Is your nonprofit organization missing out on potential funds from matching gift donations? Yes.
Does your development department have someone who is knowledgeable about matching gifts and the intricacies of the process? No.
Would you be interested in having someone on your staff who can bring added value to your annual fund? Yes.
If your answers match ours, then it might be time for your organization to bring on a dedicated matching gift coordinator. We’re going to explore hiring a matching gift coordinator through the following topics:
With the sample job description, we’ll look at a general overview, key responsibilities, and the characteristics of a qualified candidate. Follow along for a deep-dive into hiring a matching gift specialist.
What is a matching gift coordinator?
A matching gift coordinator is simply the staff member in charge of all of your organization’s matching gift needs, from discovering which donors are match eligible to educating those donors about submitting match requests.
This is the staff member that, for a smaller nonprofit, directs donors to your organization’s searchable matching gift database or even searches donors’ information themselves. Or, on the other hand, if you’re a larger nonprofit– this is the staff member that manages your matching gift automation tool. Finally, after determining eligibility, this staff member follows-up with donors, starting the process.
We’ve put together a sample job description for a matching gift coordinator that you can post on a multitude of great nonprofit job and career sites. Of course, you’ll need to add in the more specific elements that make your organization unique to help you stand out from the crowd. Use this template to get started, and customize it according to your organization’s specific successes!
Matching Gift Coordinator
Overview
The Matching Gift Coordinator is responsible for the oversight of the matching gift program, a component of fund development. This position entails communicating with individual donors to ensure knowledge about the possibility of matching gifts, as well as maintaining and updating appropriate information on the website and within relevant marketing materials.
The Matching Gift Coordinator reports to and works in collaboration with the Director of Development.
Key Responsibilities
Checking all individual donations against the donor’s employer to see if they are eligible for a corporate match.
Reaching out to individual donors to inform them of the possibility of a corporate matching gift.
Providing donors with appropriate information and guidelines to make the match process as effortless as possible.
Maintaining and updating the matching gift information on software such as Double the Donation as necessary.
Sending timely acknowledgments to individual donors and matching gift companies.
Maintaining the matching gift section on the fundraising pages of the website.
Marketing matching gift opportunities via various outlets including social media, email campaigns, and annual fund letters.
Characteristics of a Qualified Candidate
The Matching Gift Coordinator position requires an organized, proactive, and energetic individual who will work effectively with donors and corporations.
A successful candidate will have the following qualities:
At least 2 years of experience in fund development in nonprofit organizations.
An ability to think independently and communicate effectively.
Strong interpersonal skills.
Excellent oral and written communication skills.
An ability to learn quickly, especially with regard to software management.
A matching gift coordinator can help your organization increase its incoming donations through matching gift programs. These programs present a huge opportunity, and you don’t want to miss out due to being understaffed!
If it’s time for your organization to bring on a matching gift coordinator, use the above job description to start your search.
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Matching-Gift-Coordinator_Feature.jpg270720Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2014-02-07 13:30:582023-04-08 12:31:34Finding A Matching Gift Coordinator: Sample Job Description
Looking for information on Benevity, or trying to figure out which companies use Benevity’s corporate giving software?
Good news! While Double the Donation is a separate company (we provide employee matching gift tools for nonprofits, whereas Benevity provides services to corporations), we can share much of the information you’re looking for.
It’s important for companies to put an emphasis on workplace giving programs—especially corporate matching gifts—and do what they can to encourage employees to participate. Benevity is one of the leading corporate giving vendors that can help companies do just that.
About Benevity’s Workplace Giving Software
Almost all major companies have philanthropic giving programs in place. Sometimes they’re managed internally, but many use a corporate giving vendor for their program’s administration.
One such corporate giving vendor, Benevity, was founded in Calgary in 2008 by Bryan de Lottinville. Since then, it has become one of the leading providers of CSR software in both the U.S. and Canada.
Benevity offers a full suite of technical solutions to help companies power their corporate giving programs. These include:
Company & user-generated volunteering opportunities
Dynamic news & blog content
Charitable rewards & matching incentives
Comprehensive reporting capabilities
International capabilities
It’s also worth noting that Benevity is a registered B Corp (meaning, they use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems). Benevity helps companies make a difference while achieving greater business impacts from their cause marketing, community investment, workplace giving, and volunteering programs.
Companies That Use Benevity
Benevity provides corporate giving software to many U.S. and Canadian-based corporations. A few clients include:
Here’s what the Benevity portal for Nike looks like:
Benevity offers employees an easy way to access their company’s workplace giving program and log their donations online. If you want to make it easy for employees to participate in your corporate philanthropy efforts, consider using a vendor like Benevity!
Benevity Causes for Nonprofits
Benevity Causes is a portal that Benevity runs for nonprofits. It offers organizations direct access to customize their interactions with companies around the world.
Some of the benefits Benevity Causes provides include:
Gaining exposure & connecting with businesses
Updating your cause profile
Accessing detailed donor reports
Receiving funds faster & more efficiently
Adding volunteer opportunities
Since Benevity provides the software that powers many large companies’ corporate philanthropy efforts, we recommend that all nonprofits register with Benevity Causes.
Double the Donation’s Relationship with Benevity
Benevity and Double the Donation are separate businesses, but both serve corporate philanthropy efforts.
While Benevity provides workplace giving tools to companies, Double the Donation helps nonprofits raise money from the employee matching gift programs offered by companies across the world.
Double the Donation’s database of matching gift companies includes matching gift programs either managed internally at companies or outsourced to one of the many corporate vendors, including:
Benevity
America’s Charities
AmeriGives
Bright Funds
Causecast
CyberGrants
FrontStream
Millie
Point
SmartSimple
YourCause
These workplace giving solutions help companies manage their matching gift and volunteer programs, while streamlining the entire process so their employees can easily participate.
