Nonprofits thrive on the support of major donors. The most major of the major gifts a nonprofit might receive are called principal gifts.
Principal gifts bring transformational benefits and drive incredible impact, growing organizations’ capacities to run programs, serve constituents, and make a difference. They’re elusive but achievable when you have an intentional strategy to identify and secure them.
What’s a Principal Gift?
Simply put, a principal gift is a large donation made to a nonprofit by a major donor.
Nonprofits commonly consider principal gifts to be worth $1 million or more, but it’s important to remember that their exact value is relative to the size of an organization’s average gifts. You can define a rough range for major giving for your organization by identifying your top 25 or so gifts received within the past five years and determining the median of this range. This number can serve as a minimum for defining major gifts. Principal gifts would fall at the very top of (or far above) this range.
So how do you snag a principal gift? What background knowledge and strategies do you need to succeed and start transforming your organization?
In this crash course, we’ll take a closer look at principal gifts, how to pursue them, and other ways to maximize the value of your development efforts through tactics like corporate philanthropy.
Understanding Principal Gift Fundraising
Before you can begin laying out a principal gift fundraising strategy, you’ll need to understand some important context.
Principal gifts vs. major gifts: What’s the difference?
A principal gift is a major gift, but a major gift is not necessarily a principal gift.
As explained above, your organization’s definition of a major gift is highly relative to your donor base and average fundraising data. A principal gift is simply a large gift at the top of or above that range of major giving.
Nonprofits pursue major and principal gifts using similar tactics but note that principal gifts have an especially long lifecycle. The larger the gift, the more discussions, care, and due diligence that go into the process. This is also true because principal gifts can generate significant publicity when given by high-profile philanthropists. Options should be weighed carefully before nonprofits and principal donors make public “investments” in one another and link their images.
You may also encounter the term lead gift. These are also large major gifts, but they’re received specifically in the context of major fundraising campaigns. A capital campaign’s fundraising goal, for example, is traditionally topped by a large lead gift, followed by a couple of smaller (but still major) gifts, and then more and smaller gifts down the line in a pyramid structure. This approach is highly efficient, allowing nonprofits to focus first on the handful of highest-impact gifts that will push the campaign the furthest forward.
Who gives principal gifts?
Major donors give principal gifts to nonprofits.
Sometimes, but not always, these donors are high-profile, high-wealth philanthropists—think Mackenzie Scott making waves in the nonprofit world with a new mega-gift. This situation is often what nonprofits imagine when they hear the term “principal gift.”
But again, it’s important to remember that the value of major gifts is relative and that no two donors are alike. What they do have in common is the capacity and inclination to give major gifts, whatever that might mean for your organization.
If you’ve taken concrete steps to invest in prospect research and major gift fundraising, there’s a good chance you’re already in touch with (or in the orbit of) a potential principal gift donor for your organization’s major giving range.
How are principal gifts usually given?
Principal gifts are not usually given out of cash but rather from saved assets (or a mix of cash and assets).
These non-cash assets often include:
- Real estate
- Stocks and other tradable securities
- In-kind gifts of valuables like jewelry or art
- Grants from donor-advised funds (DAFs)
- Planned gifts like trusts and annuities
- Cryptocurrency
When you pursue large donations, it’s important to be flexible in the types of gifts you can accept. Wealthy donors often prefer to give from saved assets rather than from liquid cash, not only because this won’t affect their day-to-day finances but also for the unique tax benefits that different non-cash gifts can bring. We’ll explore this best practice in greater detail below.
How do nonprofits pursue these gifts?
Nonprofits pursue principal gifts as part of their development programs, typically overseen by a dedicated staff member.
Nonprofit development provides the core structure and processes for principal gift fundraising. Having a development approach in place is generally a prerequisite for success. (Keep in mind, though, that even small shops succeed with development with the right tools and prioritization tactics!)
The fundraising strategies used for principal gifts are similar to those for other major gifts but heightened in intensity. One-on-one engagement is even more important for principal gift fundraising, for example. Other best practices take increased emphasis, as well, like the importance of networking in the prospect identification process.
How to Build a Principal Gift Fundraising Program: 10 Key Steps
So you’re ready to get serious about pursuing and securing principal gifts for your nonprofit. How do you build a program to support that goal? We break it down into the following key steps:
1. Understand principal donor motivations.
First, take the time to understand why principal donors give such large gifts. As with other major donations, these gifts are motivated by a range of different personal reasons. These might include:
- The simple desire to give back
- Giving back to a personally meaningful cause or institution
- Tapping into significant tax benefits
- Simplifying estate and financial plans with bequests and in-kind donations of property
- Public recognition for personal brand-building
Always keep in mind that philanthropists give strategically—of course, they choose to give to the specific causes and organizations that matter to them, but additional motivations usually come into play. Understand these and you can better align your own goals with those of your prospects.
2. Audit your existing development practices.
Principal gift fundraising occurs as part of your other development practices. Review your current processes for major gift fundraising, planned giving, and other high-impact or nontraditional forms of one-on-one fundraising. Consider the entire major donor lifecycle and the steps, tools, and best practices you use at each stage. These include:
- Prospect research and wealth screening
- Prospect qualification
- Gift cultivation and your messaging during this process
- Your solicitation strategies
- Your stewardship strategies and cadences
- Your nonprofit’s gift acceptance policy (create one if needed!)
Pay extra attention to the logistical processes that drive this lifecycle, especially moves management and your CRM practices. You’ll rely on these for principal gift fundraising just as you do for other giving programs.
