be sure to promote corporate giving on a dedicated matching gift page.

A matching gift web page is a place for your donors to go when they have concerns about checking their employer’s program or submitting a request. The more information your donors have regarding the matching gift program, the more likely they will be comfortable with the whole process.

Promoting corporate giving during the donation process is a great way to speed things up.

2. Educate Donors About Matching Gifts Within the Donation Process

An easy way to encourage your donors to double their contributions is to encourage matching gift programs in the midst of the giving process. You can inform your donors about matching gifts by adding an optional field to your donation pages.

You can provide an optimized link that leads to helpful information on employer matching gift programs, as well as guidelines on how to submit documentation. By including an optional field about matching gifts on the donation page, you can help them get more information and potentially make a request.

Here's what it looks like to integrate a corporate giving search tool in a donation page.

Providing donors with more information about their company’s matching gift program by including it on the donation page is a great way to motivate donors as they are already in the mood to give, and will probably take some extra time to consider requesting a match.

Acknowledge a donor's eligibility for corporate giving programs within an email thank-you message.

3. Remind Donors to Request a Match in Your Acknowledgement Letter

Sending thank-you letters right after your donors give keeps the gift in their heads for longer. By sending thank you letters, it is a perfect way to remind supporters of their company’s giving program and encourage them to pursue a match.

Be sure to thank your donors for participating in any corporate giving programs.

Social media is a great tool to promote corporate giving programs.

4. Encourage Matching Gifts Through Social Media

Promoting matching gifts on social media not only conveys important information to the donors, but it is done in a format that the majority of users are already acquainted with.

In addition, the use of social media can be a tremendous way to reach out to your younger supporters like Millennials and Generation Z. It can likewise be a great way to connect with people who have little knowledge about the nonprofit. If you share valuable information about matching gifts, your supporters will likely find the post. You can hopefully attract new donors and get more matching gifts via social media.

The secret to unlocking the full potential of social media websites is consistency; by regularly engaging your audience, you can make sure that your posts advocating for matching gifts are effective. Although Facebook continues to dominate the social media space, you can use other websites to encourage matching gifts as well:

  • Pinterest: Create a board dedicated to “Matching Gifts” and repin related infographics and articles for your followers to repin and like.
  • Instagram: Make use of this image-based website to tell stories related to the impact your nonprofit organization is making. Add a link to your Instagram profile and inspire donors to increase their giving with matching gifts.
  • Twitter: Just keep your tweets brief and focused. After all, you only have 280 characters to convey an entire message! Be sure to provide your followers with other resources for more information.

It is important to regularly and accurately keep your profiles updated. It is preferable to have one or two rock-solid social media pages that promote your matching gifts (and nonprofit) than a couple of profiles that are stagnant and silent for several months.

5. Be Sure to Utilize Email Newsletters for Matching Gift Promotion

To help your donors learn more about gift matching, a good way to help them understand is to share messages about corporate giving through your newsletter. By doing this, you can keep nurturing the relationship you have with current donors while encouraging them to make their gifts go further.

Leveraging corporate giving is a great way to nurture relationships with your donors.

Email signatures are also an effective way to raise awareness about corporate giving.

6. Include a Line About Matching Gifts Beneath Your Signature

You can include a sentence under your signature which will always remind your subscribers about matching gifts. This sentence should be concise and attention-grabbing.

For example, something like this:

“Please think about doubling your gift’s impact. Your donation could be considered for a matching gift from an employer. Please find out whether you’re eligible here [link to a matching gift database].”

Conclusion

Matching gifts are a great way to increase your fundraising efforts and scale the impact that your nonprofit is working towards. Corporate giving is a sure way to establish a stable fund inflow, although it is likely that many of your donors need to be made aware of it while they are donating.

Promoting corporate philanthropy is not limited to the strategies discussed in this post! Additionally, donors can send their employers a prompt to match a donation while donating online via donation forms like those from Donorbox. Make sure to give your donors a wholesome online donation experience, which is also likely to work in your favor and help increase your funds.