How Do I Contact Benevity?
If you’re a corporation interested in learning more about Benevity’s workplace giving software solutions, you can contact the company in one of three ways:
By mail – Benevity, #700, 611 Meredith Road NE, Calgary, AB T2E 2W5
Reach out to learn more about Benevity’s services!
About Double the Donation’s Matching Gift Software
Double the Donation sells an easy-to-use tool to nonprofits to help them promote matching gifts to donors (if you’re a nonprofit rather than a company, check out our service to see if it can help your organization increase its matching gift revenue). Our database of matching gift companies includes those administered by Benevity, as well as those managed by other corporate giving vendors.
Double the Donation’s team researches and manages a database of matching gift company guidelines, forms, and contact information that nonprofits and their donors can access. If you’re a nonprofit looking to improve your matching gift fundraising, test out our service.
Additional Workplace Giving Tool Resources
There are many resources at your disposal when it comes to corporate giving. Check out these additional articles to find out more!
Are you a K-12 private school looking to raise more money from employee matching gift programs? If so, this article is for you!
A significant percentage of the companies that offer to match employee donations will double donations to K-12 private schools. But just because companies offer these programs, doesn’t mean your school’s parents and donors are following through with their match requests.
There are three keys to increasing the amount of money you’re raising from employee grant programs.
#1 – Know Which Companies Match Gifts to Private Schools
At the most basic level, we see some independent schools suggesting that parents “reach out to their HR departments.” But that’s just the beginning. If your private school wants to increase matching gift revenue, make sure you’re aware of the many companies that match employee donations.
In fact, hundreds of companies in nearly every major city match employee donations. While we can’t list out our entire database, here are a few examples to help your independent school’s staff get a better feel for the standard match programs offered by companies,
Disney
The Walt Disney Corporation will match donations made to a variety of nonprofits, including private schools (K-12 and higher education institutions). Disney offers to match up to $25,000 a year per employee for both full and part-time staff members.
And don’t forget about your volunteers! Through the Disney VoluntEARS program, the company offers up to a $2,000 grant for an employee who volunteers for between 10 and 150+ hours in a year.
PepsiCo offers a matching gift program where the company matches donations to nearly all nonprofit organizations including independent K-12 schools. Each year Pepsi matches eligible contributions of up to $10,000 per employee, sometimes at a rate as high as 2:1 (effectively tripling donations.)
And don’t forget about grandparents! Pepsi’s employee match program is open to current employees as well as retirees or their surviving spouses and domestic partners.
Unfortunately donors must be the ones to actually initiate the matching gift process. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t play a role in prompting donors to think about and submit matching gifts.
We encourage you to take a few minutes to review your fundraising efforts (ex. check your website, email templates, paper letters, etc.) to see where you’re promoting matching gifts. You’ll surely find a number of places where you should be including matching gifts. For instance:
If you have a few minutes look through our matching gift marketing resources for ideas and examples of how other organizations are effectively promoting match programs to parents and donors.
#3 – Make It Easy:
Let’s face it, parents and donors are busy. While they clearly care about your school, between carpool, coaching their kids’ sports teams, PTA duties, and of course their own jobs, time is their most precious asset. So ensure you’re making it as easy as possible for your donors to submit matching gifts.
Providing parents with company specific matching gift information so they don’t need to go to their HR departments can go a long way. This could include information such as:
Forms
Guidelines
Employee eligibility
Instructions
And anything else your donors need
Consider reaching out to major employers in your area to obtain the appropriate forms or subscribing to a matching gift service (such as Double the Donation).
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Corporate philanthropy is a tricky topic for most nonprofit professionals, because there are so many guidelines and restrictions that come with them. However, that does not mean your nonprofit should give up on developing a corporate giving strategy.
Oftentimes, both potential donors and nonprofits run into the issue of non-personal donations. From the donor perspective, some employers don’t offer matching gift donations. Because of this, they may consider giving their money to a friend whose employer does offer matching gifts to donate for them.
From the nonprofit perspective, some donors work at companies with fewer matching gift limits, so they wonder if they can funnel donations through these individuals to make sure all donations are matched.
To fully understand situations pertaining to non-personal donations, let’s look into a few key questions:
If you’re ready to learn more about match-eligibility for non-personal donations, let’s get started.
1. Are Non-Personal Donations Eligible for Matching Gift Programs?
Nonprofits often have a strong desire to maximize donations from matching gift programs, and rightfully so! However, we strongly recommend that donors only take advantage of their own employers’ match programs.
Typically, company guidelines specifically state something like the following: “Gifts must be personal contributions paid either in cash or securities.” Oftentimes, matching gift programs are designed for personal contributions from employees only.
Thus, from a corporate standpoint, passing donations through a supporter who works for a matching gift company is at least frowned upon. The actual reprimands for doing this aren’t always clear, but the next section goes into a few possible consequences.
Hopefully, the nonprofit community recognizes that corporate philanthropy programs are intended to democratize the corporate giving process. In other words, companies want their employees to direct how the giving budget gets spent. Businesses want to give to causes that employees care about, not employees’ friends. These programs are completely optional, so hopefully, everyone utilizes them in the spirit for which they were designed.
2. Why Shouldn’t Donors Give Non-Personal Donations?
In addition to going against the spirit of corporate philanthropy, there are a few other reasons to avoid matching gift requests for non-personal donations. For more context, let’s go into a few of those reasons.
Potential Fraud
Whenever a matching gift request is submitted, the employee has to sign the form, indicating that the donation adheres to the company’s guidelines. Additionally, whenever a nonprofit verifies a donation, the nonprofit confirming the donation is also signing that it agrees the donation meets the company’s guidelines.
In other words, if someone donates a friend’s money and claims that it’s theirs, that’s a non-personal donation. Therefore, it goes against most company guidelines. By signing the form, both the nonprofit and the donor are agreeing that it adheres to the guidelines, which is not the case.
