Learning Center Archives - Page 29 of 33

Conduct your most informative fundraising feasibility study yet with our favorite tips and strategies.

Conduct a Fundraising Feasibility Study: 7 Steps to Success

March 1, 2016/in Learning Center /by Adam Weinger

Planning a major fundraiser is exciting, and the potential payout can provide the funding to launch your nonprofit’s mission forward by leaps and bounds. But is your nonprofit ready to run such a large-scale fundraising campaign? To find out, conduct a feasibility study.

As the name implies, this study essentially determines whether your fundraiser is feasible, making sure your nonprofit is equipped to launch a successful fundraising campaign. These studies not only inform you whether your campaign is viable but also help nonprofits cultivate a fundraising strategy based on direct feedback from key stakeholders.

Due to the important role these studies play in nonprofit management, we’ve provided a list of seven steps that will help your organization conduct a successful fundraising feasibility study:

Set clear goals for your fundraising campaign
Understand the true purpose of the feasibility study
Consider outside assistance
Prepare your case statement
Determine key stakeholders
Be open to the feasibility study’s results
Implement strategies based on the fundraising feasibility study’s results

But before jumping straight in, let’s do a bit of preparation of our own and review a few feasibility study basics.

Fundraising Feasibility Study FAQ

What is a feasibility study?

A fundraising feasibility study is a tool nonprofits use to determine whether a fundraising campaign is viable. Most often, feasibility studies are enacted in preparation for large public initiatives like capital campaigns.

The study itself involves interviewing key stakeholders to determine their perceptions of a nonprofit’s reputation, the need for a proposed project, and the level of support they would be willing to offer. These stakeholders vary depending on the nonprofit’s connections and proposed project the major campaign is meant to fund but often include:

Community leaders. Is there a need for the project you intend to fund through your proposed fundraising campaign? Speak with beneficiaries, organizations you work with, and potentially your town or city’s political leadership to determine if your campaign is needed and will have community support.

Organizational leadership. Does your nonprofit have the internal infrastructure, experience, and stability to run a major fundraiser? Speak with board members, your organization’s executive director, the head of your fundraising team, and other relevant parties to determine your nonprofit’s internal capabilities.

Sponsors. Corporate sponsors can be essential for providing the financial backing nonprofits need to host events, maintain a sustained campaign, reach new audiences, and hit their fundraising goals.

Major donors. Major donors already provide significant support to your nonprofit, and many of them may have the capacity and affinity to increase their financial backing during a major campaign.

Through these interviews, the feasibility study essentially determines if the nonprofit’s proposed fundraiser is likely to find success and will ultimately be a worthwhile endeavor for the nonprofit and its beneficiaries.

When should a feasibility study be conducted?

Feasibility studies are useful tools, but there is no need to conduct one prior to every fundraiser. While it’s upsetting when a routine fundraiser falls short of its goal, most nonprofits can ultimately move past the disappointment and pledge to donors and beneficiaries alike to do better in the future with little fallout.

However, sometimes nonprofits need much more funding than normal, often to launch new initiatives, construct new buildings, or significantly expand operations. In these situations, it makes sense to call for a capital campaign.

In contrast to small fundraisers, these large fundraising endeavors failing poses distinct risks. The possibility of failure for a major campaign wouldn’t just be detrimental to a nonprofit’s mission, but a public affair that could undermine the organization’s legitimacy to donors.

For instance, let’s say a nonprofit only manages to collect half of its target from major donors by the campaign’s deadline. At that point, what action should the nonprofit take? Attempt to fulfill the project despite lacking startup funds? Return the gifts to the donors? Extend the deadline and try to find new fundraising sources? All of these options are less than ideal and can harm a nonprofit’s relationships with its donors and beneficiaries.

Who conducts feasibility studies?

Nonprofits will need to look internally for part of the feasibility study, but ultimately, these studies should be conducted by a trained third-party representative. For your feasibility study, hire an experienced capital campaign consultant. This consultant can provide an objective perspective on your nonprofit’s current fundraising capabilities, ensuring you receive an honest answer as to whether your proposed campaign is possible.

After the feasibility study is conducted, your capital campaign consultant can help you in one of two ways:

If your nonprofit did not pass the feasibility study, your consultant can suggest an alternate, more attainable goal or offer recommendations for how to improve your operations to position your nonprofit for a successful campaign in the future.

If your nonprofit passes the feasibility study, the consultant will provide a roadmap for your campaign moving forward. Note that nonprofits usually hire separate consultants to assist with the campaign itself and purchase feasibility studies as a stand-alone service to avoid potential conflicts of interest. After all, a consultant who knows that they’d be hired for the duration of a campaign may be more inclined to gloss over issues and suggest that the campaign moves forward.

We’ll explore how to find the right consulting service for your nonprofit later on. But for now, let’s hit the ground running and jump into the first step of your fundraising feasibility study.

1. Set clear goals for your fundraising campaign

Before you can determine whether a project is feasible, you need to know exactly what hope to achieve. The more specific you can be about what your fundraising campaign will achieve for your organization and mission, the better.

The amount of work you’ll need to put into this step depends on the nature of your fundraising campaign.

For example, let’s say you’re looking to grow your endowment or earn major gifts on your nonprofit’s anniversary. In this case, you simply need to determine whether financial stakeholders are supportive and how best to market your campaign to them. As such, your goals can simply be a target fundraising amount or a percentage of donor engagement.

In contrast, if you’re planning a capital campaign, you need an in-depth understanding of the associated costs and logistical details for completing the project. These specifics allow you to set an accurate fundraising goal and better explain your case for support to donors.

Let’s take a look at an example of how to outline your capital campaign’s purpose:

[/av_textblock]

Nonprofits should follow this example and perform the needed legwork to outline the details of the project their major fundraiser will support before the feasibility study is conducted.

In this example, the nonprofit would likely consult with construction firms or contractors to determine how exactly the kitchen areas would be expanded, as well as the costs and challenges that the project would entail. These initial details are helpful for informing the following feasibility study, which would determine the best course of action for raising funds to make this project happen.

2. Understand the true purpose of the feasibility study

A truly successful feasibility study will do more than determine your fundraising goal. While these studies can and should be used to outline your campaign’s logistics, they are also a support cultivation and planning tool.

Think of it this way: a feasibility study is a formalized opportunity to ask donors and key community leaders for their thoughts and opinions on your nonprofit and cause. By asking them for their reactions and feedback to your proposed campaign, your nonprofit showcases how much you value these leaders, increasing the odds they will support you during your fundraiser.

Nonprofits who use feasibility studies strategically can reap huge rewards, regardless of the results of the study. For example, a fundraising feasibility study can actively help you:

Excite major donors prior to the campaign so that they’re eager to contribute.
Incorporate stakeholders’ feedback into your proposed project so that they feel trusted, engaged, and valued.
Strengthen your infrastructure by identifying weaknesses in your organization.
Take your marketability to the next level by meeting donors where they are.
Develop your nonprofit’s case statement or case for support (which we’ll discuss in more depth later on).

These benefits can help you build sustainable relationships and stronger messaging, not just for the campaign in question but for your nonprofit as a whole.

3. Consider outside assistance

A feasibility study involves interviewing key stakeholders and asking questions to gauge their perception of both your nonprofit and your proposed fundraising campaign.

As mentioned, nonprofits should seek fundraising counsel in the form of a fundraising consultant or consulting firm. These experts can help you approach your feasibility study strategically to get the information you need and set up a framework that will strengthen your campaign.

Since hiring outside assistance is another expense, you may be wondering whether a feasibility study can be conducted in-house. While nonprofits can oversee their own feasibility studies, there are a few reasons why they should seriously consider opting for third-party assistance:

There’s value in hiring someone who has deep experience interviewing donors, analyzing the results of those interviews, and reporting to a nonprofit board.
A trained expert may offer unique insight into your community if they’re local (e.g., these Indiana-based consultants would have considerable knowledge of the fundraising climate in Indiana’s primary cities) or a fresh perspective if they’re remote.
Your nonprofit’s team may be biased. Just as you would want to avoid hiring the same consultant to conduct your feasibility to also assist with your capital campaign, you should be cautious of your own conflict of interests. If you begin your in-house feasibility study with a strong desire to launch a capital campaign, that may sway the results of your study.

A fundraising consultant can assist you with nearly every aspect of the study, from conducting interviews to using the results to develop campaign strategies.

However, while you should hire an external consultant, your team can and should still be part of the process.

An example of seeking expert advice

Capital Campaign Toolkit’s campaign experts have created a Guided Feasibility Study that campaign directors can use to improve their donor relationship-building skills. Specifically, campaign directors can work with one of the Toolkit’s expert advisors to:

Prepare for the study, including choosing donors to interview and requesting interviews.
Train for the study and learn essential skills for conducting open and honest conversations.
Analyze the results of these conversations and prepare a report for the board.

The Capital Campaign Toolkit empowers these leaders to build relationships before the campaign begins, encourage early donor engagement, and even secure early gift commitments.

4. Prepare your case statement

Once you know the details of your project, you need to communicate them to donors in a cohesive, brief, and persuasive manner. A case statement, or a case for support, takes a nonprofit’s goals and outlines them clearly for stakeholders.

Often, your capital campaign leadership and marketing staff will develop your case statement. This document should generally be created soon after you set your campaign goals as it directly affects the rest of your planning.

To convey your goals, your case statement contextualizes your proposed campaign within your organization’s larger purpose and vision. Essentially, it explains why your campaign advances your mission, is necessary for your work, and needs to be conducted at this time.

Specifically, a case statement should include:

Why the organization and mission are needed
The organization’s impact (the more specific, the better!)
The benefits of the project and the problems it seeks to solve
The specific challenges and potential solutions that are likely to occur during the campaign
An estimated fundraising goal or budget
The nonprofit’s brand, name, and logo, as well as relevant photos and testimonials

Send your case for support to interviewees prior to your meetings with them so that they can review the information thoroughly in advance. Then, when you sit down to interview them, they’ll be ready to provide feedback and ask questions about your project.

Keep in mind that a case for support can (and should) be refined based on the feedback that you receive during the feasibility study. That way, your case for support is as strong as possible when it’s time to release it to the public.

5. Determine key stakeholders

Feasibility studies largely revolve around the interviewees’ feedback, questions, and concerns. Ensure these interviews are core stakeholders whose opinions have a meaningful impact on your nonprofit.