Ideally, you’ll have data to refer to. Check out your historical performance with major gifts. Is your prospect pipeline consistently full or running low? Are there stages in the lifecycle where many prospects seem to drop off? Are your qualification criteria appropriate and up-to-date?
Identify potential improvements and make them (and/or consider how you’ll adjust them for principal gifts).
3. Screen your database and research connections.
Next, you’ll begin identifying your first principal gift prospects.
Look to your existing base of support. A pre-existing relationship with your nonprofit is one of the most reliable indicators of giving likelihood. Run a wealth screening to find those donors and contacts with the means to give a gift in the upper half or so of your nonprofit’s defined range for major gifts.
It’s normal in major and principal gift fundraising to branch outside of your direct contacts to find prospects, as well. However, this doesn’t mean cold-calling individuals in your community who you know to be wealthy. Existing, organic connections will yield the best results. Look to your current major donors and consider what you know or could find out about:
- Their families, friends, and community ties
- Their careers, colleagues, and employers
- Past nonprofits they’ve given to or volunteered for
Local histories, publications, social media (especially LinkedIn), the annual reports of other nonprofits, and more are all viable research routes. And remember, if you have strong working relationships with any major donors, don’t be afraid to just ask. Set up a call or lunch to let them know your organization is seeking more high-impact support. Do they have any friends, family, or colleagues who’d also be interested in your mission?
4. Map out your relationships with major donors.
Review everything you’ve learned from researching top prospects and their connections. Then, map it out.
This might mean using a notebook or simple design tool to literally draw connections between your contacts and individuals you’d like to meet—whatever works! You’ll likely be surprised to find that many high-impact donors move in similar social circles, especially in smaller communities.
Visually look for connections and correlate them to your research insights. This process can yield some valuable results. For example, you might find several connections from existing donors pointing to one individual in the community. This person might be a prime candidate for outreach because of the organic personal or professional connections that you already have with them.
5. Review your donor qualification criteria.
Before finalizing a list of prospects, you need to qualify and prioritize them. Principal gift fundraising is highly time-intensive and requires one-on-one communication over extended periods. You’ll need to have a plan to spend your time wisely, that is, by focusing first on those most likely to give.
Qualification is the process of defining the characteristics of a strong giving prospect and using them to update your prospect lists for more efficient and targeted outreach. Qualification criteria can include:
- Certain giving capacities (shaped by your organization’s definition of major gifts)
- Stock ownership
- Property ownership
- Active engagement with your nonprofit
- Active engagement with other nonprofits
- Demonstrated interest in or personal connection to your cause
- Direct, second-degree, third-degree, etc. connection to your nonprofit
- Personal vs. professional indirect connections
Note that some criteria can (and often should) be weighted more heavily than others. Existing direct connections with your nonprofit should be prioritized over indirect connections, or you may learn over time that personal indirect connections are better indicators than professional ones.
Not every prospect will check every box, but this approach does allow you to tackle the prioritization process in a standardized, easily repeatable way. Many fundraising experts recommend making qualification a recurring activity for your development team to ensure continued effectiveness—Graham-Pelton’s donor qualification guide lays out why and how to do this.
You should also keep your qualification criteria up-to-date over time, and create different variations of them for different giving programs. For example, while principal gift donors, major donors, and planned gift donors might share some common characteristics, these are not perfectly overlapping groups. Qualification makes it easy to build in a more targeted approach from the very start.
6. Build a preliminary list of principal giving prospects.
Next, use your qualification criteria to screen the list of donors and prospects you identified in Steps 3 and 4.
Rank them according to your criteria, and you’ll have a handy, easy-to-use shortlist of your very top prospects.
7. Develop outreach strategies.
Now you can begin thinking about how you’ll get in touch with your prospects. Consider these tips:
- Review known communication preferences of existing contacts.
- Look back at previous conversations with existing contacts to refresh yourself on their personal life developments, career changes, etc., and use these to begin new conversations.
- Ask your existing contacts for introductions to new prospects based on the mapping exercise in Step 4.
- Create or update your nonprofit’s general case for support.
- Create more context-specific cases for support if needed. For example, if you’re seeking a lead or principal gift as part of a major fundraising campaign, you’ll need talking points tailored to the campaign’s objectives.
- Prepare some preliminary shareable resources like your annual report, one-pagers, and brochures about your nonprofit and its impact. You likely won’t need these until you’re closer to actually soliciting a gift, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.
With these tips in mind, take a closer look at everything you’ve learned about each prospect and conduct more research if needed. Use this information to lay out personalized outreach strategies for each individual.
8. Start reaching out to build relationships.
Begin reaching out! Work your way down your shortlist of prospects, starting conversations, having calls and meetings, and introducing them to your organization, its work, and its needs.
During this stage, take your time and follow standard gift cultivation best practices that you follow for other major gifts.
Take an interest in your prospects’ personal and professional lives, and work to show them how a partnership would drive impact in the community. Remember that gifts of any size can be restricted or unrestricted—if a prospect shows interest in one particular program or service that your nonprofit runs, lean into it.
You should also seek to learn more about your prospects’ giving motivations so that you can best tailor your eventual solicitations. For example, a wealthy middle-aged prospect might be nearing retirement age and interested in financial planning. You could explain to him or her that various types of planned gifts can actually provide donors with regular income payments while reducing their tax bills, making these arrangements ideal vehicles for principal donations.