While we certainly aren’t legal experts, there’s a strong chance that both the employee and the nonprofit would be committing fraud by submitting or verifying match requests for non-personal donations. Doing so could put the employee’s job at risk while also jeopardizing the nonprofit’s eligibility for future matches and grants.
Tax Implications
By submitting a matching gift request for a non-personal donation, there are certainly tax implications. For instance, who gets to claim the charitable tax deduction on the original donation? Should it be the individual who gave his money to a friend to donate, or the friend who donated the money and submitted the match request?
Even if you don’t get into legal trouble for submitting a matching gift request, you’ll certainly run into issues when tax season comes around.
Takeaway: While these obstacles are difficult to overcome, they can be avoided altogether. Simply don’t submit or verify matching gift requests for non-personal donations.
3. How Can a Matching Gift Database Identify Other Revenue Opportunities?
While it may not be wise to submit a matching gift request for non-personal donations, you can pinpoint other corporate philanthropy opportunities. This is done with a matching gift database like Double the Donation.
By adding Double the Donation’s services to your tech toolkit, your nonprofit won’t miss out on important revenue opportunities. For instance, the tool:
Enables donors to search over 20,000 companies.
Can be embedded across your online fundraising channels.
Provides users with all available info on companies (e.g. forms, guidelines, etc.).
Larger organizations may benefit more from 360MatchPro by Double the Donation. This tool automatically identifies match-eligible donors, follows up with them, drives matches to completion, and even puts an automated match plan in place!
Plus, with either tool, your donors, who thought they couldn’t receive matching gifts, might turn out to be eligible!
Think your nonprofit can benefit from Double the Donation?
We always encourage organizations to stick to the spirit of the match programs. In other words, these programs are designed for personal donations, so employees should use them for personal donations. This answer might not be what most individuals and nonprofits want to hear, but it’s best to steer clear of these situations.
Even if your nonprofit doesn’t have many matching gift opportunities, using a database can enhance your corporate fundraising strategy. Plus, there might be more match opportunities than you thought!
Often, educational institutions have avid supporters who make major donations. However, pinpointing which employers will match these donations can be difficult. This is because of the multitude of guidelines surrounding eligible organizations.
If your school is fortunate enough to have a large donor base, make sure you’re researching large employers in your area. To revamp your fundraising strategy, you’ll need to raise awareness and make it easy for donors to submit match requests.
It’s well-known that almost all companies with matching gift programs will match donations made to higher education. However, the policies surrounding K-12 schools can be confusing. Let’s review a few companies that match employee donations to elementary schools, such as:
Elementary schools have a lot to gain from corporate matching. Companies want to actively support their local elementary schools, and there’s no better way to do that than matching donations made to them by employees. Let’s take a look at a few of these major matching gift corporations.
The Home Depot
Home Depot will match gifts to almost all 501(c)(3) organizations and educational institutions (elementary schools included). The company matches employee donations starting at as little as $25. Like many companies, Home Depot matches at a dollar-for-dollar ratio. In other words, eligible donations can be doubled!
Home Depot matches up to $1,000 annually per employee for each organization to which they donate. However, there’s a maximum amount of $3,000, too. Also, they simplify the match process by allowing employees to submit their requests electronically—no paperwork necessary!
Both full-time employees and part-time employees are eligible, so be on the lookout for this popular employer.
As one of the largest employers in the world, McDonald’s matching gift program has the potential to impact schools across the United States. In addition to its work with the Ronald McDonald House, the company has a generous philanthropy program.
The company will match corporate employee donations a year to elementary schools. While full-time and part-time corporate employees are eligible to participate, franchise employees are not eligible.
Additionally, McDonald’s will match up to $5,000 per employee per year and $10,000 per vice president and board of director member per year. There are a few more restrictions surrounding eligible employees, so make sure to do a bit more research on the company before submitting a request.
Not only does Texas Instruments produce classroom technology, but it also supports elementary schools with its matching gift program. Plus, TI stands out for doing an exceptional job of notifying employees and retirees of its programs.
In addition to its matching gift program, TI encourages its employees to volunteer. After an employee volunteers 20 hours with an eligible educational institution (K-12 included), they can request a $250 grant for the school. Employees and retirees can request up to four volunteer grants (i.e. $1,000) each year.
The Walt Disney Corporation will match donations to elementary schools made by current full-time employees, part-time employees, and retirees of between $25 and $25,000 annually. The company matches to all K-12 schools.
Additionally, Walt Disney offers a volunteer grant program, called Disney VoluntEARS. Once an employee volunteers a minimum of 10 hours, they can request a grant. Like most corporate giving programs, the amount received depends on the number of volunteer hours. In other words, 10-24 hours equals a $100 grant, 25-49 hours represents a $250 grant, and so on. Once an employee exceeds 150 hours, they receive a $2,000 grant.
Also, the company recognizes exceptional individual volunteers with its “VoluntEARS of the Year” grants of $2,500.
However, Walt Disney’s grant request process is slightly different from other companies. Employees register their donations online and then email the certificate to the nonprofit. The certificate includes a “Gift ID” which the nonprofit uses to claim the matching gift funds.
While these companies offer generous matching gifts to educational institutions, they aren’t the only companies that do this. Here are a few other major employers that match gifts made to elementary schools:
When developing your corporate philanthropy fundraising plan, make sure to research all your donors’ employers, not just those listed here. However, these are great companies to consider when kicking off your research!
How a Matching Gift Database Can Help
A matching gift database ensures that your elementary school, along with most other organizations, isn’t missing out on any corporate philanthropy opportunities.
Double the Donation works with organizations (including K-12 schools) across the country. The search tool, which can be embedded across online fundraising tools, has information on over 20,000 companies. Here’s what it does:
Enables donors to search their employers.