When considering candidates to interview, think about people who’ve actively contributed to your campaigns. These candidates should “walk the walk.” Avoid individuals who are spread too thin or who tend to gravitate toward any and all community campaigns.

To put it simply, candidates should have a strong, genuine connection to your cause and organization. You also want a good mix of candidates who can provide insight into various aspects of your proposed project and fundraising campaign.

Specifically, you should consider these key types of individuals:

Current and former board members
Current or former major gift donors
Planned gift or legacy donors
Key volunteers
Community stakeholders (e.g., community foundations, trust offices, etc.)
Business owners and vendors
Recipients of your services (e.g., grateful patients, alumni, students, etc.)

Along with having the necessary insight into your nonprofit to provide useful advice, these candidates are also highly likely to contribute to your campaign once it’s launched. The feasibility study is the perfect time to start cultivating corporate giving opportunities such as challenge grants, as well as major gifts from individual donors.

6. Be open to the feasibility study’s results

When you receive the results of your fundraising feasibility study, there are three likely outcomes:

The study reveals that your project is feasible, and your donors are eager and willing to support you. Start your project right away to capitalize on the excitement.
The study reveals that the project is feasible, contingent that problems are addressed. Before moving forward, resolve these problems or come up with a plan for tackling them during the course of your campaign.
The study reveals that your project is not feasible. Your organization will need to build a stronger infrastructure before tackling a project of this degree. Though disappointing, it’s better to accept these results and use the information you’ve gleaned to strengthen your organization than attempt a fundraiser that may damage your relationship with donors if unsuccessful.

It’s much better to refrain from conducting a campaign than to conduct one that fails. An unsuccessful fundraiser can bring negative publicity to your organization, undermining your legitimacy to donors.

No matter the outcome, the next step is to share the results with your board. Be fully transparent about the study to ensure your board members have a thorough understanding of the results.

You can also share your findings with other stakeholders if you deem it necessary, though you’re only obligated to do so with your board. For example, a major donor who was excited about your campaign may need to know if the initiative doesn’t launch, or they may be thrilled to learn that you’re moving forward.

7. Implement strategies based on the fundraising feasibility study’s results

Now that your fundraising feasibility study is complete and your team has assessed the results, you’re ready to start implementing smart strategies to make your next campaign your best one yet.

As discussed, there are two major paths you will take depending on whether your study determined if your organization is able to launch your fundraiser at this time.

If your study finds that it’s not the right time to move forward with your campaign, your consultant may suggest:

Holding a series of smaller campaigns to grow your annual fund. The larger your annual fund, the more equipped your nonprofit is to meet an ambitious campaign goal. Without a proven fundraising record, it’s unlikely you will reach a major fundraising goal.
Stewarding more major donor prospects for necessary gifts. Your organization can’t reach your fundraising goal without having great relationships with multiple major donors. Your team may need to focus on connecting with high-capacity supporters before kicking off your capital campaign.
Investing in fundraising software or other internal resources. Without the right tools on hand or the right individuals supporting your organization internally, you may not be able to carry out your campaign.

If the study shows that a few strategic areas need to be addressed before the campaign kicks off, your consultant can also help your team identify how to implement these adjustments. For example, these strategic shifts might include:

Adjusting your fundraising goal, timeline, or project. It’s possible that your team has the resources and capacity to fundraise for a less ambitious campaign. Instead of putting the campaign off entirely, shift expectations to allow your team to start collecting donations for a smaller-scale project.
Realigning your gift range chart to more strategically distribute necessary gifts. Your consultant may determine that your gift range chart isn’t feasible. They could suggest soliciting higher donations from major givers or more low-level gifts from donors in general when your campaign goes public.
Putting a greater emphasis on donor stewardship tactics like fundraising events, solicitations, and more. During your feasibility study, your consultant may discover that your supporters aren’t being sufficiently stewarded. In this instance, they may recommend ways to better connect with high-value donors and steer them toward giving, such as by promoting matching gifts or helping individuals understand their impact via storytelling.

Remember, your nonprofit consultant can offer your organization unique insight into how to prepare for the campaign you envision, even if that means heading back to the drawing board.

Now that you know how to conduct a successful fundraising feasibility study, you’re ready to tackle this beginning stage in your next campaign!

Fundraising Feasibility Studies Wrap-Up

Major fundraising initiatives like capital campaigns can give your nonprofit the boost it needs to propel its mission forward by leaps and bounds. However, before getting wrapped up in the excitement of future fundraising, feasibility studies make sure your organization is ready to accomplish your goals.

One way to shore up fundraising support and keep your organization financially healthy is through corporate giving. From sponsoring your campaigns to providing support throughout the year through matching gifts, philanthropy is an untapped source of revenue that helps many nonprofits better position themselves for future fundraising.

To discover more about corporate philanthropy, check out these resources:

The Ultimate Fundraising Guide to Corporate Giving Programs. Is your nonprofit new to seeking corporate partners? Get an inside look at corporate giving programs and what your nonprofit can do to earn from them.
16 Impactful CSR Statistics Charitable Companies Should Know. Interested in learning more about the current state of corporate social responsibility and how it might impact your nonprofit? Check out these up-to-date statistics.
Nonprofit Marketing: How to Spread Awareness & Win Support. Marketing is essential for driving needed donations ahead of and during your capital campaign. Hone your outreach strategy with these tips.

4 Ways to Incorporate Matching Gifts into Text-to-Give Campaigns

February 29, 2016/in Learning Center /by Adam Weinger

It’s 4 o’clock. You run to the vending machine with a dollar and some change in your hand. All you’re hoping for is that little afternoon pick-me-up: a shiny, red bag of Skittles.

But when you press A7, the gears turn a little too far, and (gasp) you’ve got two bags of Skittles. You only paid for one. It’s your lucky day!

This is exactly how matching gifts work. Your nonprofit gets twice as much instantaneously.

You’re asking yourself: “How do I use text-to-give to get twice as many donations?”

Below are four easy ways to incorporate matching gifts into your text-to-give campaign.

In this article, we’ll explore the following strategies for making matching gifts a part of your nonprofit’s mobile fundraising campaign:

Start with the Heart
Appeal to the On-the-Go Donor
Choose Your Words Wisely
Make it Simple

1. Start with the Heart

Above all else, your nonprofit should keep in mind the basic principles of asking for donations of any kind. Chief among those is remembering that people give most often with their hearts.

When incorporating matching gifts into your text-to-give campaign, it’s important to remind your donors of the compassionate reasons they’re giving in the first place.

How you do this is entirely up to you, but it’s good to note that most people enjoy genuine, from-the-heart approaches.

A personalized letter works better than a generic email.

A personalized email works better than a standardized template.

When you’re asking people to take the time to fill out the necessary paperwork to get their employers to double their donations, you want to make sure you’re being as intentional as possible.

Not only should you tap into your donors’ sense of compassion, you should also make your plans clear.

Churches are extremely successful with the way they use text-to-give. This has, in part, to do with the fact that churches make their intentions known.

If you take a cue from the pew, your nonprofit can let donors know about your text-to-give campaign and matching gifts component by:

Spreading the word at live events, like concerts or 5K races.
Putting up flyers.
Sending out an email blast.
Making an announcement over social media.
Personally calling major donors.
And more!

Takeaway: If you make your plans known, keep your approaches focused on individuals, and keep in mind that people give with their hearts over their heads, you’re well on your way to raising twice as much in no time.

Check out more church fundraising ideas.

2. Appeal to the On-the-Go Donor

When you launch a mobile giving or text-to-give campaign, you’re hoping to reach:

The on-the-go business wizard.
The constantly connected teen.
The multi-tasking university student.
The avid Instagrammer.
The prolific tweeter.
The Facebook junkie.

With that in mind, the way you spread the word about your text-to-give campaign with regards to matching gifts needs to translate well across all mobile platforms.

What does that mean?

Basically, it means:

You have to be able to explain matching gifts in 140 characters or less.
A picture on Instagram needs to remind your donors about the possibility of matching gifts.
A Facebook post about matching gifts needs to be infinitely shareable.

All on a tiny screen.

This is all a part of an effective strategy for asking for donations.

It may seem intimidating, but it’s really quite simple if you have the right mobile fundraising platform.

For an example of what a succinct Facebook mobile donation plea looks like, check out this post:

As you can see, they’ve used a picture that appeals to donors’ hearts; they haven’t used too many words, and they give the donor all of the important information they need to donate.

Takeaway: Making your mobile asks short and sweet is the most effective way to reach more donors on the move.

3. Choose Your Words Wisely

On top of keeping track of how frequently you’re reminding your donors of your fundraising campaign, you also need to be aware of the words you’re using.

Action words incite action.

Some price examples of action words:

Change someone’s life.
Make a real impact.
Build a house with your contributions.
Provide surgery for a child in need.

The more specific and actionable your words are, the more likely your donors are to donate to your text-to-give campaign and seek out matching gifts.

In addition to picking the right words for your campaign, it’s also useful and important to choose the perfect picture to accompany those words.

Pictures really are worth 1,000 words, and best of all, they spark an emotional response like nothing else.

When you’re marketing matching gifts during your text-to-give campaign, be sure to take advantage of the fact that donors are far more likely to take action if there’s a compelling picture attached to the message.

Takeaway: Action words and compelling pictures propel your efforts beyond belief. So choose each one carefully.

4. Make it Simple

The fewer clicks, the better.

The best way to help people learn more about matching gifts through your text-to-give campaign is to make it as easy as possible.

There are about a hundred accessible ways to explain matching gifts in a very mobile-friendly way. Feel free to use the vending machine example!

If that metaphor doesn’t work for your organization, there’s also:

A buy-one-get-one sale. You buy one pair of shoes, and you get the second for free.
A double scoop of ice cream. You ask for one, but instead you get two.
Two apples for the price of one. You pick on apple, and one more falls down with it.

As long as your donors have a good visual comparison for what’s being marketed to them, they’re going to be more willing to listen.

Text-to-give is already so simple. Matching gifts can be, too!

All you have to do is provide only the most pertinent information about matching gifts with your mobile giving information.

Takeaway: Making the concept of matching gifts super simple makes it far more likely that your donors will look into your mobile matching gift program.

Now that you have all of these tips in mind, you’re ready to hit the ground running and get twice as far in no time at all!