9. Double down on moves management and record-keeping.
Throughout the cultivation and solicitation processes, keep close track of your touchpoints with prospects. Organized moves management is essential.
Use your CRM to record each touchpoint, add notes, and tag it with the appropriate prospect. This will take all the guesswork out of preparing for your next conversation and determining the right time to make the ask.
Check out our introduction to moves management for a quick overview of this process.
And aside from tracking your interactions with prospects, be prepared to handle other logistics once you make a successful solicitation. Finalizing a principal gift will involve working closely with the donor and perhaps their (and your) lawyer to hash out the details, especially for non-cash gifts that require legal transfers of ownership or other arrangements. Keeping tidy records of your organization’s finances is always important, and you’ll need to have crystal-clear records of your principal gifts.
10. Prioritize engagement and stewardship.
As you build relationships with principal gift prospects, introduce your giving programs, and lay out compelling cases for support, you’ll hopefully soon successfully solicit your biggest donation yet. Thank your donor, work out the fine print, thank them again, and begin facilitating the donation.
What next?
Ongoing engagement and stewardship are already important for your major donors—doubly so for principal gift donors. They are extremely valuable partners for your mission. You should have a plan to:
- Stay in touch and aware of developments in their lives
- Keep them up-to-date on the progress of your work and any specific campaigns or programs they funded
- Offer ongoing opportunities to get involved with event invites, personal meetings, tours, and more
- Offer new giving options over time that you think they may be interested in
By maintaining and growing your relationships with key supporters over time, you’ll retain their support, secure additional gifts in the future, and build a stellar reputation for your nonprofit. Who wouldn’t want to be known as an organization that inspires transformational gifts and fosters a thriving community?
How to Make the Most of Your Development Strategies
You’ve built effective development strategies and are well on your way to securing a principal gift that will take your work to the next level. Your prospect pipeline is humming along, and everyone’s excited to drive your nonprofit’s goals forward. What next?
Stay on the lookout for ways to maximize the impact of your development work. There are all kinds of ways you can generate more value through your giving programs. For example:
1. Promote matching gifts and volunteer grants. These employer-offered CSR perks are effortless ways to boost the value of your donations. Ask your donors (at all giving levels) to check their eligibility, or research it for them. Nonprofits’ board members are also often significant donors—don’t forget that their board service might qualify for volunteer grants through their employers, as well!
360MatchPro by Double the Donation streamlines the entire process for you and creates easy value-adds up and down your donor pyramid. Learn more or request a demo to see our platform in action. For more information on how the platform works, check out this video:
2. Provide flexible giving options. As mentioned above, major and principal donors often like to give from assets rather than cash for numerous reasons. Be prepared to offer and discuss these giving options. Making it easy to give in a preferred way almost guarantees that you’ll raise more in the long run. Look for tools that simplify the process of accepting stock donations, gifts crypto, donor-advised fund grants, and more as needed.
3. Monitor federal and state tax changes. Tax incentives are powerful motivators for donors when large gifts are involved. Stay aware of developments at the federal and state levels so that you can have productive conversations with prospects. Help them understand the potential benefits of donating (but don’t give explicit financial advice—leave that to the financial and legal professionals).
4. Suggest gift-matching challenges to your top donors. Planning a new major fundraising campaign or giving day? Try asking a longtime major donor to offer a unique gift-matching challenge! This involves your major donor matching all gifts made to your organization within a specific timeframe, and it can be an easy way to supercharge your fundraising results in a short time. Plus, it’s an easy way to engage your major donor with a serious opportunity to drive impact.
5. Research further funding connections and opportunities. Keep researching your donors’ and prospects’ connections over time. Major supporters who are philanthropically active might have connections with foundations that you can tap into to get your foot in the door for new grant funding. Wealthy individuals might even eventually form their own private or family foundations—make sure your nonprofit is a preferred partner right from the start.
Additional Considerations of Principal Gift Fundraising
Principal gift fundraising can completely transform your nonprofit’s ability to pursue its mission. But it also comes with unique challenges and considerations to keep in mind:
- By forging such a big partnership with an individual, you link your organization’s image with theirs. Consider their reputation, the publicity that an announced gift will generate, and whether you can (or want to) honor any restrictions that a donor places on their gift. You can turn down a gift in the best long-term interest of your mission. Think carefully about these factors long before soliciting a gift. Reference your gift acceptance policies, and create them now if you haven’t yet.
- Prepare for the logistics of accepting non-cash gifts. You may need to liquidate stock, work with attorneys and accountants to make arrangements for complex planned gifts, or even handle accepting gifts of real estate. Consider these processes in advance and be prepared to invest in new tools, hire external professionals, and expand your bookkeeping practices as needed.
It’s also recommended to look for ways over time to build more business connections as your organization grows. By integrating corporate philanthropy into your development strategies, you can build extremely fruitful and resilient revenue sources for your nonprofit. Ask your major and principal donors about their careers. Learn more about their employers. Use your existing relationships to springboard new corporate partnerships or sponsorships—the sky’s the limit!
New to corporate philanthropy? Here’s the complete playbook.
Despite its nuances and unique considerations, principal gift fundraising is easily the highest-impact form of fundraising that a nonprofit can conduct.
Understand its distinctions and why major donors choose to give. Build and improve upon your existing development strategies, and focus heavily on research and preparation. With the right plan in place and plenty of time to build relationships, you’ll be on your way to securing a transformational gift.