Provides users with forms and up-to-date information about companies.
Allows nonprofits to pinpoint matching gift opportunities.
This tool automatically recognizes match-eligible donors, follows up with them until the match process is complete, and even creates an automated matching gift plan for you.
Determine which tool is best for your elementary school (or other organization) and start boosting your matching gift revenue!
Matching gift programs are an additional source of funding for elementary schools that most individuals overlook. By identifying all of your match opportunities, you maximize your revenue potential. Plus, a lot of companies also have volunteer grant programs, where your generous volunteers can receive grant money for your school!
By knowing about employers in your area that offer matching gifts, you set your school up for fundraising success. Start looking for these opportunities, and maximize your revenue now!
If you’re looking to learn more about corporate giving programs, make sure to check out these useful articles:
Marketing Matching Gifts. Learn a few ways to promote matching gifts to your generous donors. That way, you can boost your fundraising potential.
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Elementary-School-Matching-Gifts_Feature.jpg280725Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2013-08-29 13:48:342024-07-09 13:57:40Companies that Match Gifts to Elementary Schools
Donor-advised funds (DAF), which make giving charitable donations simple and easy, are quickly gaining popularity, but because nonprofits don’t know the ins and outs, they might not be fully taking advantage of them.
As a nonprofit professional, you likely know the DAF basics, such as how they allow donors to give today and receive a tax deduction now, rather than waiting for tax season. However, what if you could double these gifts through donors’ employers?
To fully answer this question, there are a few key points you need to review:
Looking for information on YourCause or companies which use YourCause’s corporate philanthropy platform?
Good news! While Double the Donation is a completely separate and non-related company, we can share much of the information you’re looking for on YourCause.
What Does YourCause Do?
YourCause is the provider of the CSRconnect Employee Engagement Platform. CSRconnect is an online platform for corporations to manage one or multiple philanthropic programs (including employee matching gift and volunteer grant programs).
Almost all major companies have philanthropic giving programs in place, but many use a vendor for the corporate philanthropy software and administration. YourCause was founded by Matt Combs in 2008 and has become a leader in the CSR space.
What’s the difference between YourCause and CSRconnect?
YourCause L.L.C. is the official company name while CSRconnect is the name of their corporate employee giving and volunteering platform.
The CSRconnect platform provides functionality for corporations including:
Grant management
Matching gift administration
Volunteer grant administration
Payroll giving
Disaster relief
And many other services
CSRconnect is a highly customizable tool for corporations of all sizes. Businesses big and small can easily adopt this tool to help streamline fund management, corporate philanthropy tools, and more.
The CSRconnect Employee Engagement Platform is YourCause’s online giving system for corporate employees.
How Do Nonprofits Benefit From YourCause?
YourCause provides a Nonprofit Portal which has free tools to help organizations leverage YourCause’s network of corporate clients. By registering on the Nonprofit Portal to become the administrator, you can increase your organization’s exposure to the donations and volunteer hours being transacted on the platform.
The tools include:
Unlimited Access to Donation History
Ability to Input Volunteer Opportunities for Corporate Employees to Join
Signing Up for ACH Payments for the easy Transfer of Funds
How Do I Contact YourCause?
YourCause is happy to help you with any question or concern you might have!
If you fall into one of the following three categories, you should contact the company’s matching gift and volunteer grant hotline for assistance:
Nonprofits looking to verify matching donations or those with questions regarding the status of a donation
Employees looking for assistance with their employers’ matching gift programs
Retirees with questions about their former employers’ retiree giving programs
Double the Donation’s database of matching gift companies includes matching gift programs managed either internally at companies or outsourced to one of the many corporate vendors such as:
Double the Donation sells an easy-to-use tool to nonprofits to help them promote matching gifts to donors (check out our service to see if it can help your organization increase matching gift fundraising). Our database of matching gift companies includes those administered by YourCause as well as those managed by the many other matching gift vendors.
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/yourcause-matching-gifts.png321845Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2013-08-11 04:34:402022-06-20 07:54:13Spotlight on YourCause: Manage Matching Gifts
As a result of a growing understanding of the importance of corporate social responsibility, businesses are implementing more and more employee giving programs. These programs give employees a voice in where their company’s philanthropic dollars end up.
For businesses, corporate giving is a great way to promote their company while giving back to the community. For nonprofits, these programs represent a great fundraising opportunity. Finally, for donors, their employers’ programs can double (maybe even triple!) their generous efforts.
However, have you wondered about the tax implications of employee giving programs, specifically matching gifts? To answer this, let’s go through the following main points:
When it comes to matching gifts, there’s no avoiding the tricky tax component that comes with them. To better understand matching gifts and their tax implications, let’s get started!
1. The Basics of Matching Gifts
Simply put, a matching gift is when a company matches an employee’s monetary donation to a nonprofit organization. Companies design these programs specifically to support the organizations that their employees are passionate about. Plus, companies view it as a great way to give back to their communities, develop their brand, and create a generous work environment.
The matching gifts process is simple:
Once a donor makes a donation, all they have to do is fill out a form and submit it to their employer. Then, if the nonprofit is eligible, the company will send a check to the organization.
For instance, Coca-Cola matches retiree and full-time employee donations at a 2:1 ratio. This means if an employee donates $1,000 to an eligible nonprofit, the employer will donate $2,000, totaling $3,000! While most companies match at a generous dollar-for-dollar rate (1:1 ratio), companies like this can potentially triple eligible organizations’ donation revenue.
Corporate Donations
Sometimes, a company’s board of directors or officers will choose specific organizations to receive donations from their giving budget. This is either put in place of a matching gift program or it coexists with the matching gift program.
The organizations that receive these donations are not chosen by individual employees. Rather, these donations represent a mix of broader corporate support, and decisions are typically made based on organizations their customers suggested.
