One of the largest global giving pushes in the world, Giving Tuesday, will be here this year before we know it. So now is the time to prepare for Giving Tuesday matching gifts success.
Falling each year on the first Tuesday immediately after Thanksgiving, this worldwide day of generosity can have a tremendous impact on nonprofit fundraisers. Last year boasted a record-breaking giving day, with 37 million participating adults contributing over $3.1 billion in the U.S. alone. And corporate matching gifts empower nonprofits to double their fundraising success.
However, many organizations did not realize their fullest potential when it came to matching gifts. After all, more than $4 to $7 billion in available match funds goes unclaimed on an annual basis. This is largely due to a lack of awareness by eligible donors who do not ultimately request the associated match funding from their employers. Taking steps to secure this revenue for your organization as you head into the end-of-year giving season can go a long way.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the unmatched value of corporate gift-matching—and expert practices your team can implement to make each donation count more.
Understanding Your Giving Tuesday Matching Gift Potential
Matching gifts can dramatically improve fundraising outcomes. On Giving Tuesday, organizations expect to see elevated donor engagement, surges in incoming funds, and more. And, Giving Tuesday campaigns leveraging donation-matching typically raise 3-5x more than those that do not.
But why is this—and how does it impact your fundraising group?
Matching gifts are one of the most widely utilized types of corporate philanthropy by companies of all shapes, sizes, and sectors. When donors give to their favorite nonprofits, their employers pledge to match those gifts with their own funds. It’s essentially the “Buy One, Get One Free” sale of fundraising.
Not only do matching gifts provide an accessible form of corporate giving revenue, but they tend to drive individual involvement in fundraising as well. In fact, our research indicates that 84% of surveyed donors are more likely to contribute to a fundraising campaign if a match is available. At the same time, 1 in 3 supporters stated that they’d increase the size of their donation if they knew it would be matched.
This results in fundraising appeals that incorporate matching gifts producing a 71% increase in response rate and a 51% increase in average donation amount.
Each year, Giving Tuesday sees millions of donor gifts matched by employers, generating significant additional revenue for nonprofits and schools to support their missions. This year, we’re aiming to surpass those numbers—and the Double the Donation team is here to help you achieve that goal.
Dive deeper with our FREE downloadable resource:
14 Tips to Incorporate Matching Gifts in Your Giving Tuesday Plan
We have a lot of experience working with fundraising organizations to optimize their matching gift strategies. Thus, we know the most effective methods for driving matching gift success this Giving Tuesday and beyond.
Check out these tried-and-true practices as your team begins crafting its giving day fundraising plan. Then, determine how you can implement these tips in your own strategy.
1. Introduce matching gifts in internal Giving Tuesday preparations.
More than likely, your organization plans to host some sort of dedicated Giving Tuesday training leading up to the big day. This may involve establishing a fundraising timeline, crafting donor-facing messaging, and setting specific goals to ensure your whole team is on the same page.
One of the first things you can do to set your nonprofit up for Giving Tuesday success is to incorporate matching gifts throughout these preparations.
Getting your fundraising staff on board with the opportunity allows you to empower them as some of your greatest matching gift advocates.
And how can you do so? It all starts with marketing matching gifts to your internal team.
Specifically, you’ll want to cover:
- The basics of corporate matching gift programs (i.e., what they are, common stipulations, etc.)
- The impact that corporate gift-matching can have on your fundraising efforts (donation response rates and gift sizes, corporate partnerships, supporter engagement)
- An overview of the matching gift cycle (from identification to submission and funding disbursement) and how to assist donors through the process
- How team members can make the most of any matching gift technology in your fundraising software toolkit
- How to learn more about the opportunity (attend a webinar, enroll in Double the Donation’s Matching Gift Academy)
Consider utilizing a number of communication channels to engage your internal audience (such as fundraising staff, marketers, board members, key volunteers, and more). This may include in-person or virtual presentations, emails, and other resources to spread awareness.
Ultimately, it’s critical that you get your team excited to make the most of matching gifts come Giving Tuesday and beyond.
2. Establish a matching gift fundraising goal beforehand.
Just like you probably have (or will have) a goal that represents your supporters’ total giving on Giving Tuesday, it’s a good idea to establish a separate goal exclusive to matching gifts for the campaign. Regardless of whether you opt to measure total revenue through corporate gifts or the number of donations successfully matched, tracking goals is the key to determining success and inspiring engagement.
To set a lofty yet realistic matching gift fundraising goal this Giving Tuesday, you’ll first want to analyze your past fundraising and matching gift performance. For example, let’s say your team collected $1,000 worth of matching gifts associated with Giving Tuesday donations last year—with little to no promotional activity around corporate matching. This year, you can expect to see a significant increase by taking a proactive approach to informing donors, encouraging participation, and even automating the matching gift experience.
From there, be sure to communicate this goal (and your progress toward it) leading up to, during, and after your Giving Tuesday campaign. Aiming for a specific target will allow you to establish a sense of urgency and motivate eligible supporters to take their next steps. Try using a fundraising thermometer on your campaign page, social media, or donor messaging to illustrate your movement toward the matching gift goal in a visual way.
Note: As you set your goal, however, keep in mind that the disbursement of matching gift funds is often delayed. That said, tracking your matching gift participation by the total number or value of matches identified—or the number of matching gifts requested—can be an excellent substitute. This is especially beneficial for a time-bound campaign during the giving season!
3. Consider engaging taglines, graphics, and blurbs.
Many nonprofits devote significant time, energy, and creativity to planning and executing their Giving Tuesday fundraising efforts. And often, the campaigns with the most unique and engaging elements are the ones that stand out and see the greatest level of success.
The Giving Tuesday organizers even encourage nonprofits to customize the official campaign logo to best connect with their own audiences for this reason.
So, what does that mean for your matching gift efforts on this day?
We, like the Giving Tuesday team, encourage you to get creative with your promotions. That might mean coming up with inventive taglines, crafting novel hashtags, designing eye-catching graphics, or writing witty blurbs. While the goal is to drive participation in your matching gift campaign, the path to get there involves unique content and actionable messaging.
Here are a few examples to consider. Feel free to adjust these ideas to reflect your organization’s mission, voice, and style!
Double the #GivingTuesday Love
Promote corporate matching gifts as a way to amplify the impact of donations on Giving Tuesday. This type of effort pairs well with match-related imagery to symbolize the doubling of donations. For instance—pairs of animals, twins posing in identical outfits, matching (or mismatched) socks, and more. If it’s something relevant to your mission, that’s even better.
By emphasizing that donors’ contributions may be matched, you can reiterate the way that each gift can multiply in value for your cause.
After #GivingTuesday comes #MatchingWednesday
Another idea involves engaging your donors in matching gifts the day after Giving Tuesday. By introducing a #MatchingWednesday follow-up campaign, you can retain your organization at the forefront of supporters’ minds for longer. Plus, allow them to stretch their gifts without re-opening their wallets.
Not to mention, much of the Giving Tuesday buzz will have settled down. This means you’ll have less competition for your audience’s attention and likely a more prominent spot in their inboxes. However, it still allows you to capitalize on the momentum of Giving Tuesday to drive continued giving and impact.
4. Get inspired by other nonprofits’ matching gift efforts.
Sometimes the best way to inspire your own organization’s fundraising initiatives is to take a look at other nonprofits that have seen great success in their efforts. When it comes to matching gifts on Giving Tuesday, exploring organizations that have done so effectively in previous years can help inform your team’s strategy.
We’ve located a few standout examples of Giving Tuesday matching gifts campaigns that engaged their audiences, informed supporters of matching gift opportunities, and ultimately drove more matches to completion.
First, these matching gift banners were incorporated into one of the largest healthcare and research organizations’ Giving Tuesday pages:
This organization repeatedly highlights the matching gift opportunity throughout its campaign landing page. It also uses a customized Giving Tuesday logo to attract the audience’s attention and enlists donor-centric language to call the supporter to immediate action.
Not to mention, this nonprofit also equips its supporters with a matching gift automation platform. This makes it quicker and easier than ever before for donors to double their impact with a match from their employer!
Here’s another example from an animal welfare and service dog training organization promoting matching gifts in its Giving Tuesday campaign:
This visually focused campaign utilizes the “cuteness factor” to catch supporters’ eyes and elicit an emotional response to the fundraising appeal. With matching dog photos to represent the matching donation opportunity, the organization aims to drive donations and matches with a mission-relevant custom graphic.
And again, this organization leverages matching gift software to simplify the employee matching gift experience for its donors! The simpler it is for supporters to complete the match request process, the more revenue a team can expect from the funding source.
Next, a Utah-based food bank incorporates a matching gift appeal on its Giving Tuesday page, as seen below:
This effort focuses heavily on the organization’s impact. Not only does the campaign graphic quite literally put a face to the fundraising need, but it also shares a relevant statistic that emphasizes the importance of donor giving for the nonprofit’s audience. And it allows the supporter to see how their potential gift can make twice the difference!
Plus, with a matching gift software in this food bank’s Giving Tuesday tech stack, supporters can receive information about and participate in their employers’ matching gift programs with just a few easy (and guided) steps.
Finally, check out this example from an environmental nonprofit based in Los Angeles, California:
This Giving Tuesday matching gifts promotion incorporates a dedicated blog post on the organization’s website. The content shares several easy ways that supporters can strengthen their donations when participating in the giving day campaign and is designed to aid the fundraiser in maximizing individual support.
The ways highlighted include making a recurring donation, contributing gifts of stock, amplifying the organization’s efforts with word-of-mouth marketing, and, of course, participating in employee matching gifts.
5. Read up on companies with Giving Tuesday matching programs.
More than 24,000 companies have known matching gift programs worldwide. Some of the most notable examples include General Electric, Microsoft, Google, Walt Disney Company, Coca-Cola, and Home Depot. As these are generally organized as a year-long initiative, employees who work for these companies will likely qualify to have their Giving Tuesday donations matched.
However, it’s also worth noting that some businesses opt to go above and beyond with their matching gift programs—specifically for Giving Tuesday! Familiarizing your staff with top matching gift programs beforehand will allow you to prepare to best share the information with donors who work for these companies. Not to mention, promoting Giving Tuesday-specific matches is a great way to incentivize giving and matching by eligible employees.
For instance, the companies below have increased their matching gift ratios to multiply employee gifts made on Giving Tuesday at a greater rate.
Typically matching donations at a 1:1 rate (i.e., a $50 gift produces a $50 match), Estée Lauder offers its employees a “double-matching gifts” program on Giving Tuesday. When a qualifying staff member makes a donation on Giving Tuesday, the company ultimately triples the gift for the organization.
Fiserv generally matches employee gifts at a standard 1:1 match rate. However, gifts made on Giving Tuesday were multiplied at a higher level—offering a limited-time 2:1 matching gift ratio.
Caterpillar Inc., matching gifts through the Caterpillar Foundation, incentivizes participation in Giving Tuesday by its employees by offering a greater 2:1 match. This limited-time motivator is typically hosted for the two weeks leading up to Giving Tuesday while the company establishes an annual match limit of $1.5 million.
BlackRock encourages employee giving on giving days by offering a 2:1 match ratio for gifts made during the span of Giving Tuesday. For most other donations throughout the year, however, the company matches at a standard 1:1 rate.
Though this company typically matches gifts at a dollar-for-dollar rate, team member gifts contributed on Giving Tuesday were matched at a 3:1 ratio. That means if an employee gives $100, Elevance Health matches with $300—essentially quadrupling the value of the initial gift.
6. Propose Giving Tuesday custom match programs with corporate partners.
Unfortunately, some companies still don’t have widely accessible matching gift programs—but that doesn’t mean you should give up on match opportunities for those donors. It just means you need to adjust your strategy! And one tactic that we recommend goes particularly well with Giving Days, end-of-year fundraising, and other time-based initiatives: custom (or one-off) matching gift programs.
Here’s how it works: As you prepare for Giving Tuesday, locate a company that employs a decent segment of your donor base but doesn’t currently match team members’ donations. Reach out to that company’s leadership (or encourage your donors to reach out themselves to forge a connection) and propose a dedicated matching gift partnership for Giving Tuesday.
Once agreed upon, your team will add the custom program to your matching gift search tool. (Hint: Nonprofits using Double the Donation’s platform can add one-off initiatives to their database using the unique program management feature.) This way, it will populate in qualifying donors’ employer queries when the campaign is live.
In this type of program, the company would commit only to matching gifts to your organization, likely within a set campaign window on or around this year’s annual Giving Day. And it’s a great way for unfamiliar employers to become acquainted with employee donation-matching, too!
*As a note, this feature is designed specifically for fundraisers looking to manage custom matching gift initiatives—Double the Donation does not work directly with corporations. If you’re a company interested in creating a matching gift program, contact us, and we’ll share information about our corporate vendor partners.
7. Share about Giving Tuesday and matching gifts on social media.
Your organization’s social media profiles are likely some of your greatest marketing and communications assets—especially regarding your fundraising efforts. As Giving Tuesday is a largely digital campaign, leveraging your online presence is a must. And promoting matching gift opportunities through these channels can be particularly impactful.