Want to learn more? Take a deeper dive with these related resources:
Principal Gift Fundraising: Securing Transformational Gifts
/in Nonprofit Basics, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerNonprofits thrive on the support of major donors. The most major of the major gifts a nonprofit might receive are called principal gifts.
Principal gifts bring transformational benefits and drive incredible impact, growing organizations’ capacities to run programs, serve constituents, and make a difference. They’re elusive but achievable when you have an intentional strategy to identify and secure them.
What’s a Principal Gift?
Simply put, a principal gift is a large donation made to a nonprofit by a major donor.
Nonprofits commonly consider principal gifts to be worth $1 million or more, but it’s important to remember that their exact value is relative to the size of an organization’s average gifts. You can define a rough range for major giving for your organization by identifying your top 25 or so gifts received within the past five years and determining the median of this range. This number can serve as a minimum for defining major gifts. Principal gifts would fall at the very top of (or far above) this range.
So how do you snag a principal gift? What background knowledge and strategies do you need to succeed and start transforming your organization?
In this crash course, we’ll take a closer look at principal gifts, how to pursue them, and other ways to maximize the value of your development efforts through tactics like corporate philanthropy.
Understanding Principal Gift Fundraising
Before you can begin laying out a principal gift fundraising strategy, you’ll need to understand some important context.
Principal gifts vs. major gifts: What’s the difference?
A principal gift is a major gift, but a major gift is not necessarily a principal gift.
As explained above, your organization’s definition of a major gift is highly relative to your donor base and average fundraising data. A principal gift is simply a large gift at the top of or above that range of major giving.
Nonprofits pursue major and principal gifts using similar tactics but note that principal gifts have an especially long lifecycle. The larger the gift, the more discussions, care, and due diligence that go into the process. This is also true because principal gifts can generate significant publicity when given by high-profile philanthropists. Options should be weighed carefully before nonprofits and principal donors make public “investments” in one another and link their images.
You may also encounter the term lead gift. These are also large major gifts, but they’re received specifically in the context of major fundraising campaigns. A capital campaign’s fundraising goal, for example, is traditionally topped by a large lead gift, followed by a couple of smaller (but still major) gifts, and then more and smaller gifts down the line in a pyramid structure. This approach is highly efficient, allowing nonprofits to focus first on the handful of highest-impact gifts that will push the campaign the furthest forward.
Who gives principal gifts?
Major donors give principal gifts to nonprofits.
Sometimes, but not always, these donors are high-profile, high-wealth philanthropists—think Mackenzie Scott making waves in the nonprofit world with a new mega-gift. This situation is often what nonprofits imagine when they hear the term “principal gift.”
But again, it’s important to remember that the value of major gifts is relative and that no two donors are alike. What they do have in common is the capacity and inclination to give major gifts, whatever that might mean for your organization.
If you’ve taken concrete steps to invest in prospect research and major gift fundraising, there’s a good chance you’re already in touch with (or in the orbit of) a potential principal gift donor for your organization’s major giving range.
How are principal gifts usually given?
Principal gifts are not usually given out of cash but rather from saved assets (or a mix of cash and assets).
These non-cash assets often include:
When you pursue large donations, it’s important to be flexible in the types of gifts you can accept. Wealthy donors often prefer to give from saved assets rather than from liquid cash, not only because this won’t affect their day-to-day finances but also for the unique tax benefits that different non-cash gifts can bring. We’ll explore this best practice in greater detail below.
How do nonprofits pursue these gifts?
Nonprofits pursue principal gifts as part of their development programs, typically overseen by a dedicated staff member.
Nonprofit development provides the core structure and processes for principal gift fundraising. Having a development approach in place is generally a prerequisite for success. (Keep in mind, though, that even small shops succeed with development with the right tools and prioritization tactics!)
The fundraising strategies used for principal gifts are similar to those for other major gifts but heightened in intensity. One-on-one engagement is even more important for principal gift fundraising, for example. Other best practices take increased emphasis, as well, like the importance of networking in the prospect identification process.
How to Build a Principal Gift Fundraising Program: 10 Key Steps
So you’re ready to get serious about pursuing and securing principal gifts for your nonprofit. How do you build a program to support that goal? We break it down into the following key steps:
1. Understand principal donor motivations.
First, take the time to understand why principal donors give such large gifts. As with other major donations, these gifts are motivated by a range of different personal reasons. These might include:
Always keep in mind that philanthropists give strategically—of course, they choose to give to the specific causes and organizations that matter to them, but additional motivations usually come into play. Understand these and you can better align your own goals with those of your prospects.
2. Audit your existing development practices.
Principal gift fundraising occurs as part of your other development practices. Review your current processes for major gift fundraising, planned giving, and other high-impact or nontraditional forms of one-on-one fundraising. Consider the entire major donor lifecycle and the steps, tools, and best practices you use at each stage. These include:
Pay extra attention to the logistical processes that drive this lifecycle, especially moves management and your CRM practices. You’ll rely on these for principal gift fundraising just as you do for other giving programs.
Ideally, you’ll have data to refer to. Check out your historical performance with major gifts. Is your prospect pipeline consistently full or running low? Are there stages in the lifecycle where many prospects seem to drop off? Are your qualification criteria appropriate and up-to-date?
Identify potential improvements and make them (and/or consider how you’ll adjust them for principal gifts).
3. Screen your database and research connections.
Next, you’ll begin identifying your first principal gift prospects.