That being said, all corporate giving is generous—no matter how much or how little. Corporate philanthropy is expressed in many ways, including matching gifts, corporate donations, volunteer grants, and so on. Now that you know the basics of corporate philanthropy, let’s dive into the tax component of it.
Takeaway: Corporate philanthropy has a growing presence in both the business and nonprofit worlds. Review the basics before you tackle the tricky tax portion of corporate giving.
2. Tax-Deductible Contributions for Companies
The IRS deems donations to eligible 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations as tax-deductible. This rule pertains to both employees and their employers.
Specifically, corporations can take up to 10 percent of their annual income in tax deductions from charitable giving. However, a major exception to this rule is matching gifts.
Since a matching gift is technically a donation, companies can deduct the matches they make from their reported income. Decreasing reported income means a company will not have to pay taxes on the donated money.
Plus, the 10 percent rule doesn’t apply to these donations. Instead, when matching donations exceed 10 percent of the company’s annual income, companies can deduct the extra donations.
Let’s take a look at the other benefits of matching gifts for companies.
Benefits for Companies
As previously stated, a major benefit of implementing an employee match program is the tax deduction on the company’s earned annual income. Luckily, if a corporation simply donated money to a nonprofit organization, it would still receive the same tax benefits.
While the corporation doesn’t receive a greater tax benefit from choosing one or the other, there is an added benefit of choosing a matching gift program. When a company offers a generous matching gift or volunteer grant program, employees become much more engaged.
They’ll feel like they have a say in where their company’s giving budget goes. They’ll also feel as though their company supports their philanthropic efforts and the causes they care about. Plus, if an employee is unsure about donating, having access to a corporate giving program may be the push they need to contribute.
Takeaway: Companies can take tax deductions for their charitable giving. Plus, corporate giving promotes a philanthropic work environment!
3. Tax-Deductible Contributions for Nonprofits and Donors
Typically, when something has major benefits, it also has a few setbacks. This reigns true with matching gifts and its tax implications. While actually implementing the programs in the first place is the hurdle for companies, donors and nonprofits have a different set of obstacles.
For donors, that’s determining if they can take a tax deduction on a matching gift. For nonprofits, that’s calculating the tax-deductible amount itself. Let’s dive into these key tax issues.
Tax Implications for Nonprofits
It’s up to nonprofits to determine tax-deductibility for their special events, membership programs, and so on. While it can be tricky at first, calculating the tax-deductible amount is a vital step in securing matching gift funds.
The tax-deductible amount, which is a specific dollar amount, is the portion of a donation that is eligible to be matched by employers. It should be communicated with donors in a straightforward way.
For instance, if a nonprofit hosts a gala, there should be a line that discusses the tax-deductible amount on the ticket. This line might be similar to the following: “Did you know that $X of this ticket is tax-deductible? If your employer offers a matching gift program, this amount might be eligible for a match!”
In short, to calculate the tax-deductible amount of an event, you calculate the fair market value (i.e. the amount that someone would pay to receive the benefits if it wasn’t a fundraiser). Subtract the fair market value from the total ticket price. That’s the tax-deductible amount.
Oftentimes, there’s confusion among employees regarding their ability to take a tax deduction on a matching gift. In short, each party (i.e. the employee and the company) can only take deductions on the actual charitable contributions that they made.
In other words, if an employee donates $500 to an organization and it was matched at a 1:1 ratio by the employer, then both the employee and the company can only deduct $500, not the full $1,000 with the matched gift. If there’s still confusion, donors should reach out to both their employer and the nonprofits they support.
However, there’s a different set of rules for tax-deductibility on non-personal donations. In short, avoid non-personal donations.
Non-personal donations are those that are made on behalf of someone. In other words, if a supporter works for a company that doesn’t offer matching gifts, they may give their money to a friend who does work for a matching gift company. However, this causes confusion during tax season.
For instance, who gets to claim the tax deduction on the original donation? Should it be the individual whose money was donated, or should it be the friend who donated the money and submitted the match request? Not only is this confusing (and probably illegal), but it undermines the whole reason for corporate philanthropy.
Companies want to support the causes their employees care about, not the causes their employees’ friends care about. Don’t make the tax side of it even more confusing by doing this. Stick to the spirit of corporate philanthropy!
Takeaway: While matching gifts are fairly straightforward, the tax implications can be confusing for nonprofits and donors. It’s up to nonprofits to determine and communicate the tax-deductibility with their donors.
4. How a Matching Gift Database Can Help Nonprofits
While a matching gift database can’t calculate the tax-deductible amount of a donation, it can pinpoint all the guidelines surrounding companies’ guidelines on tax-deductible donations.
With a matching gift database like Double the Donation, your organization can pinpoint all available corporate giving opportunities. Plus, it makes it easier for donors to recognize their opportunities to increase their contributions, too!
Once you embed the tool across your online fundraising channels, here’s what it does:
Enables donors to search for 20,000+ companies.
Gives users all available guidelines and forms for companies’ programs.
Allows nonprofits to identify more matching gift opportunities.
Plus, Double the Donation offers an automated system for larger nonprofits. 360MatchPro by Double the Donation automatically identifies match-eligible donors with email domain screening, contacts these eligible donors, and even puts an automated matching gift plan in place for you.
Either tool allows nonprofits to pinpoint more matching gift opportunities. Also, these databases can help determine specific companies’ guidelines about matching tax-deductible donations.
Matching gifts are typically straightforward for all parties involved. This includes companies, nonprofits, and donors. However, tax-deductibility adds a layer of complication.
All it takes is a little effort from each party. While companies should write clear matching gift requirements in terms of tax-deductibility, nonprofits should also determine the tax-deductibility for their memberships and event tickets. From here, organizations can advertise these amounts to donors, who can then react accordingly.