Prior to the big day, teaser posts can create anticipation by highlighting not only the upcoming Giving Tuesday campaign but also the opportunity to amplify donation impact with employee matching gifts.
Check out the sample post below—and be sure to link to your matching gifts page in the caption to provide additional information.
At the start of Giving Tuesday, consider posting something like this (hint: it can also be added to your giving day campaign page!). Again, be sure it sends viewers to your match page or donation form, empowering supporters to learn more and get involved.
Then, throughout the day, real-time updates (such as progress toward your general fundraising and matching gift goals) can showcase engagement and inspire giving through social proof.
Soon after Giving Tuesday concludes, share something like this to acknowledge and appreciate donor giving and encourage them to take the next steps:
Remember: consistent messaging across these phases enhances engagement, prompts urgency, and extends your campaign’s influence. Not to mention, you also provide digital content that is easily shareable for donors who want to increase their impact even further by spreading the word about the opportunity to their own networks!
8. Don’t forget about volunteer grants.
Giving Tuesday isn’t just about giving financially, either. Many nonprofit supporters worldwide choose to engage with this global day of giving by donating their time and skills. Thus, make sure your team isn’t overlooking another type of workplace giving program: volunteer grants!
Unfortunately, like traditional matching gifts, many eligible employees remain completely unaware of the opportunity available to them. By informing the volunteers who support your nonprofit’s efforts about the chance to amplify their impact with volunteer grants, your team can further enhance engagement on—and long after—Giving Tuesday.
Encourage existing volunteers to research their employers’ giving programs to determine eligibility. (Hint: If you have access to a matching gift database, see if it contains volunteer grant information, too. Double the Donation’s does!) Then, ask that your volunteers apply for these grants to support your organization.
9. Highlight matching gifts on your campaign landing page and giving form.
You likely expect a lot of web traffic heading to your Giving Tuesday campaign landing page. Don’t let this resource go to waste! Instead, incorporate information about corporate matching gift programs to ensure each visitor is exposed to the opportunity.
Not only will this increase the likelihood that qualifying donors ultimately complete their matches, but it can also inspire more supporters to give in the first place.
From there, donors will click to access your donation form and provide the information required to process the gift. In addition to the basics—such as their name, intended donation amount, and payment details—we also recommend collecting employment information.
When supporters provide the name of the company they work for, it will be easier to uncover eligible gifts and follow up with targeted instructions for completing the match.
Hint: If your team has purchased a matching gift database software, it’s a good idea to embed your search tool on both the Giving Tuesday landing page and your online giving form. This widget can collect company data in the donation process and provide program guidelines and links to submission forms from your confirmation page—making it as easy as possible for your donors!
10. Craft an inspiring matching gift ask.
Your matching gift appeal is one of the most essential components of your Giving Tuesday matching gifts plan. Crafting an ask that incites your intended action—donors completing corporate matching gifts on your behalf—requires a strategic blend of urgency, emotion, and information. As you begin workshopping your match appeal, consider borrowing tips and tricks from your broader donation requests.
For example, the official Giving Tuesday toolkit provides a framework for establishing impactful fundraising asks. This includes a…
- Belief statement — a declaration of the organization’s core values and convictions (ex: “We believe that no student should have to choose between food and learning.”)
- You statement — an explanation of the donor’s role in the campaign and how their support can help (ex: “You can help us stock the pantry so that no student goes hungry.”)
- Opportunity statement — a call to action inspiring donors to get involved (ex: “Are you with us?”)
Working off these three elements, here’s a sample matching gift appeal the same institution might use to promote corporate-matching opportunities on Giving Tuesday:
- Belief statement — “Matching gifts have the potential to multiply our school’s fundraising impact, ultimately providing much-needed support for students in our community.”
- You statement — “By completing a brief online submission form for your employer, you can double the value of your initial donation to our food pantry fundraiser, allowing more students to benefit from essential food and resources.”
- Opportunity statement — “Will you click here to complete your matching gift request?”
As always, just remember to adjust this sample messaging to reflect your organization’s own mission, vision, and fundraising need.
11. Build out your fundraising and matching gift tech stack.
Powering your Giving Tuesday campaign with the right software is essential for optimal fundraising results.
The Giving Tuesday team recommends testing your technology by walking through the entire giving process from the donor’s perspective. This allows you to gauge the user experience, identify any roadblocks, and ensure seamless giving come Giving Tuesday. We suggest going a step further and also testing out your matching gift experience!
As you make your test donation, ask yourself the following questions:
- Does the giving page request my employment information?
- Does the confirmation page encourage me to pursue a corporate matching gift, if applicable?
- If I provided my employment information, does the confirmation page populate with company-specific program details?
- If I provided my employment information, am I provided with a link to my company’s online match request form?
- Do I receive a follow-up email that contains detailed information on the matching gift process and urges me to complete my match?
If you notice areas with room for improvement in your strategy—or identify significant gaps in your tech stack—begin tackling any issues that arise immediately. You want to be sure you provide your supporters with the best experience possible, and an integrated fundraising platform and matching gift tool can do a lot!
12. Send post-transaction matching gift outreach.
After donors contribute to your Giving Tuesday campaign, be sure they’re informed (or reminded) about matching gift opportunities to keep them engaged. Sending post-transaction match-related outreach is a great way to utilize your already high levels of donor engagement.
It’s important to provide clear instructions on how supporters can initiate the matching process with their employers. And for the best results, timing matters! Double the Donation studies indicate that matching gift emails sent within 24 hours of a donation being made see a 53% open rate. That’s 2-3x the average nonprofit email open rate.
Plus, with a matching gift software, you can automate tailored messaging so that your fundraising team doesn’t have to lift a finger.
Free resource: Check out our sample matching gift letters to get a head start on your organization’s matching gift communications. Customize our free templates to best engage your audience!
13. Enlist supporters to advocate for matching gifts on your behalf.
Another key component of Giving Tuesday participation is advocacy. Thus, using this chance to empower your nonprofit supporters to advocate for matching gifts on behalf of your organization and its mission should be a no-brainer.
For example, not all of your donors will work for employers that have existing matching gift programs. But if an employee were to ask the company to reconsider its workplace giving offerings by matching gifts, it could make a big difference. Thus, enlisting supporters as advocates for matching gifts on (or leading up to) Giving Tuesday can help your team amplify its long-term impact and engagement—even if it doesn’t result immediately in a match.
Consider sharing a customizable email template, like this one, with your supporters:
Subject line: Request for a corporate matching gift program at [company name]
Hi [company leader],
I am writing to request the addition of a corporate matching gift program at [company name].
Thousands of companies offer employee matching gift programs as a way to support their staff and give back to their communities.
These programs also tend to benefit companies in terms of employee engagement and retention, opportunities to attract competitive candidates, improved brand image, increased sales, and more.
Thank you for your consideration,
[Your name]
[Job position]
Not to mention, donors can also advocate for matching gifts to their friends, families, colleagues, and more. We previously mentioned that tons of match-eligible individuals remain unaware of the opportunity, and your supporters can help bridge the knowledge gap by spreading the word!
14. Thank donors for all their involvement in your Giving Tuesday efforts.
At the conclusion of Giving Tuesday, it’s time to shift your efforts from an ongoing campaign to post-fundraising stewardship and retention. And for matching gift donors, doing so is more important than ever!
Thanking supporters for their involvement in your campaign is vital for building and strengthening lasting relationships. In the days following Giving Tuesday, automate personalized thank-you emails, make phone calls, or send handwritten letters that express gratitude for donors’ support.
Then, as matching gifts are completed, don’t forget to send match-related acknowledgments, as well! We recommend thanking donors at two key points: once they confirm that they’ve submitted their match request and after your organization receives their employer’s match.
Plus, if you had supporters get involved through volunteerism, advocacy, or other employee giving programs, be sure to thank them for their engagement, too.
Next Steps
With Giving Tuesday quickly approaching, there’s no better time to revamp your organization’s matching gift efforts. You certainly don’t want to overlook this key source of revenue or the individual and corporate engagement opportunities it brings. To optimize your strategy, it’s important to take a proactive approach to matching gifts.
But remember: equipping your fundraising team with the right tools to do so is a must. Automation allows you to make the most of matching gifts without investing much of your (perhaps already stretched-thin) time and resources.
And it’s not just helpful on the big day, either. A matching gift platform can enhance matching gifts throughout the rest of your giving season, into the new year, and beyond.
Start prepping for Giving Tuesday! Get your matching gifts strategy ready by exploring these additional guides:
Double Your Giving Tuesday Impact with Matching Gifts
/in About Double the Donation, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerOne of the largest global giving pushes in the world, Giving Tuesday, will be here this year before we know it. So now is the time to prepare for Giving Tuesday matching gifts success.
Falling each year on the first Tuesday immediately after Thanksgiving, this worldwide day of generosity can have a tremendous impact on nonprofit fundraisers. Last year boasted a record-breaking giving day, with 37 million participating adults contributing over $3.1 billion in the U.S. alone. And corporate matching gifts empower nonprofits to double their fundraising success.
However, many organizations did not realize their fullest potential when it came to matching gifts. After all, more than $4 to $7 billion in available match funds goes unclaimed on an annual basis. This is largely due to a lack of awareness by eligible donors who do not ultimately request the associated match funding from their employers. Taking steps to secure this revenue for your organization as you head into the end-of-year giving season can go a long way.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the unmatched value of corporate gift-matching—and expert practices your team can implement to make each donation count more.
Understanding Your Giving Tuesday Matching Gift Potential
Matching gifts can dramatically improve fundraising outcomes. On Giving Tuesday, organizations expect to see elevated donor engagement, surges in incoming funds, and more. And, Giving Tuesday campaigns leveraging donation-matching typically raise 3-5x more than those that do not.
But why is this—and how does it impact your fundraising group?
Not only do matching gifts provide an accessible form of corporate giving revenue, but they tend to drive individual involvement in fundraising as well. In fact, our research indicates that 84% of surveyed donors are more likely to contribute to a fundraising campaign if a match is available. At the same time, 1 in 3 supporters stated that they’d increase the size of their donation if they knew it would be matched.
This results in fundraising appeals that incorporate matching gifts producing a 71% increase in response rate and a 51% increase in average donation amount.
Each year, Giving Tuesday sees millions of donor gifts matched by employers, generating significant additional revenue for nonprofits and schools to support their missions. This year, we’re aiming to surpass those numbers—and the Double the Donation team is here to help you achieve that goal.
Dive deeper with our FREE downloadable resource:
14 Tips to Incorporate Matching Gifts in Your Giving Tuesday Plan
We have a lot of experience working with fundraising organizations to optimize their matching gift strategies. Thus, we know the most effective methods for driving matching gift success this Giving Tuesday and beyond.
Check out these tried-and-true practices as your team begins crafting its giving day fundraising plan. Then, determine how you can implement these tips in your own strategy.
1. Introduce matching gifts in internal Giving Tuesday preparations.
More than likely, your organization plans to host some sort of dedicated Giving Tuesday training leading up to the big day. This may involve establishing a fundraising timeline, crafting donor-facing messaging, and setting specific goals to ensure your whole team is on the same page.
One of the first things you can do to set your nonprofit up for Giving Tuesday success is to incorporate matching gifts throughout these preparations.
Getting your fundraising staff on board with the opportunity allows you to empower them as some of your greatest matching gift advocates.
And how can you do so? It all starts with marketing matching gifts to your internal team.
Specifically, you’ll want to cover:
Consider utilizing a number of communication channels to engage your internal audience (such as fundraising staff, marketers, board members, key volunteers, and more). This may include in-person or virtual presentations, emails, and other resources to spread awareness.
Ultimately, it’s critical that you get your team excited to make the most of matching gifts come Giving Tuesday and beyond.
2. Establish a matching gift fundraising goal beforehand.
Just like you probably have (or will have) a goal that represents your supporters’ total giving on Giving Tuesday, it’s a good idea to establish a separate goal exclusive to matching gifts for the campaign. Regardless of whether you opt to measure total revenue through corporate gifts or the number of donations successfully matched, tracking goals is the key to determining success and inspiring engagement.
To set a lofty yet realistic matching gift fundraising goal this Giving Tuesday, you’ll first want to analyze your past fundraising and matching gift performance. For example, let’s say your team collected $1,000 worth of matching gifts associated with Giving Tuesday donations last year—with little to no promotional activity around corporate matching. This year, you can expect to see a significant increase by taking a proactive approach to informing donors, encouraging participation, and even automating the matching gift experience.
From there, be sure to communicate this goal (and your progress toward it) leading up to, during, and after your Giving Tuesday campaign. Aiming for a specific target will allow you to establish a sense of urgency and motivate eligible supporters to take their next steps. Try using a fundraising thermometer on your campaign page, social media, or donor messaging to illustrate your movement toward the matching gift goal in a visual way.
Note: As you set your goal, however, keep in mind that the disbursement of matching gift funds is often delayed. That said, tracking your matching gift participation by the total number or value of matches identified—or the number of matching gifts requested—can be an excellent substitute. This is especially beneficial for a time-bound campaign during the giving season!