Look to your existing base of support. A pre-existing relationship with your nonprofit is one of the most reliable indicators of giving likelihood. Run a wealth screening to find those donors and contacts with the means to give a gift in the upper half or so of your nonprofit’s defined range for major gifts.
It’s normal in major and principal gift fundraising to branch outside of your direct contacts to find prospects, as well. However, this doesn’t mean cold-calling individuals in your community who you know to be wealthy. Existing, organic connections will yield the best results. Look to your current major donors and consider what you know or could find out about:
Local histories, publications, social media (especially LinkedIn), the annual reports of other nonprofits, and more are all viable research routes. And remember, if you have strong working relationships with any major donors, don’t be afraid to just ask. Set up a call or lunch to let them know your organization is seeking more high-impact support. Do they have any friends, family, or colleagues who’d also be interested in your mission?
4. Map out your relationships with major donors.
Review everything you’ve learned from researching top prospects and their connections. Then, map it out.
This might mean using a notebook or simple design tool to literally draw connections between your contacts and individuals you’d like to meet—whatever works! You’ll likely be surprised to find that many high-impact donors move in similar social circles, especially in smaller communities.
Visually look for connections and correlate them to your research insights. This process can yield some valuable results. For example, you might find several connections from existing donors pointing to one individual in the community. This person might be a prime candidate for outreach because of the organic personal or professional connections that you already have with them.
5. Review your donor qualification criteria.
Before finalizing a list of prospects, you need to qualify and prioritize them. Principal gift fundraising is highly time-intensive and requires one-on-one communication over extended periods. You’ll need to have a plan to spend your time wisely, that is, by focusing first on those most likely to give.
Qualification is the process of defining the characteristics of a strong giving prospect and using them to update your prospect lists for more efficient and targeted outreach. Qualification criteria can include:
Note that some criteria can (and often should) be weighted more heavily than others. Existing direct connections with your nonprofit should be prioritized over indirect connections, or you may learn over time that personal indirect connections are better indicators than professional ones.
Not every prospect will check every box, but this approach does allow you to tackle the prioritization process in a standardized, easily repeatable way. Many fundraising experts recommend making qualification a recurring activity for your development team to ensure continued effectiveness—Graham-Pelton’s donor qualification guide lays out why and how to do this.
You should also keep your qualification criteria up-to-date over time, and create different variations of them for different giving programs. For example, while principal gift donors, major donors, and planned gift donors might share some common characteristics, these are not perfectly overlapping groups. Qualification makes it easy to build in a more targeted approach from the very start.
6. Build a preliminary list of principal giving prospects.
Next, use your qualification criteria to screen the list of donors and prospects you identified in Steps 3 and 4.
Rank them according to your criteria, and you’ll have a handy, easy-to-use shortlist of your very top prospects.
7. Develop outreach strategies.
Now you can begin thinking about how you’ll get in touch with your prospects. Consider these tips:
With these tips in mind, take a closer look at everything you’ve learned about each prospect and conduct more research if needed. Use this information to lay out personalized outreach strategies for each individual.
8. Start reaching out to build relationships.
Begin reaching out! Work your way down your shortlist of prospects, starting conversations, having calls and meetings, and introducing them to your organization, its work, and its needs.
During this stage, take your time and follow standard gift cultivation best practices that you follow for other major gifts.
Take an interest in your prospects’ personal and professional lives, and work to show them how a partnership would drive impact in the community. Remember that gifts of any size can be restricted or unrestricted—if a prospect shows interest in one particular program or service that your nonprofit runs, lean into it.
You should also seek to learn more about your prospects’ giving motivations so that you can best tailor your eventual solicitations. For example, a wealthy middle-aged prospect might be nearing retirement age and interested in financial planning. You could explain to him or her that various types of planned gifts can actually provide donors with regular income payments while reducing their tax bills, making these arrangements ideal vehicles for principal donations.
9. Double down on moves management and record-keeping.
Throughout the cultivation and solicitation processes, keep close track of your touchpoints with prospects. Organized moves management is essential.
Use your CRM to record each touchpoint, add notes, and tag it with the appropriate prospect. This will take all the guesswork out of preparing for your next conversation and determining the right time to make the ask.
Check out our introduction to moves management for a quick overview of this process.
And aside from tracking your interactions with prospects, be prepared to handle other logistics once you make a successful solicitation. Finalizing a principal gift will involve working closely with the donor and perhaps their (and your) lawyer to hash out the details, especially for non-cash gifts that require legal transfers of ownership or other arrangements. Keeping tidy records of your organization’s finances is always important, and you’ll need to have crystal-clear records of your principal gifts.
10. Prioritize engagement and stewardship.
As you build relationships with principal gift prospects, introduce your giving programs, and lay out compelling cases for support, you’ll hopefully soon successfully solicit your biggest donation yet. Thank your donor, work out the fine print, thank them again, and begin facilitating the donation.
What next?
Ongoing engagement and stewardship are already important for your major donors—doubly so for principal gift donors. They are extremely valuable partners for your mission. You should have a plan to:
By maintaining and growing your relationships with key supporters over time, you’ll retain their support, secure additional gifts in the future, and build a stellar reputation for your nonprofit. Who wouldn’t want to be known as an organization that inspires transformational gifts and fosters a thriving community?
How to Make the Most of Your Development Strategies
You’ve built effective development strategies and are well on your way to securing a principal gift that will take your work to the next level. Your prospect pipeline is humming along, and everyone’s excited to drive your nonprofit’s goals forward. What next?