When each stakeholder works together, the matching gift process is simplified, and all confusion is clarified. Now that you understand the tax benefits and obstacles of matching gifts, put this information to good use!
Additional Resources
To learn more about corporate philanthropy, visit the following additional resources:
Religiously affiliated fundraisers like yourself are constantly on the lookout for new sources of revenue to better support their missions. One such opportunity is with corporate matching gift programs. Yet there tends to be a bit of nuance when it comes to religious organizations and matching gifts, and leaders of religious groups such as churches, synagogues, mosques, and other ministries often wonder if they’re eligible for the programs.
According to The Giving Institute’s Giving USA Special Report, religious giving is up substantially from 2016—with places of worship and faith-based orgs ranking in the top three types of charities supported by Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X, and Boomer donors alike. New technology simplifying the giving process, continuous industry developments, and more likely play a role in the growth. Now, how do matching gifts factor in?
We’ve put together this guide to help your team answer that question, specifically in regard to your own organization’s fundraising efforts. To better understand your faith-based nonprofit’s standing with corporate philanthropy, we’ll help you familiarize yourself with:
When eligible, corporate matching gifts are an effective component of any organization’s overall fundraising strategy. These programs help amplify giving, empowering your team to do more with the funding you receive from generous supporters.
And the typical donor loves to get involved, too—seeing their impact stretch further than they may have thought possible.
If you’re ready to find out if your religious organization can benefit from matching gifts, let’s get started!
Match eligibility for different types of religious organizations
Unfortunately, strictly religious organizations are often excluded from companies’ employee matching gift programs. Still, it’s important to note that not all religiously affiliated nonprofits are treated the same under these employers’ matching gift guidelines.
Generally speaking, religious organizations are divided into two overarching categories when it comes to determining matching gift eligibility. These include the following.
Houses of Worship
Oftentimes, companies will not match donations to churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, and other places of worship.
If you run one of these types of organizations, you might be wondering why they wouldn’t qualify. After all, you know better than anyone the impact of effective fundraising for your cause.
However, places of worship are often considered religious institutions rather than charitable organizations. The primary difference generally lies in the idea that places of worship generally prioritize religious teachings and spiritual guidance to a specific group of members rather than serving the community in the way that nonprofits typically do.
Still, there are certainly some cases where the concepts overlap, which we’ll dive deeper into below.
Religious Organizations that Provide Social Services
This next category of religiously affiliated organizations is significantly more likely to qualify for matching gift programs—even if a donor’s company reportedly does not match donations to places of worship.
In fact, a common exception to the exclusion of religious causes will occur if the organization provides social services to the greater community.
Common examples may include:
Food pantries
Low-cost or free clothing banks
Homeless shelters
Disaster relief efforts
Domestic violence support
Youth programs
Medical clinics
Religiously affiliated educational institutions (preschool, K-12, and higher ed alike)
For these types of organizations to qualify for matching, there are generally a few stipulations in place. For instance, the company may verify that the initial donation and/or provided match is not being used for religious-specific purposes. Additionally, many employers require that the above types of social services be open to the general public and not involve any sort of religious teaching in order to remain eligible for the program.
If you come across a donor’s company that doesn’t match contributions to faith-based organizations, chances are, they may make exceptions for those that provide secular-focused services to the community.
Thus, make sure to read all the requirements instead of glancing over them. Otherwise, you may miss out on important revenue opportunities!
Typical wording from matching gift companies regarding religious orgs
While every employer’s matching gift criteria are different, participating businesses typically address the idea of religious organizations and matching gifts in their corporate giving program documentation. And companies can have vastly different stances on the eligibility of religious gifts.
Take these excerpts from several corporations’ matching gift forms, for example.
American Express
American Express matches donations to most 501(c)(3) organizations. In fact, the company will even match select donations at a 2:1 ratio if an employee also serves on the nonprofit’s board or volunteers for over 50 hours in a year. That means your donors who work for American Express can potentially triple their donations.
Here’s what American Express says about houses of worship and other religious groups in the company’s matching gift guidelines:
Gifts to houses of worship (churches, synagogues, etc.) will not be matched. However, the program will match a gift to an ongoing and independently-run program affiliated with a religious organization if the gift is restricted to a nonsectarian project that provides needed social services to the community at large on a non-discriminatory basis without any religious teaching, directive, or requirements to receive services (e.g., a soup kitchen, a homeless shelter, a food bank, etc.).
As a fundraising consulting firm, Campbell and Company understands the importance of corporate matching gifts for the nonprofits its employees support. Each year, full-time employees qualify to request up to $1,000 worth of matching gifts for their favorite charitable organizations.
According to their program policy, Campbell and Company takes the following approach to matching gifts made to religious groups:
Campbell and Company will only consider matching donations to religious organizations when the gift is designated to an ongoing secular, non-discriminatory community service program sponsored by these organizations which do not advocate or advance any specific religious views (e.g., a soup kitchen run by a church, a homeless shelter operated by Catholic Charities, etc.).
Matching donations to most 501(c)(3) nonprofits, Castlelake offers employee matching opportunities that amplify individual team members’ giving to schools, health and human services, arts and cultural organizations, civic and community organizations, environmental nonprofits, and more.
Not to mention, Castlelake will match gifts to some religious organizations in certain scenarios. Here’s what the company has stated in its employee matching gift policy:
Castlelake will consider matching gifts to religious organizations when the gift is designated to an ongoing secular community service program sponsored by these organizations and does not propagate a belief in a specific faith. These programs must have a formal mission and a separate program budget. Further, the benefits of the gift must not be limited exclusively to the organization’s members. Some examples of these types of programs are homelessness projects, food banks, shelters, and literacy programs.
Chevron matches donations from full-time employees and retirees, and the company offers volunteer grants. When their employees or retirees volunteer 20 hours or more and request a grant, your organization (if eligible) will receive a check!