3. Consider engaging taglines, graphics, and blurbs.
Many nonprofits devote significant time, energy, and creativity to planning and executing their Giving Tuesday fundraising efforts. And often, the campaigns with the most unique and engaging elements are the ones that stand out and see the greatest level of success.
The Giving Tuesday organizers even encourage nonprofits to customize the official campaign logo to best connect with their own audiences for this reason.
So, what does that mean for your matching gift efforts on this day?
We, like the Giving Tuesday team, encourage you to get creative with your promotions. That might mean coming up with inventive taglines, crafting novel hashtags, designing eye-catching graphics, or writing witty blurbs. While the goal is to drive participation in your matching gift campaign, the path to get there involves unique content and actionable messaging.
Here are a few examples to consider. Feel free to adjust these ideas to reflect your organization’s mission, voice, and style!
Double the #GivingTuesday Love
Promote corporate matching gifts as a way to amplify the impact of donations on Giving Tuesday. This type of effort pairs well with match-related imagery to symbolize the doubling of donations. For instance—pairs of animals, twins posing in identical outfits, matching (or mismatched) socks, and more. If it’s something relevant to your mission, that’s even better.
By emphasizing that donors’ contributions may be matched, you can reiterate the way that each gift can multiply in value for your cause.
After #GivingTuesday comes #MatchingWednesday
Another idea involves engaging your donors in matching gifts the day after Giving Tuesday. By introducing a #MatchingWednesday follow-up campaign, you can retain your organization at the forefront of supporters’ minds for longer. Plus, allow them to stretch their gifts without re-opening their wallets.
Not to mention, much of the Giving Tuesday buzz will have settled down. This means you’ll have less competition for your audience’s attention and likely a more prominent spot in their inboxes. However, it still allows you to capitalize on the momentum of Giving Tuesday to drive continued giving and impact.
4. Get inspired by other nonprofits’ matching gift efforts.
Sometimes the best way to inspire your own organization’s fundraising initiatives is to take a look at other nonprofits that have seen great success in their efforts. When it comes to matching gifts on Giving Tuesday, exploring organizations that have done so effectively in previous years can help inform your team’s strategy.
We’ve located a few standout examples of Giving Tuesday matching gifts campaigns that engaged their audiences, informed supporters of matching gift opportunities, and ultimately drove more matches to completion.
First, these matching gift banners were incorporated into one of the largest healthcare and research organizations’ Giving Tuesday pages:
This organization repeatedly highlights the matching gift opportunity throughout its campaign landing page. It also uses a customized Giving Tuesday logo to attract the audience’s attention and enlists donor-centric language to call the supporter to immediate action.
Not to mention, this nonprofit also equips its supporters with a matching gift automation platform. This makes it quicker and easier than ever before for donors to double their impact with a match from their employer!
Here’s another example from an animal welfare and service dog training organization promoting matching gifts in its Giving Tuesday campaign:
This visually focused campaign utilizes the “cuteness factor” to catch supporters’ eyes and elicit an emotional response to the fundraising appeal. With matching dog photos to represent the matching donation opportunity, the organization aims to drive donations and matches with a mission-relevant custom graphic.
And again, this organization leverages matching gift software to simplify the employee matching gift experience for its donors! The simpler it is for supporters to complete the match request process, the more revenue a team can expect from the funding source.
Next, a Utah-based food bank incorporates a matching gift appeal on its Giving Tuesday page, as seen below:
This effort focuses heavily on the organization’s impact. Not only does the campaign graphic quite literally put a face to the fundraising need, but it also shares a relevant statistic that emphasizes the importance of donor giving for the nonprofit’s audience. And it allows the supporter to see how their potential gift can make twice the difference!
Plus, with a matching gift software in this food bank’s Giving Tuesday tech stack, supporters can receive information about and participate in their employers’ matching gift programs with just a few easy (and guided) steps.
Finally, check out this example from an environmental nonprofit based in Los Angeles, California:
This Giving Tuesday matching gifts promotion incorporates a dedicated blog post on the organization’s website. The content shares several easy ways that supporters can strengthen their donations when participating in the giving day campaign and is designed to aid the fundraiser in maximizing individual support.
The ways highlighted include making a recurring donation, contributing gifts of stock, amplifying the organization’s efforts with word-of-mouth marketing, and, of course, participating in employee matching gifts.
5. Read up on companies with Giving Tuesday matching programs.
More than 24,000 companies have known matching gift programs worldwide. Some of the most notable examples include General Electric, Microsoft, Google, Walt Disney Company, Coca-Cola, and Home Depot. As these are generally organized as a year-long initiative, employees who work for these companies will likely qualify to have their Giving Tuesday donations matched.
However, it’s also worth noting that some businesses opt to go above and beyond with their matching gift programs—specifically for Giving Tuesday! Familiarizing your staff with top matching gift programs beforehand will allow you to prepare to best share the information with donors who work for these companies. Not to mention, promoting Giving Tuesday-specific matches is a great way to incentivize giving and matching by eligible employees.
For instance, the companies below have increased their matching gift ratios to multiply employee gifts made on Giving Tuesday at a greater rate.
The Estée Lauder Companies
Typically matching donations at a 1:1 rate (i.e., a $50 gift produces a $50 match), Estée Lauder offers its employees a “double-matching gifts” program on Giving Tuesday. When a qualifying staff member makes a donation on Giving Tuesday, the company ultimately triples the gift for the organization.
Fiserv, Inc.
Fiserv generally matches employee gifts at a standard 1:1 match rate. However, gifts made on Giving Tuesday were multiplied at a higher level—offering a limited-time 2:1 matching gift ratio.
Caterpillar
Caterpillar Inc., matching gifts through the Caterpillar Foundation, incentivizes participation in Giving Tuesday by its employees by offering a greater 2:1 match. This limited-time motivator is typically hosted for the two weeks leading up to Giving Tuesday while the company establishes an annual match limit of $1.5 million.
BlackRock
BlackRock encourages employee giving on giving days by offering a 2:1 match ratio for gifts made during the span of Giving Tuesday. For most other donations throughout the year, however, the company matches at a standard 1:1 rate.
Elevance Health
Though this company typically matches gifts at a dollar-for-dollar rate, team member gifts contributed on Giving Tuesday were matched at a 3:1 ratio. That means if an employee gives $100, Elevance Health matches with $300—essentially quadrupling the value of the initial gift.
6. Propose Giving Tuesday custom match programs with corporate partners.
Unfortunately, some companies still don’t have widely accessible matching gift programs—but that doesn’t mean you should give up on match opportunities for those donors. It just means you need to adjust your strategy! And one tactic that we recommend goes particularly well with Giving Days, end-of-year fundraising, and other time-based initiatives: custom (or one-off) matching gift programs.
Here’s how it works: As you prepare for Giving Tuesday, locate a company that employs a decent segment of your donor base but doesn’t currently match team members’ donations. Reach out to that company’s leadership (or encourage your donors to reach out themselves to forge a connection) and propose a dedicated matching gift partnership for Giving Tuesday.
Once agreed upon, your team will add the custom program to your matching gift search tool. (Hint: Nonprofits using Double the Donation’s platform can add one-off initiatives to their database using the unique program management feature.) This way, it will populate in qualifying donors’ employer queries when the campaign is live.
In this type of program, the company would commit only to matching gifts to your organization, likely within a set campaign window on or around this year’s annual Giving Day. And it’s a great way for unfamiliar employers to become acquainted with employee donation-matching, too!
*As a note, this feature is designed specifically for fundraisers looking to manage custom matching gift initiatives—Double the Donation does not work directly with corporations. If you’re a company interested in creating a matching gift program, contact us, and we’ll share information about our corporate vendor partners.
7. Share about Giving Tuesday and matching gifts on social media.
Your organization’s social media profiles are likely some of your greatest marketing and communications assets—especially regarding your fundraising efforts. As Giving Tuesday is a largely digital campaign, leveraging your online presence is a must. And promoting matching gift opportunities through these channels can be particularly impactful.
Prior to the big day, teaser posts can create anticipation by highlighting not only the upcoming Giving Tuesday campaign but also the opportunity to amplify donation impact with employee matching gifts.
Check out the sample post below—and be sure to link to your matching gifts page in the caption to provide additional information.
At the start of Giving Tuesday, consider posting something like this (hint: it can also be added to your giving day campaign page!). Again, be sure it sends viewers to your match page or donation form, empowering supporters to learn more and get involved.
Then, throughout the day, real-time updates (such as progress toward your general fundraising and matching gift goals) can showcase engagement and inspire giving through social proof.
Soon after Giving Tuesday concludes, share something like this to acknowledge and appreciate donor giving and encourage them to take the next steps:
Remember: consistent messaging across these phases enhances engagement, prompts urgency, and extends your campaign’s influence. Not to mention, you also provide digital content that is easily shareable for donors who want to increase their impact even further by spreading the word about the opportunity to their own networks!
8. Don’t forget about volunteer grants.
Giving Tuesday isn’t just about giving financially, either. Many nonprofit supporters worldwide choose to engage with this global day of giving by donating their time and skills. Thus, make sure your team isn’t overlooking another type of workplace giving program: volunteer grants!
Unfortunately, like traditional matching gifts, many eligible employees remain completely unaware of the opportunity available to them. By informing the volunteers who support your nonprofit’s efforts about the chance to amplify their impact with volunteer grants, your team can further enhance engagement on—and long after—Giving Tuesday.
Encourage existing volunteers to research their employers’ giving programs to determine eligibility. (Hint: If you have access to a matching gift database, see if it contains volunteer grant information, too. Double the Donation’s does!) Then, ask that your volunteers apply for these grants to support your organization.
9. Highlight matching gifts on your campaign landing page and giving form.
You likely expect a lot of web traffic heading to your Giving Tuesday campaign landing page. Don’t let this resource go to waste! Instead, incorporate information about corporate matching gift programs to ensure each visitor is exposed to the opportunity.
Not only will this increase the likelihood that qualifying donors ultimately complete their matches, but it can also inspire more supporters to give in the first place.
From there, donors will click to access your donation form and provide the information required to process the gift. In addition to the basics—such as their name, intended donation amount, and payment details—we also recommend collecting employment information.
When supporters provide the name of the company they work for, it will be easier to uncover eligible gifts and follow up with targeted instructions for completing the match.
Hint: If your team has purchased a matching gift database software, it’s a good idea to embed your search tool on both the Giving Tuesday landing page and your online giving form. This widget can collect company data in the donation process and provide program guidelines and links to submission forms from your confirmation page—making it as easy as possible for your donors!
10. Craft an inspiring matching gift ask.
Your matching gift appeal is one of the most essential components of your Giving Tuesday matching gifts plan. Crafting an ask that incites your intended action—donors completing corporate matching gifts on your behalf—requires a strategic blend of urgency, emotion, and information. As you begin workshopping your match appeal, consider borrowing tips and tricks from your broader donation requests.
For example, the official Giving Tuesday toolkit provides a framework for establishing impactful fundraising asks. This includes a…
Working off these three elements, here’s a sample matching gift appeal the same institution might use to promote corporate-matching opportunities on Giving Tuesday:
As always, just remember to adjust this sample messaging to reflect your organization’s own mission, vision, and fundraising need.
11. Build out your fundraising and matching gift tech stack.
Powering your Giving Tuesday campaign with the right software is essential for optimal fundraising results.
The Giving Tuesday team recommends testing your technology by walking through the entire giving process from the donor’s perspective. This allows you to gauge the user experience, identify any roadblocks, and ensure seamless giving come Giving Tuesday. We suggest going a step further and also testing out your matching gift experience!
As you make your test donation, ask yourself the following questions:
If you notice areas with room for improvement in your strategy—or identify significant gaps in your tech stack—begin tackling any issues that arise immediately. You want to be sure you provide your supporters with the best experience possible, and an integrated fundraising platform and matching gift tool can do a lot!
12. Send post-transaction matching gift outreach.
After donors contribute to your Giving Tuesday campaign, be sure they’re informed (or reminded) about matching gift opportunities to keep them engaged. Sending post-transaction match-related outreach is a great way to utilize your already high levels of donor engagement.
It’s important to provide clear instructions on how supporters can initiate the matching process with their employers. And for the best results, timing matters! Double the Donation studies indicate that matching gift emails sent within 24 hours of a donation being made see a 53% open rate. That’s 2-3x the average nonprofit email open rate.
Plus, with a matching gift software, you can automate tailored messaging so that your fundraising team doesn’t have to lift a finger.
Free resource: Check out our sample matching gift letters to get a head start on your organization’s matching gift communications. Customize our free templates to best engage your audience!
13. Enlist supporters to advocate for matching gifts on your behalf.
Another key component of Giving Tuesday participation is advocacy. Thus, using this chance to empower your nonprofit supporters to advocate for matching gifts on behalf of your organization and its mission should be a no-brainer.