Wauker Matthews is Director of Sales at @pay, an exciting new fundraising technology that makes it easy for people to give in just a few clicks from text, email, web and social media. Wauker has been in brand & business development for over 8 years, helping organizations grow in both size and reach.

increasing donor retention through matching gifts

How Nonprofits Can Use Matching Gifts to Improve Donor Retention

September 15, 2015/in Learning Center /by Adam Weinger

In recent years, donor retention rates have been hovering slightly above 40%. This means that if you have 100 donors, roughly 60 of them are only making one-time donations. If the focus on donor retention isn’t strong and comprehensive, a nonprofit organization will need to concentrate on acquisition of new donors instead, an importantly vital but often more costly pursuit.

There are numerous ways to boost donor retention ranging from simply interacting with donors more to utilizing social media. However, did you know you can also improve donor retention by using matching gift programs.

To help you improve your donor retention with matching gifts, we’ll answer 3 important questions:

Why is donor retention important?
What are the benefits of combining matching gifts with donor retention?
How can our nonporift increase donor retention with matching gifts?

We’ll dive deeper into each question and provide you with actionable tips to help you retain donors.

1. Why is Donor Retention Important?

When a donor continues to give to your nonprofit, the most obvious benefit is the regular extra revenue.

However, keeping donors coming back has additional rewards.

First, your organization has the opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with donors. Think about it this way: you can’t cultivate a friendship with someone if you’ve only meet them once.

The same principle applies to building donor relationships. A donor that continues to give to your cause is much more likely to volunteer at your next event, serve on your board of directors, and advocate for your cause.

A donor that has a strong connection to your cause will share their passion for your mission with others, which could lead to even more donors.

For instance, you might launch a peer-to-peer campaign where your supporters raise money on your behalf. When donors share their personal experiences with their friends and family, it can be a create tool to acquire new donors.

Finally, retaining donors means you can gain useful feedback through these meaningful relationships. A donor that’s truly invested in your cause can provide suggestions and advice on how you can improve your stewardship, outreach, and much more.

By implementing their suggestions, you’ll not only gain their trust, but show other potential supporters that you will listen to their concerns.

If you want to learn more about donor retention, Fundly has an ultimate guide with expert tips.

2. What Are the Benefits of Combining Matching Gifts with Donor Retention?

While there is a surplus of useful donor retention advice out there, it is worthwhile to note the mutually beneficial union that results from putting matching gifts and donor retention together.

1. Shows that your nonprofit is a good steward of donors’ funds.

Donors that will stick with your nonprofit for the longterm want to know that your organization is maximizing their donations.

Promoting matching gift programs will let them know that you are doing just that.

2. Helps keep your organization at the front of donors’ minds.

Sending out communications about matching gifts to dedicated donors, whether through email, snail mail, or social media, will help them stay involved with your organization without feeling pressured to donate more of their own money. If you only ever talk to your donors when you want their donations, they’re more likely to stop contributing to your organization.

However, telling them about matching gift programs either during the donation process or directly after in a thank-you email will let them know that you want to help make their donations go further.

3. Results in larger future donations.

When nonprofits mentioned matching gifts when asking for donations, response rates jumped 71% and average donation amounts increased by over 50%.

Letting donors know that they can make a greater impact with their donations generates a higher response to future appeals and results in larger contributions.

3. How Can Our Nonprofit Use Matching Gifts to Increase Donor Retention?

The following recommendations can be helpful for boosting donor retention using matching gifts.

1. Send a matching gift appeal immediately after a donor makes a donation.

If you don’t know who your donor’s employer is, supply them with general information about matching gifts after they’ve made a donation either in an acknowledgement or a thank you email.

If you have done your homework and know where your donor works (and more importantly, if their employer offers a matching gift program of some kind), give them company-specific information.

You can offer general guidelines or give more explicit directions like where to find matching gift forms. This is particularly important if your donors work for major gift matching companies.

Getting in touch with donors in the form of a thank-you email that also informs them of matching gifts immediately after they’ve donated is a great way to have a positive interaction with donors. You’re helping them maximize their donation and keeping in touch with them at the same time.

The Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation keeps their thank you emails genuine and informative, but they also let donors know about matching gift programs. They even thank donors in advance for looking into matching gift and volunteer grant programs.

Thank you email featuring corporate matching gift programs

Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation

2. Let donors know when their company’s matching gift came in.

Depending on how fast the donor’s company processed the gift-matching paperwork and sent the money to your organization, it could be weeks or months until the donor’s matching gift comes in. They might have forgotten about it by that point. Letting them know that their matching gift was received is another great way to reestablish contact with a donor, potentially encouraging them to donate in the future.

North Carolina State sends out emails to donors, thanking them for their initial donation and also informing them that their matching gift was received.

NC State Matching Gift Thank You Email

Notice too that the email ends with “NC State greatly appreciates your continuous support.” A final statement like this can help encourage donors to stick around and continue to donate.

3. Inform donors about matching gift statistics.

Whether it’s at the end of the month or at the end of the year, letting donors know how much you’ve raised because of matching gifts is not only a good way of keeping them in the loop but it also encourages future donations.

Halos of Hope uses Facebook to let donors know about how their donations and matching gifts are making an impact. Not only does the post highlight Shari, it also lets followers know about matching gift programs and suggests donors ask their employers about them. Because Shari and others who follow the Halos of Hope Facebook page now know more about how their donations are being matched, they’re more likely to contribute in the future using matching gift programs to double, or in Shari’s case, triple their donation.

Halos of Hope Matching Gift Thank You on Facebook

Determining how much money your organization raised from matching gifts and how many donors used matching gift programs will also help your nonprofit establish goals for matching gift donations as well as let donors know what kind of impact their donations are making.

Whichever method you use to let donors know about your matching gift statistics, it’s key to include information about current and future projects. Keeping donors updated on what their donations are funding establishes a personal connection, increasing donor retention.

Check out these other helpful ways to boost donor retention.

Making sure that donors stick around can be tricky, but using matching gift programs to maximize donations can help donor retention rates at your nonprofit.

For more useful fundraising tips, keep reading these additional resources:

How to Market Matching Gifts. If you want more ways your organization can promote matching gifts, we have a whole list of ideas and examples to get you started!
The Ultimate Guide to Annual Funds. Donor retention should be a primary part of any annual fund strategy. Learn about more tips and tricks you can use to increase donor retention for your annual fund.
Top Matching Gift Companies. Promoting matching gifts can be difficult if you’re not familiar with the top corporate philanthropy programs. This guide will walk you through 20 of the best matching gift companies.
Interested in learning more about boosting donor retention? Check out our immersive webinar on the topic!

Here are the top ways corporate volunteer grants help increase employee engagement.

How Corporate Volunteer Grants Increase Employee Engagement

September 2, 2015/in Learning Center /by Adam Weinger

Employee engagement is generally defined as the emotional and functional commitment an employee has to achieving the mission of the organization. At most companies, there’s a lot of lip service paid to making sure employees are engaged. But have you ever wondered why? Have you thought about strategies companies can use to increase employee engagement?

One of the most effective ways to increase employee engagement is through corporate volunteerism—more specifically, volunteer grants.

We’ll outline the basics around employee engagement and volunteer grants in this article. Let’s get started!

Basic Facts About Employee Engagement

To better understand employee engagement, we turned to Dale Carnegie Training, which has done extensive research into the topic. A few key insights include:

When an employee is disengaged, there is a high likelihood that this individual will seek employment elsewhere.
71% of employees are not fully engaged.
Companies with engaged employees outperform other companies by about 202%.

When employees feel a strong connection to their company, they are likely to be more engaged and less likely to leave. Disengaged employees tend to view their job as nothing more than a paycheck.

One of the ways your company can encourage employee engagement is through employee engagement software. If you’re going to put a lot of effort into your engagement strategy, it’s important to choose the right solution that encourages employee participation in several of your company-sponsored programs.

Read on to learn more about what to look for in an employee engagement software solution!

One of Our Top Employee Engagement Ideas: Volunteer Grants

So, how do you engage your employees? First, you should be aware of four traits that engaged employees exhibit:

They are inspired.
They are confident.
They are enthused.
They are empowered.

While there is a wide array of actions a company can take to help its employees become more engaged, we’ll discuss one very important action in this article: corporate volunteer grants.

Corporate volunteer grants are a type of corporate giving program that encourages employees to volunteer in the communities in which they live and work. Employers provide monetary grants to eligible nonprofits whenever an employee takes time to volunteer.

These grants are generally paid out in two ways:

A set amount per hour of volunteering (e.g., $10 per hour, with a minimum of 10 hours)
A set rate once a certain volunteer threshold has been reached (e.g., $250 once an employee has volunteered 20 hours)

Of course, it’s important to remember that these payment structures vary from company to company. But when employees understand their company’s guidelines and are actively encouraged to participate in their volunteer grant program, that becomes a huge revenue stream for nonprofits.

How can volunteer grants increase employee engagement?

It has also been shown that employers who offer volunteer grants and other volunteer programs and encourage participation in them are more likely to have employees with the same shared sense of philanthropy.

Employees are proud to work for a company that involves itself in the community and are more likely to bring a good name to your business via volunteerism.

Beyond corporate volunteer grants, offering opportunities for individual employees to volunteer (like paid time off for volunteer days) can also increase employee engagement.

There are many statistics that back up the idea that workplace giving and volunteer programs can boost engagement. Need some numbers?

A study by Dale Carnegie surveyed 1,500 employees and found that 54% of employees who were proud of their company’s contributions to society were engaged.
A Lloyd Morgan survey of 50,000 employees showed that by increasing employee engagement levels, organizations could expect an 87% reduction in employees’ probability of departure.
A Deloitte survey suggests that 61% of millennials who rarely volunteer would still consider a company’s commitment to giving back to the community when evaluating job opportunities.

Offering volunteer grants and other volunteering opportunities can boost productivity, make employees happier, and increase their tenure with your company.

Group Volunteer Activities

Another good method of increasing employee engagement is to encourage group volunteerism.

Group volunteerism increases camaraderie amongst employees who may not usually interact with each other. It also increases employee engagement by producing a shared sense of purpose among coworkers.

Some companies take it a step further by providing grants when teams of employees volunteer together. It’s a great way for companies to support the organizations that employees are passionate about.