Here’s what Chevron says about matching to faith-based organizations:
Chevron Humankind will provide matching funds and grants to programs operated by faith-based organizations if those programs: (a) are open to all individuals in the community regardless of religious belief; (b) serve a secular purpose, such as a food pantry or a homeless shelter; and (c) do not require participants to join in religious worship as a condition of receiving the services that the nonprofit offers.
The Davey Tree Expert Company matches employee donations of up to $500 per team member per year. Many nonprofits qualify for funding through their corporate giving program, including (but not limited to) higher education institutions, environmental groups, health and human services, civic and community organizations, and more.
Check out this blurb from the Davey Tree Expert Company’s matching gift policy regarding religious nonprofits and matching gifts:
Generally, churches and other religious groups are not eligible for matching gifts. However, religiously motivated organizations that provide services for the disadvantaged are eligible. The organization must be a separate legal entity from a church and have its own 501(c)(3) or Canadian equivalent certification.
DIRECTV offers a highly-generous employee giving program. The company matches employee donations of up to $20,000 annually and provides a grant of $250 after an employee volunteers for 25 hours with a nonprofit cause. Like most companies, DIRECTV provides a detailed match policy, including information regarding religious organizations and matching gifts.
Here’s what DIRECTV says about matches to religiously affiliated causes:
DIRECTV will match gifts to qualified institutions affiliated with religious organizations but will not match gifts made directly to religious organizations.
DIRECTV will not contribute matching funds to churches and religious organizations which fulfill tithes, pledges, or other church‐related financial commitments.
DIRECTV will not contribute matching funds to institutions that restrict admission or aid due to race or religious beliefs.
Ohio-based plastic design and technology provider Engineered Profiles offers a matching gift program designed to engage employees and empower them to give back to their communities. But will the company match to religiously affiliated groups?
Here’s what the Engineered Profiles matching gift guidelines indicates:
Engineered Profiles will NOT match…gifts made to religious organizations (e.g., churches, temples, synagogues, mosques). Gifts may be eligible for a match if the programs operated by faith-based social service organizations meet the following criteria:
The organization has a 501 (c)(3) determination letter from the IRS;
The gift is designated to a particular program that is available and open to all individuals in the community;
The program is for non-religious purposes (such as a food pantry or domestic abuse shelter);
The organization does not use the program to promote any religion.
The Fitch Group, inclusive of subsidiaries like Fitch Ratings and more, matches donations made by qualifying full-time and part-time employees to a wide range of nonprofit causes. Each team member is eligible to request $1,000 in matches per year at a dollar-for-dollar rate.
Additionally, Fitch Group specifies the following in their documentation regarding religious organizations and matching gifts:
Organizations founded and operated exclusively for charitable purposes (including educational, scientific, or religious) are eligible recipients of donations, provided they are located in the U.S. or one of its possessions; qualify for exemption from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code; and are generally eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Employees of the Gates Company qualify for a particularly generous matching gift program facilitated through Gates Industrial Corporation Foundation. Donations made between $25 and $50,000 are eligible to be matched, with most nonprofit causes qualifying for funding.
Gates Industrial includes the following guidelines regarding religious groups in their matching gift criteria:
Donations to churches or religious organizations, organizations that discriminate or which promote a political party or candidate, or which advocate particular positions on specific areas of public policy will not be matched.
While direct gifts to churches or religious organizations do not qualify, many activities that are church sponsored in the areas of youth, senior citizen, minority, or disabled may qualify. Such sponsored programs must be conducted by separate organizations which have qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
In 1954, GE became the first company to offer an employee matching gift program. At the time, GE only matched to higher education institutions but has since expanded its matching to encompass most schools and nonprofits.
Here’s what GE’s guidelines have to say about whether churches, synagogues, mosques, and other houses of worship are eligible for matching gift funds:
Ineligible recipient organizations include religious organizations (churches, synagogues, mosques, and other houses of worship), or other organizations primarily promoting religious purposes. Other faith-based community service organizations or schools may be considered eligible if their programs:
Are open to all individuals in the community regardless of religious belief;
Serve a secular purpose, such as food pantry, homeless shelter, or education;
Do not require participation in prayer, worship, or other religious activities as a condition of receiving service(s) offered; and
Do not use the individual donation or resulting match for religious purposes.
The Pew Charitable Trusts program provides a 2:1 match on employee donations up to $10,000 annually (meaning a $20,000 match). In other words, eligible donors can triple their gifts! Plus, they offer one of the most religiously inclusive matching gift programs that we’ve seen.
Here’s what The Pew Charitable Trusts says about matches to religious organizations:
Yes, Pew will match contributions made to religious organizations, such as houses of worship, schools, hospitals, shelters, etc., just as it would to any other qualifying organization.
Verisk Analytics and its numerous subsidiaries offer a flexible matching gift program with which (full- and part-time) employees, directors, retirees, and spouses and domestic partners are encouraged to get involved. Each year, current employees can request up to $5,000 in matches, while retirees are eligible to request up to $2,500 on an annual rolling basis.
Here’s what Verisk has to say about matching gifts for religious organizations:
The following gifts are not eligible for matching under the program:
Gifts for religious organizations, unless the specific program is nondenominational in nature and benefits a broad range of the community (e.g., soup kitchen, homeless shelter).
How Double the Donation’s matching gift software can help
When a nonprofit incorporates a tool like our matching gift database and automation platform, they’ll be able to instantly determine matching eligibility and maximize their fundraising revenue. Donors might double (or even triple!) their contributions with the help of their employers. The key is to determine your organization’s eligibility with matching gift companies and to make donors aware of available opportunities.
So how do you know if your organization can benefit from Double the Donation’s service? We love to grow our business, but we only want to accept customers who we believe will benefit from our service.