For example, not all of your donors will work for employers that have existing matching gift programs. But if an employee were to ask the company to reconsider its workplace giving offerings by matching gifts, it could make a big difference. Thus, enlisting supporters as advocates for matching gifts on (or leading up to) Giving Tuesday can help your team amplify its long-term impact and engagement—even if it doesn’t result immediately in a match.
Consider sharing a customizable email template, like this one, with your supporters:
Not to mention, donors can also advocate for matching gifts to their friends, families, colleagues, and more. We previously mentioned that tons of match-eligible individuals remain unaware of the opportunity, and your supporters can help bridge the knowledge gap by spreading the word!
14. Thank donors for all their involvement in your Giving Tuesday efforts.
At the conclusion of Giving Tuesday, it’s time to shift your efforts from an ongoing campaign to post-fundraising stewardship and retention. And for matching gift donors, doing so is more important than ever!
Thanking supporters for their involvement in your campaign is vital for building and strengthening lasting relationships. In the days following Giving Tuesday, automate personalized thank-you emails, make phone calls, or send handwritten letters that express gratitude for donors’ support.
Then, as matching gifts are completed, don’t forget to send match-related acknowledgments, as well! We recommend thanking donors at two key points: once they confirm that they’ve submitted their match request and after your organization receives their employer’s match.
Plus, if you had supporters get involved through volunteerism, advocacy, or other employee giving programs, be sure to thank them for their engagement, too.
Next Steps
With Giving Tuesday quickly approaching, there’s no better time to revamp your organization’s matching gift efforts. You certainly don’t want to overlook this key source of revenue or the individual and corporate engagement opportunities it brings. To optimize your strategy, it’s important to take a proactive approach to matching gifts.
But remember: equipping your fundraising team with the right tools to do so is a must. Automation allows you to make the most of matching gifts without investing much of your (perhaps already stretched-thin) time and resources.
And it’s not just helpful on the big day, either. A matching gift platform can enhance matching gifts throughout the rest of your giving season, into the new year, and beyond.
Start prepping for Giving Tuesday! Get your matching gifts strategy ready by exploring these additional guides:
Leveraging Volunteer Incentive Programs [Nonprofit FAQ]
/in Fundraising Ideas, Company Spotlights, About Double the Donation, Marketing Strategies, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerHow Corporate Volunteer Grants Increase Employee Engagement
/in Learning Center, Corporate Consulting /by Adam WeingerEmployee engagement is generally defined as the emotional and functional commitment an employee has to achieving the mission of the organization. But it’s important to remember that it’s more than just a buzzword—it’s a crucial factor in a company’s success.
Still, many businesses struggle to create a workplace culture that fosters genuine engagement. If you’re looking for new ways to do this, you’ve come to the right place.
One powerful yet often overlooked strategy centers on corporate volunteerism. More specifically, volunteer grants increase employee engagement as programs where companies financially support nonprofit organizations based on their employees’ volunteer hours.
In this article, we’ll outline the basics of employee engagement and volunteer grants—and where they come together. Specifically, our guide will cover:
By offering volunteer grants, businesses not only encourage employees to give back to their communities but also create a deeper sense of purpose and connection within the workplace. When employees feel that their company shares their values and actively supports causes they care about, their engagement naturally increases.
Let’s get started!
Basic Facts About Employee Engagement
Employee engagement goes a long way in terms of a healthy and thriving workplace, yet many organizations struggle to keep their workforce motivated and committed. In order to demonstrate this importance, research by Dale Carnegie Training and other industry leaders highlights the impact of engagement on performance, retention, and overall workplace satisfaction.
These findings emphasize a crucial point: When employees feel a strong connection to their organization’s values and mission, they are more engaged, productive, and loyal. Conversely, disengaged employees often see their jobs as nothing more than a paycheck, leading to lower morale and higher turnover.
Four Key Traits of Engaged Employees
Engaged employees generally exhibit distinct characteristics that contribute to a positive workplace:
By fostering these traits, companies can create a culture where employees feel valued, motivated, and deeply connected to their work.
But how can organizations actively boost engagement? One effective strategy is with corporate volunteer grants, which not only support meaningful causes but also reinforce employees’ sense of purpose and belonging within the company.
Our Top Employee Engagement Idea: 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. When they do, their employers provide monetary grants to eligible nonprofits whenever an employee takes time to volunteer.
These grants are generally paid out in one of two ways:
Of course, it’s important to remember that these payment structures and grant opportunities vary from company to company. However, when employees understand their company’s guidelines and are actively encouraged to participate in their volunteer grant programs, it can become a significant revenue stream for the nonprofits they support.
How Volunteer Grants Increase Employee Engagement
Corporate volunteer grants play a significant role in enhancing employee engagement by fostering a sense of purpose, connection, and fulfillment in the workplace. When companies support their employees’ volunteer efforts through financial contributions to nonprofit organizations, they create a culture that values giving back. This, in turn, leads to higher levels of motivation, job satisfaction, and company loyalty.
Here’s how volunteer grants contribute to employee engagement:
1. Strengthening Employees’ Sense of Purpose
Employees who feel that their work aligns with their personal values are more likely to be engaged. Volunteer grants encourage employees to dedicate time to causes they care about, reinforcing their sense of purpose.
When employees see that their company supports these efforts, they feel a stronger connection to the organization and its mission.
2. Enhancing Workplace Morale and Job Satisfaction
Giving back to the community fosters a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. Studies show that employees who participate in corporate volunteer programs report higher job satisfaction and overall well-being. Knowing that their efforts are making a tangible difference, supported by their employer, helps employees feel more positive about their workplace.
3. Driving Teamwork and Collaboration
Volunteer grant programs often include opportunities for employees to work together on community projects, strengthening relationships and teamwork. Employees who engage in volunteer activities as a team build trust, improve communication, and develop stronger connections with their colleagues, leading to a more collaborative and engaged workforce.
4. Boosting Employee Loyalty and Retention
When employees feel valued and supported by their employer, they are more likely to stay with the company. Volunteer grant programs demonstrate that the organization is invested in its employees’ passions beyond the workplace. Research has shown that companies that prioritize employee engagement through initiatives like volunteer grants experience lower turnover rates and higher retention levels.
5. Attracting Purpose-Driven Talent
Today’s workforce, particularly millennials and Gen Z, seeks employers that align with their values. Many job seekers consider a company’s social responsibility initiatives when evaluating potential employers. By offering volunteer grants, companies position themselves as organizations that care about their employees and the broader community, making them more attractive to top talent.
By implementing and promoting volunteer grant programs, companies can create a workplace culture that fosters engagement, strengthens team dynamics, and enhances employee satisfaction.
When employees feel empowered to contribute to meaningful causes with the support of their employer, their connection to their work deepens—ultimately benefiting both the individual and the organization.
Other Giving Programs That Grow Employee Engagement
While corporate volunteer grants are a powerful way to boost employee engagement, they are just one of many corporate giving programs that can foster a deeper connection between employees and their workplace. Companies that invest in a variety of giving initiatives create a culture of generosity, social responsibility, and shared purpose—key drivers of employee satisfaction and retention.
Here are some additional giving programs that help grow employee engagement:
Group Volunteer Activities
Another suitable method of increasing employee engagement involves encouraging group volunteerism. After all, group volunteer opportunities increase 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 team volunteer grants when groups of employees volunteer together. It’s a great way for companies to support the organizations that employees are passionate about.
Volunteer Time Off
Next, VTO (or volunteer time off) programs are an excellent way to inspire engagement among employees. Providing team members with paid time off to volunteer for causes they care about shows that the company prioritizes community involvement. Meanwhile, VTO hours allow employees to participate in volunteer activities without sacrificing their earnings, making it easier for them to give back.
This initiative leads to increased job satisfaction, stronger employee-employer relationships, and a more engaged workforce overall.
Employee Matching Gifts
Finally, matching gift programs allows companies to match their employees’ charitable donations to nonprofit organizations, effectively doubling (or sometimes tripling) the impact of their contributions. When employees see their employer actively supporting their charitable giving, they feel more valued and motivated, strengthening their sense of belonging and commitment to the organization.
By incorporating these additional giving programs into their corporate social responsibility strategies, companies can cultivate a culture of generosity and engagement. As a result, employees who feel supported in their philanthropic efforts are more likely to develop a strong emotional connection to their workplace, leading to higher morale, increased productivity, and long-term retention.
How Employee Engagement Software Can Help
While corporate volunteerism means finding opportunities for your team to give back, it can be challenging to track all of the volunteer hours and grant requests that come through as a result. If you’re looking for a way to streamline your company’s volunteer opportunities, consider investing in employee engagement software.
This type of software helps bring your team together and promotes an engaged company culture. For example, employee engagement software can help manage a volunteer program by:
All in all, 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. It’s a win-win!
Even better, we’ve reviewed several of the top platforms here, so you can get a better understanding of your options.
Additional Volunteering & Employee Engagement Resources
Corporate volunteer grants are more than just a corporate social responsibility initiative—they are a strategic tool for enhancing employee engagement. When employees have the opportunity to contribute to meaningful causes with the support of their company, they develop a stronger sense of pride, motivation, and loyalty. This not only leads to a more positive work environment but also helps businesses attract and retain top talent.
If your company is looking for a way to boost engagement while making a meaningful impact, investing in corporate volunteer grants is a step in the right direction.
Interested in learning more about corporate giving and volunteerism? Check out these additional resources to get started:
Data Management for Nonprofits: Overcoming Common Challenges
/in Nonprofit Basics, About Double the Donation, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerIn today’s data-driven world, effective data management is essential for nonprofits seeking to maximize their impact. However, many organizations face significant challenges when it comes to handling the vast amounts of data they collect—from donor information and volunteer records to corporate partnerships and financial reporting.
In this post, we’ll explore some of the most common data management challenges nonprofits encounter and offer practical solutions to help organizations overcome these obstacles. But first, we’ll start with the basics:
Without a solid data management strategy, nonprofits and other fundraising groups face a lot of risks: including fragmented data, factual inaccuracies, and missed opportunities for growth and engagement.
With the right operational practices and a powerful set of tools, however, organizations can transform these challenges into opportunities, turning their data into a strategic asset that drives informed decision-making, enhances donor relationships, and ultimately amplifies their impact.
Let’s find out more about how your team can do so.
What is data management for nonprofits?
Data management is the process of collecting, storing, organizing, maintaining, and utilizing data in a way that ensures it is accurate, accessible, and secure. It involves a range of activities aimed at optimizing how data is handled, ensuring that it can be effectively used for decision-making, operational efficiency, and strategic planning in a way that supports the organization’s overall mission.
For nonprofits and other fundraising organizations, this data can include a wide range of information, such as:
Regardless of the specific points, smart data management encompasses multiple processes, which include:
In summary, data management is all about making sure information is handled efficiently and effectively throughout its lifecycle, enabling organizations to leverage it as a valuable asset for achieving their goals.
Why does effective data management matter for fundraisers?
Donor data is an invaluable tool when it comes to nonprofit fundraising. After all, an effective data management strategy directly impacts an organization’s ability to sustain its overarching mission.
The benefits are widespread and include:
1. Targeted Campaigns: With well-managed data, fundraisers can segment their donor base and tailor campaigns to specific groups. This personalization increases the likelihood of engagement and improves fundraising success.
2. Donor Retention: Accurate and organized data allows fundraisers to track donor engagement, enabling them to build stronger relationships and increase retention. Knowing when to follow up, how to communicate, and what donors care about can significantly enhance loyalty!
3. Improved Decision-Making: Effective data management provides fundraisers with insights into past campaigns, donor behavior, and financial trends. This information is invaluable for making informed decisions about where to allocate resources, which strategies to pursue, and how to optimize future campaigns.
4. Enhanced Reporting and Transparency: Fundraisers often need to report outcomes to stakeholders, including donors, board members, and grantors. Reliable data management ensures that these reports are accurate, comprehensive, and transparent, which is essential for maintaining trust and securing ongoing support.
5. Maximized Revenue Opportunities: By effectively managing data, fundraisers can identify opportunities for matching gifts, volunteer incentives, major givers, and other revenue-enhancing strategies.
6. Compliance and Risk Management: Fundraisers must comply with data privacy regulations and ethical standards. Effective data management ensures that donor information is handled securely and responsibly, reducing the risk of data breaches and legal issues.
7. Measuring Impact: Fundraisers can use data to demonstrate the impact of donations and campaigns. This not only satisfies current donors but also attracts new ones by showing the tangible outcomes of their contributions.
What common challenges impact data management—and how can your team overcome them?
Data management is critical to the success of any organization, but it comes with a range of challenges that can hinder efficiency, accuracy, and strategic decision-making. Here are some common challenges that impact data management and strategies your team can use to overcome them.
Information gaps
Challenge:
Information gaps occur when critical data is missing or incomplete, which can hinder a nonprofit’s ability to make informed decisions, engage with stakeholders effectively, or measure impact accurately. Gaps in data can result from inadequate data collection methods or inconsistent data entry practices.
Solution:
Implement standardized data collection procedures and use comprehensive data management tools to ensure that all relevant information is captured. Determine which information you need (contact details, personal history, employment information, etc.), and regularly audit and review data to identify and fill gaps. You might even consider using a data append service to enrich existing data and fill in missing details!