When companies implement programs like corporate volunteer grants and group volunteer activities, the most immediate benefit is that a local nonprofit receives both donations and time from individuals who deeply care about their causes. However, corporate volunteerism can also help boost employee engagement by producing a shared sense of purpose among employees and between themselves and the company.

Employee Engagement Software

While corporate volunteerism means finding opportunities for your team to volunteer together, as well as providing additional monetary grants to nonprofits, it can be challenging to track all of the volunteer hours and grant requests that come through.

If you’re looking for a way to streamline your company’s volunteer opportunities and grants, consider investing in employee engagement software.

This type of software helps bring your team together and promotes an engaged company culture.

For example, by using employee engagement software to manage your volunteer program, you’ll be able to:

Create custom volunteer events.
Find local opportunities for employees to participate in.
Review and approve volunteer grant requests.

When you streamline your process for tracking volunteer opportunities and grant requests, you’ll make it easier for your employees to participate in these activities. Additionally, you can easily track your progress and have a better picture of the impact you’re making.

Additional Volunteering & Employee Engagement Resources

It’s clear that corporate volunteer grants can increase employee engagement. Why not look into other ways you can keep your employees happy, productive, and fulfilled?

Here are some additional resources below:

Reasons You Need Employee Engagement. Employee engagement can help your company in all sorts of ways. Here are some of the top reasons you need it.
Engaging Employees in Corporate Giving Programs. Engaging employees in corporate giving programs is crucial. Explore this guide to learn more!
5 Key Steps to Starting an Employee Volunteer Program. Corporate volunteerism is becoming a key component of many companies’ CSR initiatives. Follow the steps in this guide to start an employee volunteering program.

This guide will cover why employee engagement is important and the top ten benefits of employee engagement.

Why is Employee Engagement Important: 10 Top Benefits

September 2, 2015/in Learning Center, Corporate Consulting /by Adam Weinger

Author Simon Sinek once said, “When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.” This quote perfectly illustrates how vital it is to engage your employees. By doing so, they will be happier and perform to the best of their abilities.

Unfortunately, employee engagement is sometimes an afterthought in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. However, many of these organizations might wonder: why exactly does employee engagement matter?

In this guide, we’ll answer that question by covering the following topics:

What is employee engagement?
What are the levels of employee engagement?
10 Benefits of Employee Engagement
5 Tips for Improving Employee Engagement

By the end of this guide, you’ll see that employee engagement is not only beneficial for your organization in the short term but also necessary for its continued success. So let’s dive in!

What is employee engagement?

In general, employee engagement refers to the level of mental and emotional connection an employee feels toward their work, their team, and their organization. It represents employees’ commitment to staying involved with their organization and helping it achieve its goals.

Keep in mind that employee engagement doesn’t just refer to an employee’s overall enthusiasm—it has to relate to your organization. An individual can have a positive attitude, yet not be very engaged as an employee.

What are the levels of employee engagement?

While it’s possible for all of your employees to have similar engagement levels, it’s more likely that their attitudes are at different locations on the engagement spectrum. Usually, they will fall into one of the following levels of engagement:

Highly engaged. These employees have very favorable opinions of their work and their organization. They’re passionate, enthusiastic, and more likely to go above and beyond to push forward their company’s goals. They also motivate the employees around them to do their best.
Engaged. Engaged employees like their work, their team, and their organization. However, they may feel less satisfied about certain aspects of the organization, leading to a slightly lower level of engagement. These individuals may sometimes go above and beyond their call of duty, but for the most part, they will simply fulfill their responsibilities.
Unengaged. When your employees are unengaged, they feel unattached to their work and their organization. They’re not unhappy, but neither are they happy. They put time into their work, but not their energy or passion. Individuals in this category usually fulfill little more than the bare minimum of their responsibilities.
Disengaged. Disengaged employees are actively unhappy with their work and their organization. They may even be resentful that their engagement needs aren’t being met. These individuals not only underperform in their roles but may also undermine what their coworkers accomplish.

Having unengaged or disengaged employees is not necessarily indicative of an issue with your company culture—it’s difficult to capture the enthusiasm of everyone who works at your organization, and sometimes engagement is impacted by factors outside of your control, such as major events in your employees’ lives. However, if the majority of your employees fall in the unengaged and disengaged categories, then you may need to re-evaluate your existing employee engagement strategies.

10 Benefits of Employee Engagement

To give you a concrete idea of why employee engagement is important, we’ll cover the top ten benefits of employee engagement.

1. Productivity

According to Gallup’s employee engagement survey, businesses with engaged employees were 18% more productive than companies with unengaged teams. When employees are engaged at work, they feel a connection with the company. They believe the work they’re doing is important and therefore work harder.

By establishing engagement initiatives that improve your employees’ connection to their work, you’ll foster a more positive relationship between your organization and your employees.

2. Profitability

With increased productivity comes increased profitability. When comparing organizations with unengaged versus engaged employees, Gallup found that the latter group was 23% more profitable.

However, not only do unengaged employees not contribute to increasing profitability, but their presence actively increases costs as well. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report asserts that unengaged and disengaged employees cost the world about $8.8 trillion in lost productivity, the equivalent of 9% of global GDP.

3. Employee retention

When your team members are engaged and feel appreciated, they will be less inclined to look for other employment opportunities. Fostering a culture of employee engagement can be the key to reducing turnover and boosting retention.

Retention has an impact on your organization’s bottom line, too. The Work Institute estimates that losing an employee costs about $15,000 per employee. This estimated loss includes costs such as unemployment tax, lost business, and interviewing and training replacements.

If employees feel wanted when they go to work each day, they’re likely to form strong connections with the company and other employees. By cultivating and maintaining these relationships, you reduce the risk of employee turnover and the costs associated with it.

4. Creativity

Innovation is the key to growing your business. Engaged employees find creativity to be essential. They thrive on knowing they can find new ways to complete projects and are always looking for fresh takes on old ideas. Plus, if they discover a way to improve your existing processes, they’ll be more likely to advocate for them to improve your organization’s operations as a whole.

On the other hand, disengaged employees rarely produce new solutions or bring fresh ideas to the table simply because their passions don’t lie with their work. They have little interest in contributing to the bigger picture or being creative with their job.

5. Satisfaction and positivity

Remember that boosting engagement isn’t simply about creating more productive employees and increasing profits. Employee engagement is advantageous for both parties and should be treated as a two-way street.

Employees who are engaged at work feel satisfied with their careers and are generally happy individuals. Their positive energy will suffuse your workplace, creating a more positive culture that empowers high performers to create high-quality work.

This is particularly important for remote employees. Since they’re physically distant from their workplace, it’s more difficult for them to form positive relationships and connections with coworkers. Find engagement strategies employees can participate in from home to bring them into your company’s culture.

6. Mental wellness

Stress is an inevitable part of a working professional’s life. However, too much of it can lead to burnout, decreasing productivity, work quality, and eventually profitability. That’s why it’s essential to minimize stress and promote mental wellness for your employees. Additionally, stress is detrimental to both physical health and mental health, making mental wellness even more important.

With the right employee engagement initiatives, your team members will be more self-aware of their stress levels. Plus, they’ll be more likely to seek support from their coworkers and managers if they need it. This leads to a more supportive and positive work environment that everyone benefits from.

7. Decreased absenteeism

Absenteeism in the workplace refers to when employees fail to show up for work or fail to complete their job responsibilities regularly. This should not be confused with taking paid time off or one-off situations such as family emergencies—the key to absenteeism is its frequency and unplanned nature.

According to Gallup’s employee engagement survey, organizations that scored in the lowest quartiles of employee engagement were also 81% more likely to experience employee absenteeism. By focusing on employee engagement, your employees will be more satisfied with their work and less likely to be absent.

8. Brand advocacy

Satisfied employees will help to boost your organization’s reputation—and best of all, it’ll happen without any prompting from you! Happy employees will likely brag about their jobs to customers or tell friends and family how much they enjoy working at your organization. By doing so, they’ll spread good news about your company and improve your overall reputation.

On the other hand, workers who feel disconnected and disengaged are more likely to have negative things to say about your company. If disengaged employees leave or are fired, they may vent their frustrations publicly. Because negative feedback tends to be magnified more than positive, your company’s reputation and credibility could be damaged due to disengaged, disgruntled employees.

You can measure the brand advocacy that employees bring to your organization through an employee net promoter score (eNPS). Ask your employees: “On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend this company’s products and services to others?” If they answer 9-10, they’re a promoter, and if they answer 0-6, they’re a detractor. Calculate eNS by deducting the percent of detractors from the percent of promoters, and ignore those who score 7-8. This will give you a good idea of how strongly your employees advocate for your organization.

9. Recruitment

Attracting top talent is important to any organization that has open roles or hiring opportunities. This is especially true if the job market is saturated with openings, allowing candidates to more freely pick and choose which organizations they’d like to work for.

When a majority of existing employees at your organization are engaged, they’re more likely to speak positively about their work and the benefits you offer. This helps attract top talent as they’ll have heard about the positive points of your organization through word of mouth.

When potential employees apply to your organization, make sure to leave a positive impression. This could mean responding to their emails in a timely manner, promptly following up about interview times, and sending respectful and appreciative rejection letters.

10. Philanthropy

Corporate citizenship is a growing trend for companies of all sizes and industries. This trend asks organizations to consider themselves as citizens, a singular individual existing in a larger community, and to ask: “Am I a good citizen?” One of the ways businesses and corporations have chosen to give back to their community is through philanthropy.

If corporate citizenship is one of your company’s priorities, try engaging your employees with it. Employees want to know that the company they work for cares about the community. If your company offers volunteer grants or matching gifts, engaged employees are likely to take advantage of these opportunities to donate their time and money toward worthy causes. This helps your company be a better corporate citizen in your community.

5 Tips for Improving Employee Engagement

Now that you know the benefits of employee engagement, let’s move on to actionable advice for improving engagement at your organization.

1. Survey existing levels of employee engagement.

The first step to establishing employee engagement initiatives is to assess the existing engagement levels at your organization. If you already have established programs and want to examine their efficacy, this is also a great place to start.