Stay on the lookout for ways to maximize the impact of your development work. There are all kinds of ways you can generate more value through your giving programs. For example:
1. Promote matching gifts and volunteer grants. These employer-offered CSR perks are effortless ways to boost the value of your donations. Ask your donors (at all giving levels) to check their eligibility, or research it for them. Nonprofits’ board members are also often significant donors—don’t forget that their board service might qualify for volunteer grants through their employers, as well!
360MatchPro by Double the Donation streamlines the entire process for you and creates easy value-adds up and down your donor pyramid. Learn more or request a demo to see our platform in action. For more information on how the platform works, check out this video:
2. Provide flexible giving options. As mentioned above, major and principal donors often like to give from assets rather than cash for numerous reasons. Be prepared to offer and discuss these giving options. Making it easy to give in a preferred way almost guarantees that you’ll raise more in the long run. Look for tools that simplify the process of accepting stock donations, gifts crypto, donor-advised fund grants, and more as needed.
3. Monitor federal and state tax changes. Tax incentives are powerful motivators for donors when large gifts are involved. Stay aware of developments at the federal and state levels so that you can have productive conversations with prospects. Help them understand the potential benefits of donating (but don’t give explicit financial advice—leave that to the financial and legal professionals).
4. Suggest gift-matching challenges to your top donors. Planning a new major fundraising campaign or giving day? Try asking a longtime major donor to offer a unique gift-matching challenge! This involves your major donor matching all gifts made to your organization within a specific timeframe, and it can be an easy way to supercharge your fundraising results in a short time. Plus, it’s an easy way to engage your major donor with a serious opportunity to drive impact.
5. Research further funding connections and opportunities. Keep researching your donors’ and prospects’ connections over time. Major supporters who are philanthropically active might have connections with foundations that you can tap into to get your foot in the door for new grant funding. Wealthy individuals might even eventually form their own private or family foundations—make sure your nonprofit is a preferred partner right from the start.
Additional Considerations of Principal Gift Fundraising
Principal gift fundraising can completely transform your nonprofit’s ability to pursue its mission. But it also comes with unique challenges and considerations to keep in mind:
It’s also recommended to look for ways over time to build more business connections as your organization grows. By integrating corporate philanthropy into your development strategies, you can build extremely fruitful and resilient revenue sources for your nonprofit. Ask your major and principal donors about their careers. Learn more about their employers. Use your existing relationships to springboard new corporate partnerships or sponsorships—the sky’s the limit!
Despite its nuances and unique considerations, principal gift fundraising is easily the highest-impact form of fundraising that a nonprofit can conduct.
Understand its distinctions and why major donors choose to give. Build and improve upon your existing development strategies, and focus heavily on research and preparation. With the right plan in place and plenty of time to build relationships, you’ll be on your way to securing a transformational gift.
Want to learn more? Take a deeper dive with these related resources:
Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Go Beyond Profit
/in Learning Center, Corporate Consulting /by Adam WeingerAs a leader at your company, you’ve likely heard about the widespread movement toward more socially responsible business practices. With 65% of Fortune 500 companies offering matching gift programs, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming increasingly common. In fact, 93% of employees believe that companies should lead with purpose through these programs.
However, starting a CSR program at your business can be challenging. For example, how do you know how to balance priorities like your profits with social good initiatives like corporate volunteer programs? Frameworks like the pyramid of corporate social responsibility can help you navigate these decisions.
We’ll break down what the CSR pyramid is and explore the ways your business can use it in practice. Let’s get started!
What is the pyramid of corporate social responsibility?
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a company’s commitment to social good through philanthropy and employing sustainable and ethical business practices. Socially responsible businesses aim to have a net positive impact on the world.
CSR strategies like implementing workplace giving programs and building partnerships with nonprofit organizations can also benefit your business by enhancing your reputation, attracting top talent, and boosting customer and employee loyalty.
The pyramid of corporate social responsibility is a framework depicting the importance of four key CSR dimensions: economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic. This model was created by Professor Archie Carroll in 1991 as a way to visualize his four-part definition of CSR. The pyramid reveals the building blocks that businesses can use to become responsible in all four areas, rather than prioritizing profits alone.
The 4 Levels of the CSR Pyramid
The CSR pyramid has four tiers of social responsibilities, including:
Carroll used a pyramid for this framework to highlight the importance of each facet of CSR and the order in which companies should implement changes. For example, because your business’s profitability is the foundation of the pyramid, you’ll need to make sure this area is sound before moving on to your legal responsibilities.
How can businesses use the pyramid of corporate social responsibility?
While the pyramid does a good job of transforming an abstract concept into a clear visual, it doesn’t provide instruction on the practical ways to implement these ideas at your business.
To fill in the gaps, we’ll break down some of the ways you can use the pyramid to improve your operations and explore examples from real companies:
Level 1: Economic Responsibilities
If your business cannot sustain a profit, then it will eventually have to shut down. Clearly, this would prevent you from taking part in philanthropic activities and being an ethical employer. Your company also wouldn’t be able to offer jobs to its community or provide valuable goods and services to customers.
However, it’s important to be ethical in your pursuit of profit. While working with the cheapest manufacturer to fabricate your product might increase your profits, for example, that manufacturer may be exploiting its workers in the process.