Data silos
Challenge:
Data silos happen when information is stored in separate, isolated systems or departments, making it difficult to get a unified view of the organization’s data. This fragmentation can lead to inefficiencies, duplicated efforts, and incomplete insights.
Solution:
Integrate data from various sources using data integration tools and centralized databases. Promote cross-departmental collaboration and ensure that all systems are connected to a central data repository where possible. This allows for a more cohesive and comprehensive view of organizational data, as well as providing a better look at each individual supporter and their engagement with your cause.
For example, Double the Donation Matching and Double the Donation Volunteering connect with one another to provide essential data insights across the system!
Outdated information
Challenge:
Outdated information can occur when data is not regularly updated, leading to inaccuracies and inefficiencies. This can affect everything from donor engagement to compliance with regulations and more.
Solution:
Establish regular data maintenance routines, including scheduled updates and data cleansing processes. Use automated tools to track and refresh information where possible. Plus, be sure to collect and update new details from donors each time they engage with your organization! After all, decades-old employment information isn’t going to be much help in determining matching gift eligibility if the individual has left their previous place of work.
Disorganized databases
Challenge:
Disorganized databases can result from inconsistent data entry practices, lack of standardization, or inadequate database design. This disorganization makes it difficult to retrieve, analyze, and use data effectively.
Solution:
Develop and enforce data entry standards and use structured database management systems to organize data consistently. Implement data governance practices to ensure that data is categorized, tagged, and indexed appropriately. Plus, regularly review and reorganize databases to improve usability and efficiency.
Security and privacy concerns
Challenge:
Security and privacy concerns involve protecting sensitive data from unauthorized access, breaches, and misuse. Nonprofits often handle personal information from donors, beneficiaries, and volunteers, making data security a critical issue.
Solution:
Implement robust data security measures, including encryption, access controls, and regular security audits. Ensure compliance with relevant data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) and provide training for staff on data security best practices.
Not to mention, investing only in highly secure platforms and technologies is a must to protect data integrity and confidentiality. (Hint: For this reason, Double the Donation has achieved SOC 2 Type II Compliance!)
Lack of reporting
Challenge:
A lack of reporting can occur when organizations do not have the tools or processes in place to generate accurate and comprehensive reports. This limits the ability to track performance, measure impact, and communicate results to stakeholders.
Solution:
Invest in data analytics and reporting tools that allow for customizable and automated reporting. Define key performance indicators (KPIs) early on and create standard templates to streamline the reporting process. Then, ensure that reporting tools are integrated with other data management systems to provide accurate and up-to-date information.
What tools can power organizations’ data management strategies?
Organizations often leverage a variety of software to enhance their data management strategies, each designed to address specific aspects of data collection, storage, analysis, and security. Here are some of the most effective kinds of tools that can power your data management strategy!
Donation Tools
Donation tools are designed to streamline the donation process, making it easier for donors to contribute online or through other channels. These tools automatically collect and store donor information, including donation amounts, dates, and payment methods.
This data is crucial for tracking fundraising progress, generating reports, and understanding donor behavior. By integrating donation tools with a nonprofit’s broader data management system, organizations can ensure that all donation-related data is accurately captured, easily accessible, and ready for analysis. This enhances the nonprofit’s ability to engage donors, track fundraising performance, and optimize future campaigns.
Explore our integration partners to uncover leading donation tools.
CRM
CRMs, or constituent relationship management systems, are central to managing relationships with donors, volunteers, and other stakeholders. These tools consolidate data from various touchpoints, providing a comprehensive view of interactions, preferences, and engagement history. By centralizing this information, CRMs help nonprofits manage communications more effectively, personalize outreach, and identify opportunities for deeper engagement.
Additionally, CRMs support data-driven decision-making by offering insights into donor retention, campaign effectiveness, and overall fundraising health.
Check out our nonprofit CRM buyer’s guide to learn more.
Volunteer Management Software
Volunteer management software (or VMS) helps nonprofits efficiently manage volunteer recruitment, scheduling, tracking, and communication. It collects data on volunteer hours, skills, preferences, and participation in events or programs, which is essential for reporting on volunteer contributions, recognizing volunteer efforts, and planning future activities.
When integrated with other data management systems, volunteer management software ensures that volunteer data is aligned with overall organizational goals and can be analyzed alongside donor data to identify patterns or opportunities for cross-engagement.
Learn more with our top VMS recommendations.
Workplace Giving Software
Workplace giving software (like Double the Donation) plays a key role in identifying and pursuing invaluable corporate philanthropy opportunities, such as matching gifts, corporate volunteer incentives, and other employee-led giving initiatives. And it works by connecting with your other data management tools (i.e., donation software, CRMs, volunteer management platforms, and more).
By using donor information, Double the Donation uncovers individuals who work for companies with existing giving programs, triggers tailored outreach, and reports on possibilities for growth and expansion.
Request a demo of Double the Donation to get started.
Data Appends
More of an outsourced service than a tool in your own toolbox, a data append can be an excellent way to fill in missing points in your organization’s existing data. All you need to do is partner with a data enhancement service provider, supply them with the information you have about your donors, and they’ll fill in as many of the gaps as possible.
This can include employment information, demographics, contact details, and more, helping your team maintain accurate and complete donor records.
Wrapping up & next steps for powerful data management
Data management is a critical component of a nonprofit’s ability to fulfill its mission and drive meaningful change. By addressing common challenges, nonprofits can harness the power of their supporter information to enhance decision-making, improve donor relations, and measure their impact more effectively.
Implementing these best practices and investing in the right tools and training can transform data from a burden into a valuable asset, empowering organizations like yours to operate more efficiently and achieve greater success in their endeavors.
Keep learning! Check out these additional resources we recommend to further your data management and fundraising knowledge:
Boost Your Association’s Membership Engagement in 7 Steps
/in Learning Center /by Adam WeingerIf you want to grow and maintain your membership program, you’ll likely spend a large chunk of your time planning and executing some sort of membership engagement plan.
Unfortunately, because “membership engagement” is such a broad concept, it’s tough to get your strategy right on the first try (or even after many tries!).
Lucky for you, we’ve made tackling the membership engagement issue a little less tricky. Here, we’ll provide you with 7 simple steps for increasing your organization’s membership engagement.
Here’s a preview of the subjects we’ll cover:
Pretty soon, you’ll be a master of membership engagement (and you’ll have the member retention rates to show for it)!
Still in the planning phase of your new membership organization? Read our guide to starting a nonprofit membership program first!
1. Define membership engagement.
Before you can begin engaging your members in an effective way, you’ll need to figure out exactly what you hope to accomplish.
Membership engagement can take many forms, and if your team isn’t all on the same page with your expectations, you’ll find it much harder to accomplish anything.
So, take a few minutes to review your current engagement level and determine a few tangible goals for the future. Perhaps you want to:
Your engagement marker might be totally different than another organization’s, and that’s okay! Be sure that your goals reflect the needs and interests of your members and your organization, and you’ll be able to reach new heights sooner than you think.
Start your member stewardship strategy on the right foot with membership software that offers robust member profiles. The more your organization or association knows about its members, the more targeted your stewardship strategies can be!
2. Understand your members.
How can you cater to your members’ personalities if you’re not well acquainted with them? The short answer: you can’t.
That’s why it’s extremely important for you to get to know your members on a personal level. If you don’t, your engagement strategies run the risk of being generic and unappealing to your constituents.
It might seem like a daunting task to get to know each one of your many members on a one-on-one basis, but fortunately, your organization likely already has a tool on hand to make it much easier.
That tool? Your membership management software, of course!
With powerful membership management software (also known as association management software or AMS, for short), you’ll be able to manage member data more effectively and leverage it to its full potential.
Not only will software help you stay organized, but it’s the only way you can get a full picture of your members’ participation and giving history in one centralized location.
With a knowledge of members’ interests, preferences, past involvement, and giving habits, you’ll be able to plan engagement opportunities that actually make sense for them—without any of the hassle of manual data management!
Bonus: Still searching for the right association management software for your organization? Check out our list of the best tools before you start shopping around!
3. Communicate consistently.
Your members joined your organization or association because they’re personally invested in your efforts.
As your most devoted supporters, they deserve to be kept in the loop on your organization’s projects and your community’s trends and hot topics.
To that end, you should be regularly communicating with your members in any (or all!) of the following ways:
By staying active in your members’ lives through regular communication efforts, you’ll remind them of their interest in your organization and encourage them to participate themselves.
As important as it is for your organization to get the word out about important updates, it’s equally important that your members have a place to communicate, too!
Make sure your members know that your team is always accessible should they want to voice concerns, ask questions, or provide feedback. You can also send out surveys asking for targeted feedback on a regular basis, or host events dedicated to member-leadership interaction.
4. Establish online engagement spaces.
There’s a good chance that several of your members joined your association to connect with one another. From building professional connections to collaborating with others in their field to simply forming friendships, a professional or trade association membership can create a sense of community.
However, many associations need help encouraging members to make connections, offering only a handful of annual events for them to meet up. By establishing online spaces where members can interact, your trade or association can build an active community and increase retention.
When building an online engagement space, your first instinct might be to craft a social media strategy. While social media is a useful marketing tool, ultimately sending members away from your website to engage with one another on a third-party platform decreases focus on your association.
Instead, create an online engagement space directly on your website using a community engagement platform. For example, let’s take a look at how our recommended community engagement platform for trade and professional associations, Tradewing, facilitates member engagement:
With Tradewing, members can log into their membership accounts on your association’s website to view their membership activity feed. Similar to social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter/X, Tradewing allows members to make posts and interact with each other’s content. However, unlike public social media sites, all posts on your Tradewing platform are relevant to your association, keeping members focused on your content and making connections.
Additionally, platforms like Tradewing also include:
Platforms like Tradewing encourage member-generated content, community building, and increased online engagement.
Leverage your community engagement software to create online spaces where your members can not just connect between in-person events but actively engage with each other all year round.
5. Prioritize community-building.
Membership programs are unique in that they can create a thriving community based around shared goals, interests, and values.
Think about it: when an individual chooses to donate to or volunteer for a nonprofit, they might meet like-minded individuals at community service events or fundraisers, but more often than not, their involvement is a solo activity.
But when they sign up for the nonprofit’s membership program, they’re immediately met with a collective of others with similar passions!
Make sure your members are aware of the vibrant community within your membership program, and do your part to foster community-building whenever you can.
Design online and in-person opportunities that facilitate member-to-member engagement, from starting a discussion in an online forum to hosting a member mixer filled with interactive activities for your guests. Get creative with it!
Choosing the right association management software can go a long way to help build a culture of community-wide engagement for your association or organization. Top features like online message boards, member-managed groups and committees, member directories, and self-service profiles make a big difference in letting members feel empowered to engage with your work in the ways that work best for them.
When your members are engaged with one another, they’ll be more connected to your organization overall (and they’ll be much more likely to participate in member activities when they know they have friendly faces to join them!).
6. Streamline the renewal experience.
So far, we’ve been discussing how to keep your members engaged throughout their membership. However, there is another aspect of membership engagement that we can’t ignore: the member renewal process!
No matter how involved your members are, if they don’t sign up for another year, you’ve got some membership engagement problems to address.
To make sure your members are excited to come back to your organization year after year, you should ensure that the renewal process is as simple and straightforward as possible. Consider implementing one (or more) of the following strategies:
Bonus: Need some guidance before you send your next round of member renewal letters? Take a look at Fundly’s handy guide!
7. Track your membership engagement efforts.
As you implement different member engagement strategies within your organization, some efforts will inevitably see better results than others.
To make sure you’re moving forward (and that mistakes don’t repeat themselves), you’ll need to be able to track and analyze your engagement in a meaningful way.
Thankfully, membership management software can make such a task much more doable. In fact, depending on your platform, you may be able to:
When you use powerful membership management software to handle all your reporting needs, you’ll be able to easily gain insight into your engagement success and use that knowledge to prepare for the future.
Needless to say, developing a successful membership engagement strategy is a major undertaking for any organization. But with these tips in mind, you’ll be able to confidently navigate all of your future membership engagement endeavors!
For more ways to engage supporters through your membership program, take a look at these additional resources:
Google Grants Eligibility: How To Check If You Qualify
/in Marketing Strategies, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerDid you know Google awards nonprofits with free ad credits to boost their digital presence? It’s true, and it’s all thanks to a program called Google Ad Grants.
Through this program, any organization that meets the Google Grants eligibility requirements receives a monthly grant of $10,000 to spend on Google Ads. When used effectively, this funding can go a long way to boost traffic to your nonprofit website, spread awareness, and increase donations.
If your nonprofit wants to get started with Google Grants, the first step is to apply. In this post, we’ll walk you through questions you need to ask before applying to ensure your nonprofit obtains (and keeps!) your Google Ad Grant:
Applying for a Google Ad Grant doesn’t have to be complicated. Just follow our guide, and you’ll be on your way to your new Google Ad Grants account!
What are Google Ad Grants?