It’s difficult to approach employee engagement quantitatively, so lean into qualitative data collection by sending out a survey. Here are a few examples of questions you can include in your survey:

How satisfied are you with your work?
How satisfied are you with the direction [Organization Name] is taking?
Do you feel your opinions and ideas are valued by your manager and leadership?
How satisfied are you with your work-life balance?
What do you think could be improved about your work?
What challenges do you face in your day-to-day tasks?
How likely are you to recommend [Organization Name] as a place of work to friends or family?

Collect the results of the survey and consolidate the information. Review the general level of employee engagement, but also examine the long-form answers on the survey. If there are any common challenges that your employees face, endeavor to address them to create a better work experience.

Upon review, if you find that the majority of your employees are unsatisfied with their work and feeling unengaged, then you may need to make operational changes to improve employee engagement. However, even if most of your employees are engaged, you should still do your due diligence and review how you can improve existing engagement. For example, if multiple employees express interest in a structured recognition program, look into starting one.

2. Approach compensation holistically.

To keep your employees engaged, re-examine the root of their work: compensation. With the proper compensation, employees will be happy to work and perform at their best.

Take a total rewards philosophy to compensation, where you characterize compensation as either direct or indirect. Direct compensation is financial and can include salary, bonuses, and overtime pay. Indirect compensation, on the other hand, encompasses the non-financial ways an employer gives back to their employees.

Support employee engagement with the following methods of indirect compensation:

Paid time off. Outperform the competition by offering more time off than other businesses in your sector. By allowing your employees to take breaks, they’ll be able to rest and recharge, ensuring they come back refreshed and ready to work.
Workplace giving. More than ever, employees expect their employers to give back to the community and support social good. Support this desire by allowing them to decide which causes receive your funds through workplace giving programs and campaigns. Plus, word of your philanthropy will result in an improved reputation for your company.
Wellness programs. Help your employees stay physically and mentally healthy by incorporating wellness programs into their compensation. This can range from a monthly gym membership stipend to discounted massages to catered healthy work lunches.

By re-evaluating compensation for your employees and taking a total rewards approach, you’ll show team members that their happiness and well-being matter to you. When employees’ well-being and financial needs are secure, they’ll have the mental space to focus on their work and engage with your organization.

3. Prioritize employee recognition.

Everyone, especially high performers, wants to be complimented on their good work. If they don’t receive the praise or recognition they’re expecting, they may feel overlooked or disregarded by their managers and leadership. This can lead to resentment and disengaged employees.

To avoid this, implement employee recognition programs such as the following:

Employee of the month. Every month, choose a top-performing employee to feature in your company newsletter. You can also give them a trophy or a certificate for the employee wall of fame so that they have a tangible reminder of their accomplishments.
Social media shoutouts. Don’t be afraid of telling your customers and your greater community about your high-performing workers! Shoutout your employees on social media for a job well done. This can be done as part of your employee of the month program or as a way to celebrate a particular achievement.
Employee Appreciation Day. National Employee Appreciation Day falls on the first Friday of March every year. Show your appreciation for all your employees by hosting an office party on this day with catered food and drinks. Go above and beyond by preparing small gifts for all attendees.
Peer-to-peer recognition. Although leadership appreciation may be highly impactful, your company’s leaders aren’t tapped into the day-to-day responsibilities of all employees. That’s why peer-to-peer recognition is so important for ensuring all your employees receive the appreciation they deserve. Plus, it’ll create a more positive work environment that encourages engagement.

Not only does proper employee recognition prevent resentment, but it can support your goal of creating more engaged and productive employees. By recognizing high performance, you incentivize employees to do their best work. And this, in turn, will improve the profitability of your business.

4. Offer professional development opportunities.

With about 76% of employees looking for opportunities to expand their careers, professional development is an essential offering. Plus, 58% of employees say professional development contributes to their job satisfaction.

You may be thinking: If I offer my employees more training, then they’ll leave for better employment opportunities after the training is complete.

Studies have found that’s not true. 94% of employees won’t quit if they’re offered training and development opportunities, and retention rates are 34% higher among organizations that offer development programs.

To reap these benefits, offer professional development through mentorship programs, training and resource databases, networking opportunities, and more. You might even pay for employees to attend industry-related conferences to broaden their horizons and expand their knowledge about cutting-edge industry innovations.

5. Implement corporate philanthropy initiatives.

54% of employees in the United States said that they would be willing to take a pay cut to work at a company that shares their values. And 56% of them say they wouldn’t even consider a job at a company that has values they disagree with.

A value that’s increasingly significant to employees is philanthropy. In fact, 71% of employees indicate that it’s very important to work at a company that partakes in philanthropy. Show employees that you share their values by investing in corporate giving initiatives.

Common workplace giving programs that you can implement include:

Matching gifts
Volunteer grants
Employee grant stipends
In-kind donations

When developing your company’s charitable giving policy, prioritize convenience for employees. To facilitate a streamlined corporate philanthropy process, consider investing in workplace giving software. The right platform will allow you to:

Manage employee donations and matching gift requests.
Track employee volunteer hours and volunteer grant requests.
Arrange automatic payroll deductions so employees can donate a portion of their paycheck to a nonprofit of their choice.

By creating an atmosphere of corporate philanthropy, you’ll not only help employees contribute to nonprofit organizations but also help them feel more engaged and fulfilled at work. And when it’s easy for them to take part in workplace giving, you’ll get more out of the programs you’ve already invested in.

Additional Resources

By prioritizing employee engagement, you’ll not only boost productivity and your company’s profits but also help your employees reach their full potential and look forward to coming to work each day.

Looking for more engagement strategies? Check out the resources below:

From Disengaged to Inspired: A Guide to Employee Engagement. Want to learn more about employee engagement? Check out this essential guide to get you started!
What is Corporate Social Responsibility? Guide & Examples. Discover the basics of giving back to your community and improving society with corporate social responsibility in this guide.
Why Workplace Giving Matters for Nonprofits + Companies. Interested in exploring workplace giving to improve employee engagement? Start with the basics in this guide!

What Happens After a Donor Makes a Matching Gift Submission?

August 27, 2015/in Learning Center /by Adam Weinger

HURRAH! You’ve done it.

Your nonprofit has gotten a donor to see the light and submit a matching gift request.

Now what?

The most difficult work is done. Your promotional effort has worked. The responsibility is now in the hands of the donor’s employer — at least momentarily.

Well, you can sit back and twiddle your thumbs … but not for long. Pretty soon the ball will be back in your court, and it’ll be your turn to handle things. The donor’s company is not going to blindly accept their employee’s submission.

The donor’s submission process is going to vary from company to company, but it will roughly follow similar patterns:

Employees log into the company’s matching gift submission website
Employees search for the nonprofit they donated to
Employees select the nonprofit from the search results (if not found, they enter the organization’s information)
Employees register their donation and submit the matching gift request

After a donor makes a matching gift request submission to his or her employer, that company then needs to process the request.

Your nonprofit is going to have to be involved, albeit rather peripherally, in that process.

What should your nonprofit expect to receive from a company that’s just received a matching gift request from one of your organization’s donors?

Well, expect a letter for starters. It may come by mail, email, fax, plane, train, or automobile. Okay, so maybe not those last three, but definitely mail, email, or fax.

The letter will basically be asking for verification that the employee made the donation and that you’re the nonprofit that the employee says you are. It will be a quick and painless process. The letter will usually come through a third party company that handles matching gift requests for the employer at hand and it will ask you take a few verification steps.

It should be quick and painless for your nonprofit.

To help clear up any potential questions you may have, let’s walk through a sample letter from a company to a nonprofit.

In the case of this sample:

Corporation X represents your donor’s employer
Y Nonprofit represents you, the ones receiving the donation
Company Z represents the third party business handling the corporate giving program

Corporation X’s Corporate Giving Program

Dear Y Nonprofit,

Company Z is Corporation X’s vendor that helps process and fulfill requests through the corporate giving program. As Corporation X’s vendor, we at Company Z work to ensure that the donation process goes as smoothly as possible. Part of that process involves guaranteeing that funds requested by employees are allocated to the correct charities.

We have great news! An employee has made a match request on your behalf!

That match request now needs your confirmation.

In order to complete the confirmation, please follow the link below.

“Link to Company Z’s vendor portal with Corporation X”

Once on the site, create a new account or log into your existing account if you already have one.

If creating a new account, you will be prompted to answer a series of questions which are as follows:

Organization contact information

Contact information for the specific employee handling the request

A registration code unique to your case — ABC-DEFG

A match ID unique to your case — 12345

You will be able to set up a username and password and then confirm the match request that is currently pending.

Questions? Please call us at 111-222-3333 or email us at support@companyz.corporationx.com, and one of our representatives will be able to assist you.

Thank you for all the great work you do.

Best,

Company Z Support

111-222-3333 / support@companyz.corporationx.com

As you can see from that letter template, it is not going to take much to confirm a matching gift request and see those extra funds come in, but you will need to essentially verify that the employee making the request did in fact make the donation that he or she reported. And the letter will give you all the information needed to do so.

To help track your progress, a matching gift best practice that we recommend, keep records of any confirmations your organization makes.

That way, you know to be expecting funds and can cross them off the list when the employers donate them.

It is quite common that donors will submit a matching gift request without telling the nonprofit that they are doing so. They are certainly not required to tell the nonprofit anything. Therefore, the first chance your organization has to begin tracking these submission requests is when the employer contacts you. Take advantage of that knowledge.

One of the best and most proactive steps a nonprofit can take to keep donors around is thanking quickly and often.

Don’t officially thank the donor until you receive the matching gift donation from that donor’s employer; however, if you are keeping careful records of matching gift submissions in progress you will be able to prepare to send out acknowledgments sooner and you will be less likely to lose track of a donor, and / or that donor’s records, in the shuffle.

The matching gift submission process is by no means brain surgery. In fact, many of the third party vendors that corporations use have handled submissions for so long the whole experience is as streamlined and timely as possible.

It never hurts to know what to expect though, and now you do. Make sure those letters do not get mixed up in the wrong place or filed away before anyone has had a chance to make the confirmation! They are your key to converting matching gift requests into matching gift funds. Don’t let your organization be the bottleneck holding up the process.

If your organization is going to seriously pursue matching gifts, it should assign the processing of requests to one staff member, probably on your development team. That way, when letters like the sample above come in, your whole office knows exactly who to send them to. And, that person will quickly gain familiarity with the process and be able to make and track the confirmations as efficiently as possible.