It’s important to remember that many companies will match to religious organizations that provide services to the broader community (e.g., food banks, homeless shelters, schools, etc.).
The easiest way to determine whether our matching gift service would be beneficial is to look over your donation records. If you’ve received matching gifts from companies in the past, there’s a good chance your organization meets the general eligibility requirements.
How the Matching Gift Database Works
The number one reason why donors don’t submit matches is that they simply don’t know the opportunity exists—let alone how to check their eligibility and submit a request. However, the matching gift submission process is fairly straightforward.
It looks like this:
A donor makes a gift to your nonprofit.
The donor checks their match eligibility.
The donor submits a match request to their employer.
Your organization confirms the donation.
The company sends a check to your organization.
Ultimately, donors tend to get stuck on the above steps #2 and #3. Luckily, Double the Donation’s innovative solution continues to simplify the process, making matching gift participation as quick and as easy as possible for your supporters.
When an organization employs Double the Donation’s 360MatchPro, its donors will be able to:
Search their employers in the comprehensive database;
View any requirements, restrictions, and deadlines;
Receive accurate and up-to-date program information;
Access necessary documents and forms specific to their employers;
Take specific and actionable next steps from your confirmation screen and/or automated email follow-ups;
Submit their matching gift requests with ease.
If you determine that your religious organization typically qualifies for matching gifts, Double the Donation may be a useful fundraising tool for you. It’s easy to integrate into your existing fundraising strategy and can help you pinpoint match-eligible donors—instead of waiting for them to come to you. Plus, you’ll save a ton of time that would otherwise be spent chasing down matching gifts by automating the entire process!
The bottom line is that religious and faith-based organizations aren’t excluded from matching gift programs as often as you might think. Becoming more aware of which corporations match gifts to religious organizations like yours will help you and your team understand if promoting matching gifts would be beneficial to your bottom line.
Remember, your donors’ employment information is one of your most valuable assets. Collect this data point and compare employers against top matching gift companies to identify available opportunities. Then, check out the companies’ eligibility criteria to see what it says about your religious organization and matching gifts.
Keep up the learning! Discover more matching gift and fundraising advice with our additional resources here:
Church Fundraising Ideas. Even if your church isn’t eligible for matching gifts, you still have a lot of fundraising potential. In fact, we’ve compiled a list that covers many popular and unique events, activities, and strategies you can use to raise money for your house of worship.
Corporate Matching Gift Programs. Need a refresher on the basics of matching gifts? Our comprehensive guide will give you the rundown on these charitable giving programs, including top companies and best practices for success.
Matching Gift Guidelines. Still have questions about your religious organization’s match eligibility? Check out this guide that breaks down common criteria to be familiar with, including minimum and maximums, match ratios, qualifying nonprofits, and more.
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/DTD_What-to-Know-Religious-Organizations-and-Matching-Gifts_Feature-1.png6001600Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2013-08-04 15:02:292024-07-09 18:45:12What to Know | Religious Organizations and Matching Gifts
Across the United States, there are more than 26,000 public high schools and 10,000 private high schools all looking to build on their existing fundraising ideas. At Double the Donation, we work with high schools and education foundations across the country to help them increase the amount of money they receive from corporate matching gift programs.
We know it can sometimes be tricky trying to navigate the complex policies surrounding each company’s matching gift program so we’ve created a number of resources to help organizations better understand employee giving programs. These include:
Since Double the Donation is committed to helping all segments of the mission-based sector optimize their fundraising with matching gift programs, we created this post on matching gift companies that match donations to high schools.
Matching Gifts and High Schools
After higher education, the most common matching gift category is K-12 schools.
Included in this grouping are high schools since many companies do not distinguish between elementary, middle, and high schools when it comes to match-eligible organizations. Many of these companies will also match to PTA groups, after-school organizations, and education foundations. Most matching gift companies do not distinguish between public and private high schools, though specific eligibility does vary by company.
For high schools with a large donor base, whether it’s parents, alumni, or community supporters, it’s important to market matching gifts as an easy way for donors to increase their impact.
How to Market Matching Gifts
One of the biggest obstacles for organizations, such as schools, trying to receive matching gifts is a lack of awareness of the programs. That means all you need to do to increase your matching gift revenue is simply spread the word!
Our favorite way to inform people about matching gifts is through software dedicated to doing just that. For high schools, and really any other educational institution, we recommend checking out Double the Donation.
This solution allows you to embed a searchable matching gifts database directly on your website and online donation tool. Then, when potential donors visit your website to learn more about giving in general, they can discover the wonder of matching gifts and whether they’re match-eligible.
With that, read on for a list of the top companies that match gifts made to high schools.
List of Companies with Matching Gift Programs for High Schools
To help schools navigate through the matching gift process, we created a shortlist of some of the largest companies that will match donations made to K-12 schools and educational programs. This list is by no means exhaustive, so if you don’t see a company here, don’t rule it out just yet.
IBM
IBM is known to many schools for its generosity in donating software and computers to school systems.
An employee can have their donation matched on a 2:1 ratio with IBM products, or a donation can be matched on a 1:1 basis with cash.
As one of the leading banks, it’s no surprise that many communities have a Bank of America presence. Luckily for you, employees of Bank of America can have their donations to high schools matched up to $5,000 each year.
Volunteer grants are also available for those who volunteer with educational organizations.
Starbucks Corporation will match up to $1,500 in donations made by an employee each year to high schools and many other organizations. All educational institutions are eligible for the program.
And if you have a volunteer opportunity coming up, be sure to mention it to your local barista since Starbucks also provides grants to organizations where employees volunteer.
Want to know more about corporate giving programs and how they can contribute to your high school’s fundraising efforts?
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/High-School-Matching-Gifts_Feature.jpg270720Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2013-08-02 15:00:402024-02-26 19:50:27Companies that Match Donations to High Schools