Google Grants (formally known as Google Ad Grants) is a program where Google provides eligible nonprofits with an in-kind donation of $10,000 in monthly ad funding.
But let’s back up even further—what exactly are Google Ads in the first place?
Google Ads are the paid search results that appear at the top of your search results screen based on the keywords included in your query. Here’s an example of what an ad might look like:
In order to see your ads appear here, your nonprofit must bid on relevant search keywords using your Google Grant money.
There are certain compliance requirements for Google Grant recipients, including a $2 cap on your maximum bidding amount and a requirement that all keywords must be relevant to your cause. These restrictions mean that you won’t be able to spend your money on exceptionally high-traffic terms (think “animal rights organization” or “wildlife sanctuary”) or terms that are too general (think “free eBook” or “donate to nonprofits”), but it also means that you’re likely to see greater results from the ads you do run.
If your nonprofit meets the Google Ad Grants eligibility requirements, you can use the grant to promote your donation page, volunteer opportunities, educational content, and other mission-driven initiatives. Plus, you’ll continue to receive the Ad Grant for as long as you meet the program’s criteria.
How do search ads differ from organic results?
Nexus Marketing’s guide to SEO for nonprofits explains that when users search keywords or phrases, Google delivers content based on what it assumes the user is attempting to accomplish. Below ads, Google provides organic results, which are pages that have demonstrated their authority and expertise to Google.
Paid and organic methods can both enhance your online presence, and each has its own benefits and challenges. Here are the key differences between Google Ads and organic search results:
These strategies can complement each other, because Google Ads provide immediate traffic while organic SEO builds sustainable visibility. Know that anyone, including those who aren’t eligible for Google Ad Grants, can implement SEO strategies. For the best results, leverage both methods to market your content and maximize your search engine presence.
Why should nonprofits check their Google Grants eligibility?
Beyond expanding your marketing budget, Google Grants offer advantages for organizations that know how to optimize their funding. A key benefit is that 98% of searchers click on a result on Google’s first page, making Google Ads a powerful tool for driving traffic.
Especially when you put time into Google Ad Grants management, you might experience:
Depending on your exact Google Ad Grants management strategy, you can use your ads to achieve nearly any goal you have in mind. With a bit of creativity and research, the options are endless!
Are all nonprofits eligible for Google Ad Grants?
The program can be an exceptional resource for many nonprofits, but it’s important to know that not all organizations are eligible for Google Grants.
Specifically, the following types of nonprofits are automatically ineligible for Google Grants:
If you don’t meet these initial Google Ad Grants eligibility requirements, you may still be in luck. For instance, Google has similar philanthropic resources for educational institutions, known as Google for Education.
Basic Google Ad Grants eligibility requirements
After confirming that your organization isn’t automatically ineligible, you’ll still need to meet additional Google Ad Grant requirements the program’s coordinators use to ensure that all grant recipients are legitimate charitable organizations. Getting Attention’s guide to Google Grants eligibility breaks the requirements down into a few key pieces. Here’s a checklist based on those recommendations:
To qualify for a grant, your organization must:
Here’s a video from the Google Partners at Getting Attention that highlights these requirements:
Should my nonprofit use the Google Ad Grant?
Even if you are eligible for the Google Ad Grant, whether or not you should apply depends on your organization’s goals. While the grant can provide significant benefits, some objectives may be better suited to other marketing strategies.
Here are a few goals that benefit more from other strategies than the Google Ad Grant:
The Google Ad Grant offers tremendous opportunities for many nonprofits. However, even if you meet the Google Ad Grants requirements, you should determine whether it’s the best approach based on your organization’s goals.
What can my nonprofit do to become eligible for Google Ad Grants?
If your nonprofit meets the baseline Google Ad Grants requirements but isn’t quite ready to enroll, there are a few measures you can take to get your application approved on the first try.
If you’d like to apply for a Google Ad Grant, there are several approaches your organization could take: you could DIY it, could hire someone onto your team to manage it, or work with a Google Ad Grant management consultant who can walk you through the application process.
Confirming your Google Grants application and completing your application yourself will be the least expensive option; however, it will require the biggest investment of your time.
Google Ad Grant consultants (who often offer other digital marketing or fundraising strategy services) have experience identifying issues that might keep you from receiving a grant and can make sure you don’t get denied on a technicality or mistake.
Once you’ve been approved for your grant, the consultant can help you put together a strategy for maintaining your Google Ad Grants eligibility and using your full $10,000 as effectively as possible!
Basic tips to qualify
Regardless of whether your team works with a consultant, take these steps to prepare for your Google Ad Grants application:
From there, you should be on your way to receiving your account and funding. Keep in mind that the Google Ad Grants requirements may change according to Google’s current standards. To limit confusion and frustration, we recommend working with a consultant who can streamline the process. After all, it’s their full-time job to understand Google Ad Grants management, not yours!
What should I do after confirming my nonprofit’s Google Grants eligibility?
Once you’re confident in your Google Ad Grants eligibility, it’s time to start the application process! Luckily, when it comes to managing your account, the application is the easy part. Follow these guidelines to start your enrollment:
Completing the application is the easy part; the real work begins when you set up your first campaign. As we’ll discuss below, there are a number of compliance standards you have to follow to keep your Google Ad Grants funding.
Creating Your First Campaign
Once you’ve defined your goals and strategy for managing your Google Grant account, follow these steps to launch your first campaign:
That’s it! Your nonprofit should now have everything you need to start managing your account and driving results with your new ads.
Can my nonprofit lose its Google Grants eligibility?
Managing your account and maintaining your Google Ad Grants eligibility is an ongoing process. If you aren’t maintaining your Ads account to Google’s standards, your grant funding may be suspended temporarily or indefinitely.
To keep your account in good standing, pay attention to all Google Ad Grants requirements, such as:
Though these are some of the most important eligibility and management requirements, they aren’t the only ones. It’s important that your team stays active in your campaigns and is consistently optimizing your nonprofit advertising strategy in order to maintain your account.
Management options to maintain your Google Grants eligibility
You have a few options for maintaining your account, avoid suspension, and maximize your Google Grant results:
For many organizations, hiring an external consultant is the best choice. A Google Ad Grants manager is generally less expensive than a full-time employee and has the benefit of working with lots of different organizations to achieve various goals. Chances are, they know what strategies work for organizations like yours.
We recommend working with Getting Attention. They’re a certified Google partner, so you’ll know you’re receiving expert insights and leveraging your grant fully. Plus, you’ll have a direct link to the Google Ad Grants team and can get your account working again if you fall out of compliance.
How do I get started with Google Grants?
Now that you know more about Google Grants eligibility requirements and the application process, you’re ready to get started!
Improve your chances of getting approved, maintaining your grant, and seeing great results from your Ad campaigns by working with a Google Grant consultant. Getting Attention offers free consultations to assess your nonprofit’s needs. Plus, they’re certified by Google, so you know you’ll receive Ad Grants account support from trusted professionals.
Their experts will handle every step of the process for you, even beyond the initial application. Here are their core services:
Once you’ve assembled your team and are ready to begin your application, head to Google’s Get Started page and click “apply,” and you’re on your way!
How can I make the most of Google Ad Grants?
Acquiring the Google Ad Grant is one thing, but making the most of your funding is another challenge entirely. Properly managing your account is a learning process that involves closely monitoring your campaigns and making adjustments based on what’s working.
From optimizing your website’s content to crafting compelling ad copy, generate more value from the grant with our favorite Google Ad Grant management tips.
1. Optimize your landing pages.
Your landing pages are the web pages you’ll promote via Google Ads. When readers click on your ad, they’ll be directed to whichever page you choose on your site. It’s up to you to pick the ones that are most relevant to their needs.
For example, someone who searches “animal shelter volunteering” is clearly looking to volunteer, in which case, you’d direct them to a volunteer signup page. Someone searching “donate to refugees” is looking to give, which means you’ll want to direct them to a donation form.
Beyond choosing the right landing pages, design your pages in a way that drives users to take action. To optimize each landing page, you’ll want to:
Your landing pages will seal the deal for your Google Ads. Make sure each one prioritizes the user experience and makes it incredibly clear that supporting your nonprofit is the right choice for each visitor.
2. Track meaningful conversions.
The primary purpose of the Google Ad Grant is to spread awareness of worthy causes and generate value for participating nonprofits. That’s done by achieving meaningful conversions.
A “meaningful conversion” is any action someone can take that your nonprofit finds valuable to achieving your mission. For example, Google breaks conversions down into a few primary categories:
You can work toward any conversion goal so long as it supports your work. Think carefully about what types of actions are actually meaningful to your nonprofit, especially considering that the Google Ad Grants team will require you to report at least 1 conversion per month.
3. Carefully choose keywords to display your ads to the right audience.
Your keywords are an essential part of your Google Ads. Think about the terms your prospects are likely searching online to kickstart your brainstorming session.
You can use the negative keyword feature to refine your ads further. NXUnite’s guide to Google Ad Grants explains that “negative keywords are used to prevent your content from showing up in searches that contain certain words.” Adding negative keywords allows you to eliminate searches from people who aren’t looking for content related to your services.
For example, let’s say you’re running ads that target keywords related to saving endangered bears. In this case, you might notice that your ads show up for search queries like “Chicago bears,” “teddy bears,” and “the Berenstain Bears.” To prevent this, use negative keywords that eliminate irrelevant search queries, such as:
In turn, you’ll ensure your ads only show to qualified prospects, reducing wasted ad spend.
4. Keep SEO in mind.
To maximize your presence within search results and encourage engagement with your cause, integrate your SEO and Google Ad strategies. The right combination of outbound (paid) and inbound (organic) strategies can help you reach and convert more visitors into supporters. Here’s how to make these strategies work together:
By aligning your SEO and Google Ad Grant strategies, you can create a cohesive and powerful digital marketing approach that maximizes your nonprofit’s online presence and drives both immediate and long-term results.
Additional Resources
Google Ad Grants are one of the most valuable marketing tools your nonprofit can access. Now that you know how to apply for these grants, you’re halfway to Google Ads success!
Remember, working with a professional can simplify your Google Ad Grant management and help you skip the learning curve that comes with the program. We suggest the certified professionals at Getting Attention for their attention to detail and dedication to helping nonprofits make the most of their $10,000 each month.
Check out these resources for more insight into online marketing and fundraising:
Demographic Appends: Does Your Nonprofit Need One?
/in Donor communications /by Adam WeingerCollecting data is essential for being able to contact your supporters. From giving habits to communication preferences, every piece of data you gather about your donors can be leveraged to secure gifts, earn long-term support, and expand your donor base.
One piece of basic but vital information is demographic data. From how old your supporters are to their family status to their average income, demographics help you better understand your audience. However, you may not have any natural opportunities to outright ask supporters details about their lives without coming off as invasive.
Fortunately, you can fill in missing data and correct outdated information with data appending. In this guide, we’ll take a deep dive into demographic appends and how your nonprofit can leverage them to cultivate stronger supporter relationships.
What is a data append?
“Append” means to supplement or amend something, so a “data append” is the process of supplementing and amending your nonprofit’s data. Along with demographic information, nonprofits can purchase appending services for all kinds of donor data, including:
These are just a few types of data nonprofits are likely to request to complete their donor profiles. For instance, for-profit companies often invest in customer appends related to internet search history and past purchases.
For nonprofits interested in data appending, look for services that specialize in working with nonprofit and charitable organizations. These service providers understand the unique types of supporter data that will actually be beneficial to nonprofits, so they can avoid cluttering your donor database. We’ll go over the characteristics of a reliable data append provider later.
What data is included in demographic appends?
Demographics are a catchall term for a wide variety of data, including:
This information is gathered from multiple databases the append service has access to. If you give your donors’ names and email addresses to your append service provider, they would compare that information against the data in their various databases to find corresponding demographic information.
While some demographic details might seem sensitive, remember that data appending is a normal and widespread practice. For example, when you register to vote, you likely receive many political messages from your preferred party despite never providing any political groups with your phone number or email.
Why do nonprofits need demographic appends?
Demographic appends provide a wide range of data about your donors, but you might not be sure exactly how knowing your supporters’ ages or family sizes will help your nonprofit.
Demographic appends benefit nonprofits in a few ways, including:
The more you know about your donors, the better you’ll be able to communicate with them. Demographic data empowers you to create content your current supporters and prospective donors will find interesting, leading to increased engagement.
The Data Appending Process
When a nonprofit purchases a data append, almost every step of the process will be taken care of by the service they hire. However, understanding how this process works can help you choose a trustworthy data appending company and make better use of the data you receive.
We’ve touched on the appending process briefly, but let’s break it down in full here:
Ultimately, your nonprofit will have little involvement in the actual appending process, but if you have any questions about how the process will be conducted or what your nonprofit should expect, be sure to ask your specific append provider.
What to Look for in a Data Append Provider
Data append providers help supplement your data, but they can vary in speed, accuracy, and range of services. When you’re ready to hire a data append provider, assess top candidates on the following qualities:
When it comes to recommendations for where to start, we recommend our team for employer appends. With our comprehensive corporate giving database, nonprofits can easily find their donors’ employers and discover their eligibility for a range of corporate giving programs, including volunteer grants and matching gifts.