NationBuilder Matching Gifts with Double the Donation

NationBuilder Integration with Double the Donation’s Matching Gift Service

August 1, 2015/in Learning Center /by Adam Weinger

Does your nonprofit use NationBuilder? Are you looking to incorporate matching gift information into both your website as well as the NationBuilder donation forms?

If so then this guide is for you. Please follow the below steps to get Double the Donation’s plugin up and running with NationBuilder.

Double the Donation’s Relationship with NationBuilder:

NationBuilder is a leading platform for nonprofits and communities and envisions a world where everyone has the freedom and opportunity to create what they were meant to create. NationBuilder builds the infrastructure for a world of creators by helping leaders develop and organize thriving communities.

Double the Donation is a leading provider of employee matching gift data and tools to nonprofits.

This guide was put together to help organizations who use NationBuilder platform incorporate Double the Donation’s employee matching gift plugin. NationBuilder and Double the Donation are two separate and unrelated companies.

Requirements:

At risk of stating the obvious, the below steps and screenshots are applicable to organizations which already have an account with Double the Donation and NationBuilder.

If you don’t have an account with Double the Donation you can:

If you don’t have an account with NationBuilder you can:

Integrate Double the Donation’s Matching Gift Plugin into NationBuilder:

Method #1: On a dedicated NationBuilder matching gift page

Step #1: Go to your NationBuilder control panel.

Step #2: Add a new page. We recommend:

Calling the page “Matching Gifts” without the quotes
Setting the slug as “matching-gifts” without the quotes
Setting the page’s status as “Published”
Setting the page type as “Basic”
Setting the page to be included in the top navigation

Step #3: Under the page’s content tab, write the core matching gift content for the page. This is your opportunity to explain matching gifts to your donors. For example:

Did you know many companies match donations from their employees to our organization? It’s true. In fact last year we raised $10,000 from matching gifts. Below you can access our matching gift search tool which will enable you to access information on your company’s matching gift program along with forms, guidelines, and instructions.

Thanks for taking the time to check if your company offers employee giving programs which can double the impact of your donation.

Click “Save Content”

Step #4: In a separate browser window log into your Double the Donation account and copy the standard Double the Donation plugin code.

Step #5: Add the Double the Donation plugin code to your page’s Template panel then click save. Please note:

Double the Donation plugin will appear wherever you place our plugin code.
You’ll need to grab the plugin code from your Double the Donation account management pages which has your API_Key.
We recommend placing our plugin after the main content section.

Step #6: Verify that Double the Donation’s plugin is up and running on your dedicated matching gift page.

Method #2: On a NationBuilder donation form

Step #1: Go to your NationBuilder control panel.

Step #2: Go to your NationBuilder donation page.

Step #3: In a separate browser window log into your Double the Donation account and copy the standard Double the Donation plugin code.

Step #4: Add the Double the Donation plugin code to your page’s Template panel then click save. Please note:

Double the Donation plugin will appear wherever you place our plugin code.
You’ll need to grab the plugin code from your Double the Donation account management pages which has your API_Key.
We recommend placing our plugin after the submit code.

Step #5: Verify that Double the Donation’s plugin is up and running on your donation form.

Method #3: In NationBuilder’s autoresponder emails that go out after a donation is made

Step #1: Navigate to your organization’s donation page

Step #2: Navigate to the “Autoresponse” option under “Donation Settings”

Step #3: Feature matching gifts in the autoresponder email that gets sent out when someone makes a donation. We suggest:

Include matching gift wording such as:

Did you know many companies match donations from their employees to our organization? It’s true. In fact last year we raised $10,000 from matching gifts.

Please click here to see if your company will match your donation and to access the appropriate forms, guidelines, and instructions.

Include a matching gift graphic to really call attention to matching gifts.
Link both the text and the graphic to your matching gift page.

Want to Get Started with Double the Donation’s Service?

Click here to sign up >

Have Questions?

Use one of the following methods to uncover additional information about Double the Donation’s services:

Companies That Offer Fundraising Matches for Run/Walk/Rides

July 11, 2015/in Learning Center, Matching Gift Companies, Company Spotlights, Learning Center, Lists and Rankings /by Adam Weinger

At Double the Donation, we often discuss corporate matching gifts—or initiatives through which employers financially match the donations made by individual employees to qualifying nonprofits. However, there’s another powerful⁠ (yet even lesser-known⁠) opportunity to keep an eye out for. And that is companies that offer fundraising matches!

Fundraising match programs also involve employer matching. However, unlike typical matching programs that solely cover financial donations made from an employee’s own wallet, fundraising match programs involve a company matching all of the funds raised by an employee during a fundraising activity. This is particularly important to consider in regard to one of the most popular fundraisers in the nonprofit world: the Run/Walk/Ride event.

These events involve participants running/walking/cycling (or partaking in another activity!) for a certain distance and collecting pledges on your organization’s behalf according to the distance they cover. And for volunteer fundraisers that work for a company offering fundraising matching, these fulfilled pledges can be doubled for even greater impact.

Now, you might be wondering what kinds of employers offer these initiatives⁠—and how your team can locate donors who qualify. Lucky for you, there are a ton of available programs.

We’ve selected a selection of companies that offer fundraising matches, which we’ll discuss below:

Intuit, Inc.
BP
State Street Corporation
Penguin Random House
CVS Health
Boeing
Numerator
The Estee Lauder Companies
Northstrat

Keep in mind that there are a ton more participating businesses, too. These are just a sample!

But before diving into the above companies, we’re going to look at the easiest way to uncover these opportunities⁠—with dedicated matching gift tools.

The Best Way to Discover Matching Gifts

To best capitalize on these fundraising matching programs, you first need to discover where they exist. The easiest way to do that is by using dedicated matching gift software.

Matching gift software allows your organization to easily uncover and pursue these opportunities within your network of support. For example, Double the Donation’s 360MatchPro is a fully automated matching gift platform that uncovers a donor’s match eligibility once a donation is made and triggers automated outreach with company-specific program guidelines to drive next steps. Thousands of nonprofits trust Double the Donation to fuel their matching gift fundraising needs⁠—including more than 70% of the nation’s largest organizations!

And, built on the industry’s most comprehensive database of employee giving program information, it doesn’t just provide insights on individual matching opportunities, either. 360MatchPro enables donors to seamlessly locate details regarding their employers’ volunteer grant and fundraising match programs as well! And it’s made easy to get started thanks to technology integrations with most online donation forms and CRMs.

With that, check out these top examples of companies that offer fundraising matches.

Companies that Match Gifts to Run/Walk/Ride Events

Tons of companies participate in fundraising match programs which ultimately amplify the result of individual (or team) employee fundraising efforts. A few standout programs that we’ve selected to highlight include the following:

Intuit, Inc.

Intuit is a software company that develops financial and tax preparation software. It employs over 17,000 team members and offers a comprehensive matching gift program to its employees.

Intuit’s matching gift program includes an individual match, in which the company will match an employee’s donation of up to $5,000 to a nonprofit organization or educational institution of their choosing. In addition, Intuit’s corporate giving programs include a fundraising match. Intuit matches funds personally raised by an employee for a fundraising event.

Learn more about Intuit’s matching gift program.

BP (Formerly British Petroleum)

As one of the top 20 largest companies in the world by revenue, BP is an international oil and gas company headquartered in London. BP employs nearly 80,000 people across the world with a large presence in the United States.

With employee grant programs that include traditional personal donation matches, as well as matches for money raised from employees’ friends and family members, BP will match a maximum of $5,000 per employee, per year.

Learn more about BP’s matching gift program.

State Street Corporation

State Street is a financial services holding company founded in Boston in 1792. After many years of successful growth, the company now employs more than 42,000 people internationally.

State Street offers a matching gift program for employee donations called GiveMore, which matches at a 1:1 ratio. Within this program, annual matching limits are extremely generous, varying by role. For example…

The Board of Directors, CEO, President, and Vice Chairs can receive up to $35,000 in matching funds.
Executive Vice Presidents can receive up to $25,000.
Senior Vice Presidents can receive up to $15,000.
All other employees can receive up to $5,000 in matching funds.

State Street also offers a fundraising match program called CollectMore, where the company will match an employee’s fulfilled fundraising pledges as they partake in walk, bike, or ride types of events benefiting qualifying nonprofits. CollectMore is available up to $10,000 per team member, inclusive of the GiveMore total as well.

Learn more about State Street’s matching gift program.

Penguin Random House

Penguin Random House engages employees by matching donations of up to $2,500 per employee per year to most 501(c)(3) nonprofits.

To sweeten their program even further, Penguin Random House has also established a Fundraising Match Program. With this initiative, the company will match up to $1,500 per employee (included in the $2,500 per employee annual maximum), per calendar year. This essentially allows employees to double the money raised via fundraising events to qualifying nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

Types of qualifying events include (but are not limited to) walk-a-thons, bike-a-thons, and 5K’s, though Penguin Random House indicates that each fundraising request will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Learn more about Penguin Random House’s matching gift program.

CVS Health

CVS Health matches employee donations made through their Community Crew Portal to many nonprofit causes throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. This includes just about any registered 501(c)(3) organization.

But they don’t stop there! The company also offers a generous fundraising match program for individuals and team participants. When an individual staff member participates in a Run/Walk/Ride fundraising challenge, CVS Health agrees to match the funds raised between $250 and $1,000.

And when a team of five or more CVS Health employees participate in a similar type of fundraising event, the company offers to match fulfilled pledges up to $5,000.

Learn more about CVS Health’s matching gift program.

Boeing

American multinational aircraft corporation Boeing Co. offers a particularly generous matching gift initiative that encompasses personal employee donations, gifts made by retirees and spouse/domestic partners, volunteer grants, and even funds contributed through fundraising walks participated in by employees.

Each year, a team member is eligible to request up to $10,000 at a 1:1 match rate to a wide range of nonprofit organizations⁠—including educational institutions, health and human services, arts and cultural organizations, civic and community organizations, environmental nonprofits, and more.

Learn more about Boeing’s matching gift program.

Numerator

Numerator is a consumer insights and data company that aims to engage and incentivize its employees with unique and impactful giving opportunities.

Every year, employees are encouraged to participate in the company’s fundraising match program. When doing so, funds raised through peer-to-peer fundraising efforts to most nonprofit causes⁠—including schools, health and human services, community organizations, and tons more⁠—are matched, dollar-for-dollar.