Ensure you’re meeting your economic responsibilities in ethical ways by:
Economically Responsible Company: Patagonia
Patagonia is a California-based clothing retailer that specializes in outdoor recreation apparel. Patagonia aims to make changes by implementing environmental and animal welfare responsibility programs that guide how the brand produces its products. Additionally, the company maintains transparency about where its facilities are located and strives to produce products under safe and humane working conditions.
These measures help Patagonia make a profit and remain economically responsible. The company is valued at about $3 billion and brings in about $100 million in revenue each year. Sales have steadily increased over the last decade, proving that sustainable businesses can be successful.
Level 2: Legal Responsibilities
Following all of the laws and regulations that apply to your business helps ensure that your company is operating fairly and not causing any harm. This can protect your business from legal implications like fines, and it is an indicator to employees and customers that you are a trustworthy organization with integrity.
While it’s best to get lawyers, accountants, and other professionals involved when it comes to legal issues, a good starting point is to make sure your company is complying with:
Legally Responsible Company: Moleskine
Moleskine is an Italian company that manufactures paper goods, such as planners, notebooks, writing tools, and bags. Because its products are made from trees, Moleskine is subject to additional environmental regulations.
Moleskine meets these regulations and goes above and beyond to protect the planet. Not only does the company donate and recycle unsellable products, but they have been Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified since 2008. This indicates that the business follows relevant environmental regulations for forests and commits to nurturing, restoring, and protecting forests.
Level 3: Ethical Responsibilities
Being ethically responsible means doing the right thing even if you aren’t legally obligated to. For example, your business might implement hybrid schedules that increase sustainability by limiting how often employees need to drive to the office. Plus, initiatives like this one can boost employee engagement and retention by enhancing work-life balance.
Additionally, your business can pursue certifications to guide your decisions and signal that you are an ethical organization, including:
Ethically Responsible Company: Ben & Jerry’s
Ben & Jerry’s is a Vermont-based ice cream company. The business has been dedicated to supporting progressive causes and operating sustainably and fairly for decades, following core values such as human rights and dignity, social and economic justice, and environmental protection. In their own words, they strive to be “a social justice company that makes ice cream.”
In addition to being a Certified B Corporation, Ben & Jerry’s shows its commitment to ethics in almost every aspect of its operations. The company supports supplier diversity, helps farmers thrive through organizations like Fairtrade International, and believes in animal welfare. Ben & Jerry’s also works to protect the environment by reducing its carbon footprint, running energy-efficient freezers, and using FSC-certified paper packaging.
Level 4: Philanthropic Responsibilities
Finally, your business should focus on driving change through philanthropy. There are many ways to contribute to charitable causes and issues that your business and employees are passionate about. Choose initiatives based on the time and resources you have available along with your CSR goals. For instance, if you aim to increase employee engagement with your CSR programs, opt for philanthropy initiatives that put employees in the driver’s seat.
Some popular CSR programs include:
Philanthropically Responsible Company: TOMS
TOMS is a California-based company that designs and manufactures shoes, eyewear, and other apparel. The company gained acclaim for its pledge to donate one pair of shoes to someone in need for every pair sold. While TOMS has since phased out this initiative, it continues to focus strongly on philanthropic activities.
Like Ben & Jerry’s, TOMS is a Certified B Corporation that meets high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. The business focuses its efforts on causes like mental health and increasing access to opportunity. Notably, TOMS invests one-third of its profits for grassroots good to drive sustainable change for community organizations.
What are some challenges of implementing the CSR pyramid framework?
As with any academic theory, there are some criticisms of Carroll’s CSR pyramid. Some critics point out that the pyramid doesn’t show businesses how to approach conflicting obligations (e.g., choosing an unethical supplier for the sake of profits). Others argue that the pyramid should place more weight on ethics in general, particularly for global companies that employ workers across regions with varying levels of labor and environmental regulation.
However, it’s worth noting that many companies face negative backlash from neglecting ethics—this backlash ultimately impacts their bottom line. When Rhianna’s Savage x Fenty clothing brand received an abysmal ethics rating of 4 out of 125, fans of the star and her brands were shocked. The company’s reputation was harmed, and many loyal customers expressed hesitation over shopping from the business again.
Additionally, keep in mind that the CSR pyramid is just one framework that businesses can use to structure their CSR efforts. For example, some companies choose to follow the 3 Ps model instead. This idea falls under the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) theory and posits that companies should work on the following bottom lines simultaneously: profit, people, and planet. Ultimately, you’ll need to select a framework that aligns with your business’s current situation and resources.
Wrapping Up
The pyramid of corporate social responsibility reveals your organization’s core responsibilities to its community and how CSR fits into your operations. With this understanding, you can better allocate resources toward more sustainable, ethical practices. Additionally, you’ll make strides toward a more streamlined and effective CSR program, allowing you to make a bigger impact on your community.
To continue optimizing your CSR initiatives and getting employees involved, check out these additional resources:
Payroll Giving: Drive Employee Donations For Your Cause
/in Learning Center /by Adam WeingerAccording to America’s Charities, nonprofits raise about $5 billion from workplace giving each year. These funds are crucial in enabling charitable organizations to pursue their missions.
With so much donation revenue available through this channel, wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to streamline these contributions? That way, companies could better manage them, donors would be more inclined to contribute, and nonprofits would ultimately earn more for their causes.
Enter payroll giving. This form of workplace giving makes donating as easy as possible for employees. In this guide, we’ll review what payroll giving is and just how beneficial it is for companies, donors, and nonprofits alike.
What is payroll giving?