More Appending Resources
Demographic data lets you know who your supporters are. With this information, you can better market to your current audience, identify potential supporters, and improve your donor relationships. Demographic appends empower you to gather this information easily and stay updated on your supporters, no matter how your audience grows or changes.
For more resources related to appending, nonprofit data, and supporter relationships, check out these guides:
Double the Donation and PlanHero Release Powerful Volunteer Integration
/in Press Releases, Company Updates, About Double the Donation /by Adam WeingerDouble the Donation is thrilled to unveil its latest partnership with PlanHero, expanding the accessibility of integrated matching gift technology to corporate volunteerism and beyond. Through the integration of Double the Donation Volunteering with PlanHero’s volunteer management software, organizations can now seamlessly enhance their corporate volunteer strategies to recruit, engage, and retain support more effectively than ever before.
This new integration enables individuals to supply employment information as they register for volunteer events and identify available incentives, such as volunteer grants and volunteer time off programs, through their companies. With actionable steps provided post-registration, volunteers can quickly submit their corporate volunteer requests, ensuring nonprofits maximize their potential with ease.
“As corporate social responsibility continues to grow, it’s vital for nonprofits to leverage these opportunities,” said Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation. “This includes corporate volunteer programs, which is why we’re excited to bring Double the Donation’s automation functionality to PlanHero’s platform, helping organizations boost their volunteer engagement and corporate funding alike.”
The PlanHero and Double the Donation integration is now available for mutual clients. Follow our integration guide to get connected.
Ready to enhance volunteer engagement with corporate incentives? Request a personalized demo with the Double the Donation team today. Be sure to mention you use PlanHero!
About PlanHero:
PlanHero offers a comprehensive volunteer management platform designed to streamline the organization and communication of volunteer activities. Specializing in tools for nonprofit organizations, schools, and community groups, PlanHero provides an intuitive, user-friendly solution that simplifies volunteer scheduling and engagement. For more information, visit PlanHero’s website .
About Double the Donation:
Automate your matching gift fundraising and corporate volunteering with the industry-leading solution from Double the Donation. The Double the Donation platform provides nonprofits with tools to identify individuals who qualify for corporate philanthropy initiatives, drive increased participation, and gain actionable insights from the programs.Double the Donation integrates directly into donation forms, CRMs, volunteer management platforms, and other nonprofit technology solutions to capture employment information and follow up with donors accordingly. To learn more, visit Double the Donation .
Marketing Corporate Volunteerism | A How-To Guide For Orgs
/in Donor communications, Company Spotlights, About Double the Donation, Marketing Strategies, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerCorporate volunteerism refers to the practice of businesses encouraging employees to volunteer their time and skills to charitable causes. This can take a number of forms, including company-wide volunteer days, paid time off for volunteer activities, skills-based volunteering, and volunteer grant programs.
For nonprofits and schools, corporate volunteerism is a vital tool that can significantly enhance their capacity to achieve their missions. How? Corporate volunteer programs provide these organizations with increased manpower, diverse skill sets, enhanced visibility, and even the potential for financial support and long-term corporate partnerships.
Meanwhile, the companies offering the programs see increased employee engagement and enhanced CSR. However, for each group to reap the rewards of these programs, it’s essential that the efforts are marketed well. And that’s where this guide comes in!
Read on to uncover top corporate volunteer marketing strategies and tips you can implement in your own organization’s engagement plan.
Understanding Corporate Volunteerism Opportunities
Corporate volunteerism provides nonprofits, schools, and similar fundraising groups with easy access to skilled volunteers and other invaluable resources. Understanding the types of programs available to your organization and its supporters through their employers allows you to better target lucrative opportunities, deepen engagement with volunteers, and achieve your goals overall.
We recommend familiarizing yourself (and the rest of your team) with the following types of corporate volunteer initiatives:
Individual Volunteer Grants
Volunteer grants, also known as “Dollars for Doers,” are corporate programs where companies offer monetary donations to nonprofits where their employees volunteer. Typically, an employee must spend a set number of hours at the nonprofit for the organization to qualify for a grant, which may be paid out as a lump sum or based on a predetermined hourly rate.
Benefit for nonprofits: This program incentivizes volunteerism and rewards nonprofits with additional financial support!
Team Volunteer Grants
Similar to individual volunteer grants, team volunteer grants provide funding for the organizations at which their employees volunteer. The difference, however, is that team volunteer grants are awarded when a group of employees from the same company volunteer together. Team grants are generally larger in amount, too, providing lucrative funding when groups of employees get involved.
Benefit for nonprofits: This program incentivizes group volunteering among corporate staff and provides generous financial support.
Paid Volunteer Time Off
Paid volunteer time off (or VTO for short) is a corporate benefit where companies provide their employees with a set number of hours they can spend volunteering for nonprofits or community service activities. In other words, employees are encouraged to engage in volunteer work during regular work hours without sacrificing their regular pay.
Benefit for nonprofits: This program provides a powerful incentive for volunteer recruitment, engagement, retention, and more.
Skills-Based Volunteerism
Skills-based volunteerism involves employees offering their professional skills and expertise to nonprofits rather than general volunteer work. For example, a marketing professional might help a nonprofit develop a communications strategy, or an accountant might assist with financial planning.
Benefit for nonprofits: This program allows nonprofits to benefit from specialized knowledge that can significantly advance their mission.
Company-Sponsored Volunteer Days
Company-sponsored volunteer days are organized events where companies designate a day for their employees to volunteer as a group at a specific nonprofit, school, or community project. The company often arranges the logistics, and employees participate during work hours, incentivizing involvement with a free day out of the office!
Benefit for nonprofits: This program empowers organizations to rally corporate employees in group activities, allowing significant progress to be made on large-scale projects in a short amount of time.
Identifying Corporate Volunteer Programs in Your Network
Before you can market corporate volunteerism to your audience, it’s a good idea to uncover the best opportunities in your network. We recommend following these practical tips to do so:
Before you can market corporate volunteerism to your audience, it’s a good idea to uncover the best opportunities in your network. We recommend following these practical tips to do so:
1. Collecting Employment Information From Supporters:
Start by gathering employment details from your donors, volunteers, and other supporters. This can be done through surveys, event registration forms, or during volunteer sign-ups.
Knowing where your supporters work allows you to explore potential corporate volunteer programs they have access to, which could benefit your organization.
2. Researching Employers with Well-Known Volunteer Programs:
Once you have a list of where your supporters are employed, research whether these companies offer volunteer programs. Many large corporations, like Disney, Microsoft, Google, and thousands of others, have established volunteer programs.
Understanding the specifics of these programs can help you tailor your outreach efforts to match their requirements. Get started by looking into top companies offering volunteer grants, top VTO opportunities, and more.
Plus, there’s a significant overlap between companies offering matching gifts and those offering volunteer programs. If you already know of businesses in your network that match employee donations, it’s worth investigating whether they also offer volunteer grants or other volunteer opportunities.
3. Using Corporate Volunteer Databases:
Utilize databases and online platforms that track corporate volunteer programs to make the research process easier than ever before. Double the Donation offers the industry’s most comprehensive database of corporate volunteer information, complete with listings on thousands of companies’ programs.
Leveraging this database can help you quickly identify which companies have programs your organization could benefit from!
4. Conducting Manual Research:
Sometimes, a simple online search can yield valuable information. Try searching for a specific company’s name along with keywords like “volunteering” or “volunteer programs” (e.g., “Home Depot + Volunteering”).
While it will be a more time-intensive approach, this idea can help you discover details about a company’s volunteer initiatives, including opportunities they offer to their employees.
5. Encouraging Supporters to Check with Their Employers:
Lastly, be sure to motivate your supporters to inquire about volunteer programs within their workplaces. Many employees might not be aware that their companies offer volunteer grants or paid volunteer time off. By encouraging them to ask, you can uncover opportunities that might have been overlooked.
Marketing Corporate Volunteerism to Supporters
Marketing corporate volunteerism to individual supporters involves educating and motivating them to participate in and promote these opportunities within their workplaces. Here’s how you might approach this:
Educate Supporters on Corporate Volunteerism:
Start by informing your supporters about what corporate volunteerism is and how it works. Use newsletters, emails, and social media posts to explain the various types of corporate volunteer programs, such as paid volunteer time off, volunteer grants, and team volunteer days.
(P.S.; Check out our customizable marketing templates available for clients within the Double the Donation platform to get started!)
You’ll also want to include a section about corporate volunteer incentives on your Volunteers page—and embed a company search tool so supporters can easily uncover their available programming.
Communicate the Impact of Corporate Volunteerism:
Share stories and testimonials that demonstrate the positive impact corporate volunteerism has had on your organization. Show how previous corporate volunteer efforts have helped achieve specific goals, whether it’s through completing a project, raising funds, or expanding your programs. This helps supporters see the tangible outcomes of their potential involvement.
Encourage Inquiries at Work:
For those who don’t find corporate volunteer information in your database widget, encourage them to check in with their employers about any available programs.
Many employees may not be aware of the opportunities available to them, so you’ll want to provide them with language they can use to approach their managers or HR leaders about the programs, making it easier for them to initiate the conversation and drive impact for your team.
Promote Suitable Corporate Volunteer Opportunities:
Regularly communicate the volunteer opportunities available at your organization that are suitable for corporate teams or individuals looking to volunteer through their workplace programs. Highlight any upcoming events or projects where corporate volunteers could make a significant difference and make sure these opportunities are well-advertised through your existing channels.
Offer Recognition:
Recognize and celebrate individual supporters and companies that engage their companies in corporate volunteerism. You can even publicly acknowledge their efforts through newsletters, social media, or at events.
Recognition not only makes the individual feel valued but also serves as an example to other supporters who might be inspired to take similar actions.
Leverage Peer Influence:
Encourage supporters who have successfully engaged their employers in corporate volunteerism to share their experiences with others. Peer recommendations can be very persuasive, so consider featuring these stories in your communications to inspire others to take similar steps. You can even encourage eligible volunteers to organize team events with their colleagues to support your cause!
Marketing Volunteerism to Corporate Partners
Marketing corporate volunteerism to corporate partners—both new and existing—requires a strategic approach that highlights mutual benefits, aligns with their corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals , and fosters long-term relationships.
Here’s how you can effectively market these opportunities to companies.
Understand Corporate Goals and CSR Objectives:
Before reaching out to corporate partners, research their CSR goals, values, and past volunteer initiatives. Tailor your pitch to show how partnering with your organization can help them achieve these objectives.
Emphasize how corporate volunteerism aligns with their brand, enhances employee engagement, and contributes to community impact. If possible, provide data that demonstrates how other companies have benefited from similar partnerships with your organization in the past.
Develop Tailored Volunteer Packages:
Create customizable volunteer opportunities that align with the company’s needs and interests. Offer a range of options, from one-day events to ongoing projects, and include both skills-based and general volunteer opportunities. Tailoring these packages makes it easier for companies to see how they can get involved in a way that suits them and their teams.
Highlight the Impact of Volunteerism:
Quantify and communicate the impact of corporate volunteerism on your organization. Provide reports that show how corporate volunteers have contributed to your mission, including metrics like the number of hours volunteered, projects completed, and the overall community impact. Why? Companies are more likely to invest in programs where they can see measurable outcomes.
Recognize Corporate Support:
Publicly recognize and celebrate the contributions of your corporate partners. This can include awards, mentions in your annual report, shout-outs on social media, or hosting a special recognition event. Acknowledging their efforts not only strengthens your relationship but also encourages continued contributions.
Facilitate Employee Engagement:
Make it easy for companies to involve their employees in volunteer opportunities. To do so, you can provide them with promotional materials, sign-up sheets, and detailed information on how to participate. Offer flexibility in scheduling and types of volunteer work to accommodate different levels of employee engagement and interest, too!
5 Organizations Marketing Corporate Volunteerism Well
As you look to revamp your own team’s corporate volunteerism marketing strategy, it’s a good idea to solicit inspiration from other organizations’ efforts. For this reason, we’ve selected a few nonprofits with standout promotional strategies to consider.
Organization #1: NFED
Corporate Volunteer Marketing Spotlight | Dollars for Doers Blog Post
The NFED, or National Foundation for Ectodermal Dysplasias, is a nonprofit devoted to research, education, and support for those affected by ectodermal dysplasias. In order to supercharge their efforts, the organization promotes Dollars for Doers (also known as volunteer grants) as a key way for supporters to enhance their impact.
Take a look at this snippet of the blog post below:
Here’s what this marketing example does well:
Organization #2: United Way
Corporate Volunteer Marketing Spotlight | Volunteer Time Off Blog Post
United Way of the National Capital Area is a branch of the United Way organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. This nonprofit understands the value that volunteerism can offer its cause, and it promotes Volunteer Time Off as a key way to recruit, engage, and retain supporters.
Take a look at this snippet of the blog post below:
Here’s what this marketing example does well:
Organization #3: LLS
Corporate Volunteer Marketing Spotlight | Volunteer Grant Page (With Employer Search Tool!)