Each employee (full- and part-time alike) qualifies to request up to $500 in fundraising match grants on a rolling annual basis, with no minimum amount required to get involved!

Learn more about Numerator’s matching gift program.

The Estee Lauder Companies

With brands such as Too Faced, M·A·C, Clinique, and Tom Ford Beauty, the Estee Lauder Companies have established a number of charitable giving programs that aim to give back to their communities.

These include⁠—but are not limited to⁠—matching individual staff donations, offering volunteer grants to the nonprofits their team members volunteer with, and providing impactful fundraising matches when employees partake in events or other peer-to-peer fundraising challenges.

Each year, qualifying members of the Estee Lauder Companies’ workforce can request up to $5,000 in corporate funding, inclusive of their matching gifts, dollars for doers, and fundraising match initiatives.

Learn more about The Estee Lauder Companies’ matching gift program.

Northstrat

Northstrat, an employee-owned Information Technology company providing solutions to a number of US government agencies, participates in corporate philanthropy with a particular focus on education. Currently, the company offers to “match funds raised in sponsorship of events where employee collects donations based on their activity” in addition to a more traditional employee matching gift program of up to $500 per employee per year.

Qualifying nonprofit recipients include accredited public and private K-12 institutions, junior and community colleges, four-year colleges and universities, professional and graduate schools, and select other organizations.

Learn more about Northstrat’s matching gift program.

How Can Your Organization Make the Most of These Opportunities?

Now that you’re aware of the vast array of fundraising matching gift programs available to your organization through qualifying donors, you’re likely wondering what actionable steps your team can take to make the most of the opportunity.

Ultimately, the most critical component of a fundraising matching strategy involves driving supporter awareness! Like traditional matching gifts, tons of qualifying supporters remain unaware of the programs in place by their employers. So in order to drive participation, it’s important that you inform them.

Check out a few of our favorite ideas for doing so:

Share general information on social media. Post a fun graphic that states, “Many companies match donations collected by employees for peer-to-peer fundraising events. Find out how to get involved here!” Then, be sure to link to your organization’s dedicated matching gift page where they can learn more about their employers’ programs.

Reach out to existing P2P volunteers directly. Send an email⁠ or text—or make a phone call⁠—to supporters who are already fundraising on your nonprofit’s behalf. Let them know how they can find out if they qualify for a fundraising match from their employer and how to get started. As you do, remember to emphasize the increased impact that fundraising match initiatives can bring!

Wrapping Up

Fundraising match programs are the perfect addition to any Run/Walk/Ride or other peer-to-peer giving based event. And being aware of the companies that offer fundraising matches is an essential first step.

If you’re planning such an event, check to see if any of your donors work for the above companies. If your participants qualify, you may ultimately receive twice the fundraised donations for that supporter!

However, keep in mind that they themselves may not be aware of the opportunity at hand. Thus, it helps to provide guidance and resources throughout the process to drive more available fundraising matches to completion.

Check out these fundamental best practices for acquiring matching gifts.

The 11 Must-Know Matching Gift Best Practices for Nonprofits

June 15, 2015/in Lists and Rankings, Learning Center, Marketing Strategies /by Adam Weinger

Have you ever been to a movie double feature? You get in the movie-going mood, take the time out of your busy life to make it to the theater, buy your popcorn, splurge on a huge soda, and then settle in for two great films. Oh, and most importantly, you’re only paying for one.

Matching gifts are fundraising double features. For the time and cost of acquiring one donation, you get twice the funding.

Once a donor contributes to your organization, they can submit a request to their company (if they have a program) to have their gift matched. If your nonprofit qualifies, the corporation will send a check for the same amount (or more!) depending on the company’s matching ratio.

However, it will take your team a bit of extra planning to secure that extra revenue.

To ensure that your nonprofit maximizes its efforts, we’ve curated a list of the 11 most valuable matching gift best practices:

Study up on matching gifts.
Appoint a matching gift coordinator.
Raise awareness about matched giving.
Collect donor employer details.
Strive for easy accessibility.
Keep records of individuals’ matching gift statuses.
Thank your donors for submitting a matching gift request.
Cultivate relationships with donors’ companies.
Maintain and update your donor records.
Perform prospect screening.
Track and review your progress.

If you’re more of a visual learner, we’ve got you covered! We’ve summarized our top ideas in a video. Feel free to watch it and then dive into the article for more information and additional ideas:

Follow these tips, lean back in your seat, and watch the credits roll!

Before promoting matching gifts to your donor, make sure your entire team knows the fundamentals.

1. Study Up on Matching Gifts

Here’s the good news: if you want to learn about matching gifts, you will have no issue doing so with the countless resources online.

The topic of matching gifts isn’t incredibly intimidating once you take the time to develop a better understanding of the process. Reaching an effective level of working knowledge is certainly possible.

Begin like you would with any subject by reading what you can. Try to build a strong foundation of knowledge, so that when you implement your program you’ll be set to handle obstacles as they arise.

Having a keen sense of matching gifts and what goes into obtaining it is crucial in planning your program and standardizing your processes.

For instance, learning the matching gift guidelines for the three biggest companies in your area can help your team target donors from those companies. Chances are, some of your current donors work at one of those three.

Before you can implement a surefire matching gift strategy, you need to develop a solid understanding of this type of corporate philanthropy. Otherwise, you won’t be able to relay the necessary information to your supporters. Kick-off your research with our comprehensive matching gift guide.

2. Appoint a Matching Gift Specialist

In the ideal situation, everyone on your organization’s team will be well-versed in matching gift programs. However, by appointing an expert to lead your team, you’ll have the time and resources to implement matching gifts into your overall fundraising strategy.

Your nonprofit will be more prepared after hiring a matching gift specialist than it would be having your whole staff know just a few basic facts about matching gifts. The coordinator is the expert, but the rest of your employees should know enough to field the questions that they can and pass along the rest as needed.

The specialist is the designated point-person for all matching gift queries and problems, as well as the staff member in charge of seeing the donations through until the end.

Your coordinator will be able to keep your various departments in the loop about what’s going on and need-to-know information.

All staff members should be promoting matching gifts when relevant, but the matching gift coordinator is the coach leading your team to victory.

If the matching gift specialist position is new territory for your organization, why not consider hiring an executive search firm? Consultants can help you craft the perfect job description and lead you through the entire hiring process, ensuring that everything runs smoothly!

What if you don’t have the funds or employee base to designate a matching gift coordinator?

Set aside some time and have designated team members do the research and put together matching gift materials including:

Educational packets
Letter templates
Newsletters
Answers to FAQs
Fast facts

With these resources, any member of your team is now armed with working knowledge of matching gifts and is prepared to handle most matching gift occurrences and problems. Otherwise, you won’t truly maximize your matching gift potential.

3. Raise Awareness About Matched Giving

Once your team has a solid understanding of matching gifts and an idea of how the process will work internally, it’s time to spread the word! People need to know about matching gifts before they can request them.

No need to be shy at this point; the goal is mass awareness. Lucky for everyone, technology has drastically improved over the years, so nonprofits now have plenty of ways to promote matching gifts.

Put matching gifts on your ‘ways to give’ page, like Girls Scouts of Greater Atlanta did:

Create a dedicated matching gift page, like the ASPCA did:

These are just two of many, many options. Get creative! To get the word out about matching gifts, try the following:

Send out a newsletter that focuses on matching gifts.
Create a paper insert to include in your communications.
Provide a matching gift search tool on your donation page.
Post additional resources on your website to teach readers about corporate philanthropy.
Send letters to promote opportunities to match-eligible donors.

Matching gift promotion should span all of your communication platforms. Diversify your marketing so that it can reach the largest possible audience of donors.

4. Collect Donor Employer Details

The educational materials you give your donors will provide them with the tools they need to determine their eligibility. However, the matching gift process is not passive. Your nonprofit shouldn’t sit back and wait for donors to come to you; rather, your team should be actively recognizing and pursuing your eligible donors.

If your staff can immediately see your donors’ employers in your database, they can go the extra mile to obtain donations.

A major gift donor who works for a company with a generous matching gift program can make a huge difference in a nonprofit’s annual budget. Plus, you won’t waste the time of your employees when you double donors’ contributions with minimal extra effort.

Knowing the companies your donors work for will help you segment your matching gift prospects.

For instance, if you’re promoting via email, zeroing in on only the prospects with the most potential wouldn’t make sense. Instead, consider a calling campaign. Team members won’t have time to call all donors and prospects. That’s where segmenting by employer can make a world of difference.

Segmentation by employer allows you to instantly recognize match-eligible donors. Sometimes, these donors might be aware of the opportunities, but they just need an extra push to complete the process!

5. Strive for Easy Accessibility

For a donor, securing a matching gift is an easy process that has the misfortune of sounding complicated. To remedy this, brand it better by simplifying the process.

Clear and concise language with straightforward directions will encourage your donors to seek out matching gifts. Donors who have already been generous enough to donate should not have to follow-up with a ton of paperwork.

To better explain matching gifts, you can:

List the typical steps involved in the process on your matching gifts explainer page.
Insert a matching gift widget that can help the donor search for their company’s program.
Mail out informational materials about corporate philanthropy.
Highlight key matching gift statistics in your educational resources.
Point out a few of the companies that commonly match gifts for your nonprofit.

Ensure that your nonprofit is a one-stop-shop for all things matching gifts! That way, donors won’t have to seek out this information themselves. Get ahead of the game and give your supporters all the information they need to fully understand their opportunities.

6. Keep Records of the Individuals’ Matching Gift Statuses

Maintaining ongoing records of donors’ matching gift statuses falls under the matching gift coordinator’s jurisdiction.

Essentially, you’ll want to know what requests have been made, when they are processed, and when they have been fulfilled.

Keeping accurate records will guarantee that no revenue opportunities slip through the cracks. There can be a lot of moving parts in the process among the donor, donor’s employer, and the nonprofit, and there will be some level of back-and-forth.

A clear trail of what has happened and what needs to happen will make interactions a lot easier and a lot more efficient. For instance, a matching gift database like 360MatchPro by Double the Donation can track match progress. It automatically identifies opportunities to use corporate matching gift programs by searching donors’ email domains and can drive matches to completion through tracking tools and automated messaging options.

The more standardized and systematic the process you use is, the better the results will be.