This post about corporate giving was submitted by Donorbox.About the Author

Raviraj Hegde leads Growth at Donorbox where he is helping thousands of nonprofits build great donor experience and increasing online fundraising. Donorbox is a state of the art fundraising software to create simple and powerful donation forms. It is trusted by over 30,000 nonprofits across 25 countries.

iModules Debuts Preferred Technology Partnership with Double the Donation

Double the Donation is proud to announce a new technology partnership with iModules. This partnership enables institutions to integrate Double the Donation, the leading corporate matching gift automation platform, with Encompass from iModules for a seamless donor experience.

“iModules is proud to support organizations that help our customers succeed with their corporate matching gift programs,” said Germaine Ward, Vice President of Product Management at iModules. “By aligning our Encompass solution with Double the Donaton, iModules continues to deliver on its commitment to helping higher education improve their fundraising efforts.”

Universities in particular are well-positioned to take advantage of employee matching gift programs. Although all corporate philanthropy programs involve different requirements for gift size, submission format and deadline, and eligibility of nonprofits to benefit from them, educational institutions almost always meet any corporate program requirements. That means a high percentage of the 15-19 million match-eligible individuals in the US alone can get their gifts matched when those gifts are made to a university.

“Double the Donation tackles the gap between the vast numbers of match-eligible donors and the revenue they could be raising for the universities they donate to,” said Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation. “The reason for this gap is donor awareness of matching gift programs and processes. Our integrated solutions aim to provide the right information to the right donor at the right time to make matching gift request submission the natural next step of any eligible donor.”

The integrated solution tackles the $4-7 billion in corporate matching gift revenue left unclaimed every year by fundraising institutions. More than three-fourths of donors who are eligible to have their gifts matched by their employers don’t even know their company has a matching gift program. Double the Donation Matching and iModules automate the identification and outreach necessary to drive donor matches to completion.

Activate in seconds and start raising more from matching gifts

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

With ready-to-help support teams and an easy step-by-step process, you’ll be able to integrate your Double the Donation solution into your Encompass account in no time. Once integrated with Encompass, Double the Donation Matching presents donors with multiple opportunities to identify their employer during the donation process without interrupting the flow of the donation experience. Just add the Double the Donation company name search field to any of your Encompass forms with the pre-formatted Gift Matching data field type, pictured below/above, to identify more matching gift opportunities during the donation process.

With this information, Double the Donation then delivers actionable next steps and actively follows up on each submission. You can automate and customize emails to fit your organization’s needs to drive gift matches to completion without putting more on your nonprofit’s plate. 

map donors to their company to match their gift

The autocomplete search tool powered by Double the Donation maps your donor’s entries to corresponding company names so you can keep your data streamlined and consolidated. The results are higher matching gift request submission rates and revenue, higher percentages of donors with current employment information on file, and a wealth of useful corporate philanthropy-related data for university teams.

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

drive more matching gifts to completion with Double the Donation

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with Double the Donation!

iModules is a leader in the alumni fundraising and engagement space with features that help your organization gain efficiency, increase engagement, build your legacy, and elevate fundraising. Double the Donation amplifies those benefits through corporate gift matching and allows your nonprofit to achieve the following: 

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

To get started with your gift matching journey with iModules and Double the Donation, schedule a private demo of Double the Donation at https://doublethedonation.com/get-a-demo/.


About iModules: Powerful technology. Inspired engagement. Lifelong relationships. More than 800 higher education institutions partner with iModules to drive larger gifts, increase event attendance and membership, and improve participation rates through data-driven, meaningful engagement. Learn more at www.imodules.com

About Double the Donation:  Automate your matching gift fundraising with the industry-leading solution from Double the Donation. The Double the Donation platform provides nonprofits with tools to identify match-eligible donors, drive matches to completion, and gain actionable insights. Double the Donation integrates directly into donation forms, CRMs, social fundraising software, and other nonprofit technology solutions to capture employment information and follow up appropriately with donors about matching gifts. To learn more about Double the Donation, visit https://doublethedonation.com and request a demo at https://doublethedonation.com/get-a-demo/.