LLS, or the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, is a medical research-based nonprofit dedicated to leading the fight against blood cancers. The organization receives generous support from a wide range of volunteers, and the team provides a number of resources, including a corporate database search tool from Double the Donation, to streamline and increase participation in volunteer incentive programming.
Take a look at the landing page below:
Here’s what this marketing example does well:
Organization #4: Habitat for Humanity
Corporate Volunteer Marketing Spotlight | Corporate Volunteer Page and Blog Post
Habitat for Humanity is a largely volunteer-based organization dedicated to ensuring every person has a place to live. As a result, the team does a lot to promote corporate volunteer incentives.
Take a look at these resources below:
Here’s what this marketing example does well:
Organization #5: Florida State Parks
Corporate Volunteer Marketing Spotlight | Corporate Volunteer Opportunities Page
Florida State Parks is a nonprofit organization that works with local governments, park users, researchers, and more to ensure maintenance and upkeep of more than 175 award-winning state parks, trails, and historic sites across the state. A big part of its mission involves empowering volunteers to play a role, and it often leverages corporate volunteer opportunities as a way to do so.
Take a look at the landing page below:
Here’s what this marketing example does well:
Wrapping Up & Next Steps
Successfully marketing corporate volunteerism requires a thoughtful and strategic approach that highlights the benefits for your organization, its supporters, their employers, and your community as a whole.
By effectively communicating about available initiatives, you can build a stronger, more engaged volunteer base that’s increasingly incentivized to give back to your cause. And you might even get some extra funding out of it all!
Ready to learn more about marketing corporate volunteerism? Check out our recommended resources and further reading:
Matching Gift Q&A with Workplace Giving Expert Tom Mansmith
/in Donor communications, About Double the Donation, Marketing Strategies, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerMatching gifts hold an incredible yet often untapped potential in the world of nonprofit and educational fundraising. To shed light on this powerful tool, we’re excited to present a matching gift Q&A session with Tom Mansmith, consultant and renowned expert in workplace giving and matching gifts.
With more than 20 years of experience in the field as the former Senior Director of Workplace Giving and Matching Gifts for the American Cancer Society, Tom offers invaluable insights and first-hand experience into how nonprofits can maximize their matching gift revenue, engage donors more effectively, and overcome common challenges to drive success.
Whether you’re a seasoned fundraising professional or new to the concept of matching gifts, this conversation is packed with practical advice and actionable strategies. Feel free to watch the video mini-series and read through the transcript below!
1. What are corporate vendor platforms, and what role do they have in matching gifts?
There are a number of corporate vendors who facilitate employee philanthropic giving. These technology providers work on behalf of businesses to streamline and to integrate the employee giving programs, which can include payroll deduction, matching gifts, volunteer grants, cause cards, and incentive programs.
Generally speaking, these providers supply an online platform where companies are able to manage their employee programs. They allow employees to give to accredited nonprofits, log their volunteer hours, pledge their payroll deductions, etc.
On the backend of these sites, nonprofits are able to verify the original contributions for matching gifts, see donor details, and confirm volunteer hours.
These platforms really are an integral part of the matching gift program. It’s not a company’s core business, but it’s part of their core value in employee engagement, so these corporate matching gift vendors play a vital role in the matching gift process.
2. What is the general processing flow when you receive a matching gift payment?
Most matching gifts your organization receives will come from a corporate matching gift vendor who processes the payments on behalf of a company.
Here’s how it works:
→ You’ll navigate to a third-party corporate vendor platform.
→ Go to the “Giving” section, where you’ll see a section for payments and transactions.
→ Once there, it’s going to give you a list of all of the payments your organization has received. Now, it’s a good idea to have the check number, the amount, and whether it was a check or a direct deposit.
→ When you’re on that page, search with the payment ID or date so you get the exact payment.
→ Once you’ve located the payment, you can go through all the donor details, including which employees the company was matching specifically.
This information can be viewed online, but you also have the option to download the reconciliation sheet. I recommend that you download the reconciliation sheet, as it will allow your finance department or yourself to process the payment accurately.
3. What are some common roadblocks for nonprofit organizations trying to earn more matching gifts?
That’s a long list, but let’s try to tackle a couple of them.
Leadership buy-in
You should make a real case to your organization’s leadership that matching gifts is a vital part of their overall revenue strategy.
So, I would make a strong case to leadership that matching gifts is a vital part of their overall strategy, and what that unlocks for you, hopefully, is additional marketing and FTEs, which are critical for processing and marketing for matching gifts.
Lack of staffing
I think everyone has been struggling with this, but if you’re someone who’s handling all of the matching gifts for your organization, you know what I’m talking about.
However, having the appropriate amount of staff for the scale of your matching gift revenue stream is essential. I don’t know about your organization, but I imagine that for small or medium organizations, one or two people can do the job. And for larger organizations, many are stretched, but I would say that more than three people is appropriate for payroll deductions, volunteer grants, and matching gifts as they continue to grow.
Marketing dollars
I think it’s a real roadblock not to look at this both internally and externally. So, communication dollars should be used to socialize matching gifts internally to development staff that are running peer-to-peer events (gala, golf, other types of fundraising) and your corporate development staff, if you have that.
They really all should know something about matching gifts so that when they see an opportunity, they’re able to talk about matching gifts to the decision-makers in companies.
Lack of employment data
Many organizations hesitate to ask for and retain employment information. If you don’t know that someone works for a corporation that has a matching gift program, however, you miss the opportunity to tie their original contribution to that matching gift.
And I know that you can get pushback from your IT team or your event staff, for instance, that they don’t want something else on the registration page. But I’d argue that because it allows you to actually fundraise for the staff, adding “Who do you work for?” is critical for registrations for peer-to-peer events and on the main URL of your fundraising page.
Not taking advantage of technology
What I mean by this, one, is that you have a matching gift activation on all of your fundraising pages. And, secondarily, that you’re utilizing Double the Donation to data-mine contributions that hadn’t been matched, but you find meet the criteria for matching.
4. How can I earn more matching gifts?
There are probably three things that I’d tell you. Here’s the first:
Socialize the impact of matching gifts with your developmental team.
Show them the impact and the dollars that donors are leaving on the table by not matching gifts. In fact, I’d even point out some key donors who didn’t take advantage of their matching gift program. That’s a really powerful motivator.
One of the best ways to do so is by providing your team with access to the Matching Gift Academy, which is free for Double the Donation clients to use ($199/year value).
Take full advantage of Double the Donation’s technology.
Make sure all of your donation pages have the DTD matching gift activation on them so employees can take full advantage of that.
Note: Double the Donation integrates with nearly all leading fundraising solutions, donation tools, and CRMs to make it increasingly easy to do so! Check out our integration partners here to see if you can connect your platform!
Regularly check your database through Double the Donation.
Look for those donors who were eligible for matching gifts but didn’t take advantage of it in the first round. That’s a goldmine for your organization to be receiving additional revenue!
5. How do you recommend getting matching gift buy-in from your team?
Making an internal business case with different stakeholders will advance matching gifts across your organization. Here are three teams you should consider engaging and getting on board with matching gifts.
Corporate development staff
Those are the individuals who go out and talk to corporations about grants and cause marketing. The third area that they really ought to be talking about is employee engagement, whether that’s payroll deductions, matching gifts, or other programs.
One of the things that matching gifts does is provide specific corporate information about employee engagement. Usually, the decision-makers don’t have a good idea of the level of affinity or employee participation in your cause.
It’ll show increased employee affinity, corporate engagement, and more. There’ll even be some great impact stories that you can research and provide for your corporate development team. Whether those are specific or anecdotal, that storytelling can be a huge part of your corporate development meeting.
And then finally, it provides an opportunity for your corporate development team to upsell. If there’s a big engagement with that company’s employee base, the company is going to be more likely to consider corporate grants or even a cause marketing deal.
Peer-to-peer staff
Whether you’re hosting a golf event, a gala, or a fundraising walk, all of those gifts are matchable for the participants who work for corporations that have matching programs. We’re talking about 65% of Fortune 500 companies.
And so, what does that do for peer-to-peer? Well, #1, it’s a lower cost of fundraising.
You can even show the dollars that are left on the table. So, a good project is to do a little deep dive on those participants who were eligible for matching gifts. Then, show the potential dollars that could have been collected had matching gifts been presented. Those are dollars that are left on the table, and that’s probably the biggest motivator for peer-to-peer teams: to see what they could have had. And, of course, you’re offering what they can have, so that’s super important.
Then the final thing with peer-to-peer is that matching gifts allows for a deeper dive into that donor or employee profile. Now that you know who they work for, that can lead to more teams coming to support your cause from that corporation, maybe not just localized but a national team.
IT staff
For a lot of organizations, that main donation page URL is managed by the IT staff, so one of the things that I found when we had point of contribution activations for matching gifts is that we saw a greater conversion rate because when individual donors who work for companies think about the fact that their company would double that donation, they’re more likely to give.
And then again also, those donor profiles, knowing who the individual works for, is very important for establishing a good CRM. Not to mention, increased security and API transfers is important to your IT staff, and Double the Dontion’s technology is highly secure with seamless data integrations, too.
6. What are your top 3 tips for communicating matching gifts to your donors?
Communicating the matching gift opportunity is essential for fundraisers such as yourself. Here’s what I recommend doing to get the message across in the most impactful way possible.
Storytelling
I’m a big proponent of storytelling, and I think this is both true for pre-donation and post-donation. A very concise story about the impact of matching gifts should be provided, where the employer acknowledges the donor’s original contribution and recognizes the philanthropic choices of their employees. That’s a great partnership inside of that company, and I think you can tell a story about what those partnerships do to advance your cause. Be concise; I don’t think you have to be too specific but tell the story about their impact.
Generational appropriateness
I’m a Baby Boomer, and I consume information in a way that might be, or is, different from Millennials or Gen Z. I think that you ought to take the time to learn about generational communication differences. What do I mean by that? When you’re creating communications, you should do something more than just send an email, a flyer, or a leave-behind. Instead, you ought to, for example, do TikTok. Maybe you have Instagram or social media posts that can tell that story but in a generationally appropriate way.
Acknowledge the employee-employer partnership
The final thing, and I talked about this a little in the storytelling section, and this may be more true for your development staff that are engaging with corporate decision-makers, but making sure that they have the information available to them to acknowledge the partnership and the impact that it made on your cause.
In this sense, I think that you can be specific, so look at total matching gift dollars raised by employees, total matching gift dollars raised by that employer. Then, put that information in the hands of staff going out to corporations so that they can tell a story about the impact.
7. What other fundraising opportunities can matching gifts uncover?
I think there’s probably three, maybe four. So, let’s take a look at those.
Corporate teams
My guess is that most of you have peer-to-peer fundraising. I would look for an individual who’s on a team, maybe it’s not a corporate team, but you have their employment information. Let’s say they work for a Fortune 1000 company, or that they donated online on your main web page. When they ask to have their gift matched, you uncover that they work for a major corporation.
Those are leads for developing teams within corporations. They obviously have an affinity toward your organization, and I wouldn’t shy away from recruiting from that pool of matching gift donors. Maybe they weren’t on a corporate team, but I would ask them next year to form one for your next big peer-to-peer fundraising event.
Cause marketing and corporate grants
I know this can seem like a stretch; you got a matching gift for $25 or $100, and now you’re going to go ask for a cause marketing deal or a corporate grant. But hear me out—in scale, let’s say you had 50 employees who contributed to your organization, perhaps through a peer-to-peer event, and they all matched. Maybe they’ve even been doing it for a couple of years.
What you have in that organization is a group of employees who have an affinity for your cause. And I think it’s safe to say that the people who make the decisions within the company’s community development or corporate citizenship teams don’t have any idea that that’s going on. So, raising that with those decision-makers is the first step to start talking about other things that the corporation can do. It’s their corporate dollars that make a matching gift. It may not be the meeting, but it’s the knock on the door for upselling in corporate grants and in cause marketing.
Major gifts
How does a $100 matching gift get a major giver? Well, I think you’ll find that if you look in your database, you may have people who are giving much more than $100. Anyone who gives a $500 gift and has asked to match it could be a candidate for a major gift—certainly to pursue it or to investigate it. One of the things I would do is, in your database, look at not just single donations but total annual giving.
If you have people who are giving more than $1,000, and then having that gift matched, I think that those are good candidates for larger gifts. They are obviously people who work for corporations, they may or may not have higher incomes, and those could be pursued by your major gift staff.”
Ready to get started? Schedule a personalized demo with our matching gift experts to see if Double the Donation is right for you.
Wrapping Up
Tom’s expertise underscores the immense value that matching gifts can bring to any organization or fundraising strategy. By understanding the nuances of these programs and effectively communicating them to donors, teams like yours can unlock a significant source of additional funding.
We hope this matching gift Q&A has provided you with the knowledge and inspiration needed to enhance your matching gift fundraising efforts. By implementing these insights, your organization can not only boost its success but also deepen its connection with donors who are eager to maximize their impact.
Good luck!