7. Thank Your Donors for Submitting a Matching Gift Request

Donors involved with matching gifts have gone the extra mile for your cause, so your appreciation should match that level of energy.

Just like matching gifts have doubled your donations, matching gift thank yous should be double as well. Thank them once for the initial donation and a second time when the matched gift goes through.

In fact, you may even want to put together a special event to honor matching gift donors. The goal is to show genuine gratitude towards what they’ve done to help, and something like a special event will also promote the program to those who are unaware of it.

If you don’t have the resources for an entire event, try publicly thanking those involved on social media. Social media is a great place to promote matching gifts and is also a top outlet for acknowledgment.

For instance, a strategic Facebook post can kill two birds with one stone by thanking a matching gift donor while getting the idea of matching gifts into the heads of your Facebook community.

Nonetheless, you’ll need to find an appropriate way to demonstrate your gratitude and ensure that the donors feel appreciated. Whether it’s through a full-blown appreciation event or through thank-you letters, let your donors know their contributions are vital to your mission.

8. Cultivate Relationships with Donors’ Companies

You should also consider thanking your donors’ companies as well. The donor has brought the company to you, so go ahead and cover all your bases.

Matching gifts can provide a much-desired introduction to major corporations with top-notch corporate giving.

When an employee asks their company to match their gift, by nature of the process, the company will be exposed to your nonprofit. If you want to foster a new relationship, your nonprofit is going to have to impress the company. In some cases, you’ll even develop long-term partnerships with them.

By having all of your matching gifts ducks in a row, your staff can focus on building those corporate relationships, instead of troubleshooting submission issues.

Plus, whenever you need an extra helping hand at one of your events, these companies will likely be more than happy to help out through their corporate volunteer program since you’ll already be on their radar.

9. Maintain Your Donor Records

A disorganized and dysfunctional donor database is really going to hold your fundraisers back when it comes to matching gifts. With out-of-date information, your staff has no chance of making an efficient attempt at acquiring matching gifts.

If your organization fails to collect vital donor information, simply reach out to donors. For example, you could send out mailers with blanks for donors to fill in any changes to their personal details. Something as simple as an email asking them to confirm and update their information can work.

From there, refine your process by encouraging donors to fill out their personal details when they donate for the first time.

Once the information is in your system, your next move is going to be making sure those who need it can find it. Having data stored in such a manner that only one senior team member can find it doesn’t do your organization any good, so make sure all your team members who are involved with the donation process have access to this data.

10. Perform Prospect Screening

If you’re looking for donors with large capacities to donate and great matching gift programs, prospect screenings can be a big help.

Prospect research can provide major insights into your donors. Search for vital details like business affiliations of potential donors, like where they work and where their spouses work. If a donor’s spouse works for a major matching gift company, your donor will often qualify for those donations as well.

Matching gift participation rates can vary from 3% to 65% based on how much the individual companies promote their programs. Don’t let this vital process fall through the cracks. Instead, screen your donors to find overlooked opportunities.

With the knowledge derived from prospect screening, you’ll be able to take a well-prepared approach to finding matching gift donors and will be well on your way to maximizing your revenue.

11. Track and Review Your Progress

Students earn grades and receive progress reports. Professional athletes watch game tape and practice all week long. No one can get better without locating weaknesses and focusing on changing them.

This rule applies to matching gifts as well. An established system designed with achievement assessment in mind is a valuable asset.

In order to properly grade your program, track:

The matching gift money raised in previous years.
The matching gift money raised after establishing your corporate philanthropy strategy.
Your top matching gift employer.
The costs and time it takes to acquire matches.
The percentage of your total revenue that matching gifts account for.

Simply advocating for matching gifts won’t be enough to run a successful program. Tracking data and looking at results is the best way to pinpoint areas for improvement.

Matching Gift Database: Identify Matching Gifts with Double the Donation

Matching gifts play a major role in your nonprofit’s fundraising strategy. As you now know, eligible donors can double (maybe even triple!) their contributions through their employers. The key is to make them aware of their available opportunities and ensure they follow through with the process.

Double the Donation can simplify this process and make it easy for nonprofits and employees to take advantage of corporate philanthropy. When you embed the matching gift plugin across your website and fundraising channels, you’ll maximize your revenue potential.

With more than 8,500 organizations using it, Double the Donation offers the industry-leading matching gifts database. It allows users to search more than 20,000 companies and subsidiaries which represent 15+ million match-eligible individuals.

As the most comprehensive source of matching gift forms and instructions, corporate employees will be able to quickly check their eligibility and submit requests to their employers.

Larger nonprofits may benefit even more from 360MatchPro by Double the Donation. This system goes beyond providing users with necessary instructions and forms. It recognizes match-eligible donors through email domain screening, and through automated reminder emails, donors will be encouraged to complete the matching gift process. Your staff will save time while still providing donors with the necessary guidance for completing their matching gift requests promptly.

Get a demo to see how 360MatchPro can help your organization

Corporate giving programs are out there for the taking. Major corporations like GE and Microsoft have some of the best matching gift programs in the world. Make sure your nonprofit’s team can easily recognize these opportunities.

Institute these matching gifts best practices and get ready for the second movie to start.

For more matching gift advice, check out these additional resources:

Marketing Matching Gifts: Want more ways to promote matching gifts? This guide takes you through several ideas on how your organization can best market matching gifts.
Ultimate Guide to Major Gifts: Encouraging major donors to submit matching gifts can add even more money to your annual fund. Learn the ins and outs of major donors with this helpful guide.
Matching Gifts Guide: Need to go back to the basics of matching gifts? Check out this comprehensive guide by Recharity.

Learn more about CyberGrants and its employee giving and grant management tools!

CyberGrants: Employee Giving and Grant Management Tools

May 23, 2015/in Learning Center, Company Spotlights /by Adam Weinger

Are you a nonprofit or corporation looking for information on CyberGrants?

Good news! While Double the Donation is a separate company that specializes in helping nonprofits raise more money from matching gift programs, we can share much of the information on CyberGrants you’re looking for.

It’s essential that companies encourage participation in their workplace giving programs, including matching gifts. CyberGrants is one of the leading corporate giving vendors that can help companies do just that. Here’s what you need to know:

About CyberGrants

For over 20 years, CyberGrants has been a leader in the online grantmaking space. In 1995, back when AOL was just starting to hand out those infamous free sign-up CDs, CyberGrants was already launching online grants management and employee giving software for corporations. Over time, the company has recorded many firsts in the grantmaking space, including:

Developing the first online application.
Providing the first online grants administration tools.
Creating the first online workplace giving and volunteering systems for corporations.

These ongoing innovations have positioned CyberGrants as a leading provider of online grantmaking and employee giving tools.

Quick fact: CyberGrants’ corporate customer base includes more than 40 of the Fortune 100, and nearly 70% of the public companies tracked in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

What CyberGrants Does

CyberGrants specializes in two areas: employee giving systems and grants management for corporate, family, and private foundations.

Employee Giving Systems for Corporations

Whereas Double the Donation provides matching gift tools to nonprofits, CyberGrants provides services to corporations looking to streamline their employee giving systems.

The platform offers corporations a suite of services based around managing and administering:

Personal matching gifts for employees
Individual volunteer events
Executive matching
Rapid response/disaster relief administration
Dollars for Doers/volunteer recognition programs

Consider the CyberGrants Employee Giving System if you’re looking to create, manage, and administer every aspect of your employee giving program.

Grants Management for Corporations and Foundations

As one of the original players in the corporate foundation software space, CyberGrants provides end-to-end solutions for corporations looking to take grantmaking to the next level.

The company’s web-based software enables nonprofits to submit their grant applications online while providing corporations and foundations with the tools they need to manage the grant cycle.

Features of their software include:

Customizable nonprofit application portals so a company’s brand is front and center
Comprehensive reporting
In-depth business intelligence
Automated cross-checking for compliance

When it’s easy for companies and nonprofits to manage and submit grant applications, this creates an opportunity for nonprofits to get the funding they need and for companies to do good in their communities.

Companies That Use CyberGrants

Double the Donation’s services enable nonprofits to increase their fundraising revenue from matching gift programs. To do so, we stay in contact with companies that offer matching gift and volunteer grant programs to understand their program guidelines and procedures.

Since CyberGrants is one of the largest providers of employee grant software to corporations, it’s no surprise that many of the companies in our matching gift database use their software.

A few of CyberGrants’ Employee Giving System corporate users include:

Here’s what the CyberGrants portal for Walmart looks like:

CyberGrants offers the above companies and many others an easy way for their employees to access their workplace giving programs and log their donations online. If your company wants to make it easy for employees to participate in corporate giving, CyberGrants is an excellent vendor to consider.

Double the Donation’s Relationship with CyberGrants

Double the Donation is a separate company from CyberGrants, but both serve corporate philanthropy efforts.

While CyberGrants manages matching gift programs for corporations, Double the Donation works with nonprofits to help them raise more money from companies with matching gift and volunteer grant programs. We sell an easy-to-use tool to nonprofits that helps an organization’s donors submit match requests.

Our database of employee giving programs includes those administered by corporate giving vendors, such as:

CyberGrants
America’s Charities
AmeriGives
Benevity
Bright Funds
Causecast
FrontStream
Millie
Point
SmartSimple
YourCause

All of these corporate giving vendors help companies manage their workplace giving programs. This way, it’s easier for their employees to participate and the companies can benefit from the programs they’ve already invested in.

How Do I Contact CyberGrants?

If you’re a corporation interested in learning more about CyberGrants, you can contact the company in one of three ways:

By email: hello@cybergrants.com
By phone: (978) 824-0300
By mail: CyberGrants, Inc., 300 Brickstone Square, Suite 601, Andover, Massachusetts 01810

Reach out to learn more about CyberGrants’ services!

Additional Workplace Giving Tool Resources

If you’re looking for additional information about corporate giving vendors, check out these excellent resources:

Matching Gift Software Vendors: The Comprehensive List. Want a complete list of some of the top corporate giving vendors? Check out this article!
Corporate Philanthropy: The Ultimate Guide to Giving. Corporate philanthropy covers a lot of different areas. Read this article to familiarize yourself with the basics.
Workplace Giving: The Guide for Nonprofits and Companies. If you’re interested in learning more about workplace giving, here’s an awesome guide to get you started.