Payroll giving, also known as automatic payroll deductions, allows employees to contribute to nonprofits right from their paychecks. Since these deductions come out of employees’ paychecks automatically, it’s an easy set-it-and-forget-it way to give back. In most cases, these contributions are a percentage of the employee’s pay, but corporations that use CSR software with employee self-service tools may allow team members to adjust their contributions as they please.
How does payroll giving work?
With the help of workplace giving software, payroll giving simplifies the donation process. These steps illustrate how payroll giving works:
While most payroll deductions are pre-tax, payroll giving contributions are after-tax deductions. As a result, employees can claim these donations as deductible when they file their personal taxes. Companies that offer payroll giving should reflect employees’ contributions in their W2s.
What are the benefits of payroll giving?
While it’s clear that payroll giving benefits nonprofits since they receive the resulting donations, this form of workplace giving is also beneficial for participating companies and donors. Let’s dive into the benefits of payroll giving for each group.
Benefits of Payroll Giving for Companies
Not only is payroll giving easy for companies to manage, but it also offers a variety of other workplace benefits for companies. Payroll giving helps companies to:
When companies offer payroll giving, they demonstrate their commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) by helping employees find reputable nonprofits to contribute to and facilitating the giving process. As a result, they’ll build a workforce of like-minded, engaged employees who will stay long-term.
Benefits of Payroll Giving for Donors
There are so many different ways donors can contribute to their nonprofits of choice, so what makes payroll giving stand out? Payroll giving is an excellent donation method for donors because it’s:
Additionally, if donors don’t have the means to contribute a large sum at once, payroll giving enables them to break up their donation into smaller, more manageable amounts that they can gift to nonprofits on a recurring basis.
Benefits of Payroll Giving for Nonprofits
Payroll giving is one of many ways for nonprofits to generate donation revenue, so it benefits them by simply providing them with more funds. However, there are some less obvious benefits of payroll giving for nonprofits as well, including:
Nonprofits can also analyze their donor data to determine which employers are most frequent among their payroll givers. Then, they can reach out to these companies to forge corporate partnerships that benefit both parties.
What are some companies that offer payroll giving?
Because payroll giving programs are facilitated by a donor’s employing company, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with top businesses offering the opportunity.
Here are some leading employers with payroll giving programs. Do your donors work for these companies?
Keep in mind, however, that this list is just the tip of the iceberg. There are a ton more businesses offering payroll giving initiatives, and you can encourage your donors to check with their employers directly, too!
How can you increase payroll giving at your org?
Focusing on payroll giving opportunities can lead to a substantial increase in donations for your organization. Doing so effectively involves a combination of strategic communication, proactive arrangements, and ongoing engagement efforts.
Here are several actionable steps your team can take to boost participation in the programs:
Drive awareness of payroll giving opportunities across your audience. To increase participation in payroll giving, it’s essential to first ensure that your audience is aware of the opportunity. This should involve regularly sharing information about payroll giving through newsletters, social media, your website, and more.
Register as an eligible cause for companies’ payroll giving systems. For your nonprofit to benefit from payroll giving, it’s crucial to be listed as an eligible cause within companies’ payroll giving systems. To do so, start by researching CSR platforms and seeing how your organization can register. This guide provides step-by-step instructions on how you can apply for a free nonprofit account!
Plus, be prepared to provide any necessary documentation, such as proof of 501(c)(3) status, financial records, or impact reports, to meet the requirements of corporate partners.
Incentivize participation among qualifying supporters. To boost payroll giving participation, consider offering incentives to encourage more supporters to sign up. This could include recognition for payroll givers, such as listing their names on your website or in your annual reports or providing exclusive updates on the impact of their donations. You can even consider offering exclusive events, webinars, or other perks that show appreciation and make the act of giving more rewarding. By marketing the opportunities well, you can increase program engagement and participation.
Thank payroll giving donors for their generous contributions. Expressing gratitude to your payroll giving donors is critical for retaining their support and encouraging long-term participation. This can include personalized thank yous, such as handwritten notes or emails to acknowledge their contributions. Be sure to mention the specific impact their donations are making and how they align with your nonprofit’s mission.
How do payroll giving and matching gifts connect?
Matching gifts are a type of corporate giving program where a company agrees to match their employees’ donations to nonprofit organizations, usually at a 1:1 ratio. By implementing matching gifts, companies can encourage their employees to donate to their favorite causes, with 84% of matching gift survey participants saying they’re more likely to donate if a match is offered.
When companies apply matching gifts to payroll contributions, they can amplify the impact of their employees’ donations and allow nonprofits to earn even more for their causes. Some workplace giving platforms let companies apply matching directly through the software. Donors can also use a matching gift database to research their matching gift eligibility and fill out a matching gift request form to send to their employers.
Check out how our matching gift software, Double the Donation Matching, helps organizations boost donation revenue:
By combining the efficiency of payroll giving and matching gift software, donors can easily make an impact on their favorite causes and help nonprofits increase their revenue. Payroll giving and matching gifts go hand in hand to expand companies’ CSR efforts, allow donors to make a greater impact with the same donation amounts, and enable nonprofits to earn the funds they need to support their beneficiaries.
Final Thoughts and Additional Resources
When it comes to corporate philanthropy, payroll giving stands out due to its extreme efficiency in nature. That means it’s easier for companies to manage the programs, donors to participate in them, and nonprofits to access necessary funds. The simplicity of payroll giving removes common barriers to engagement, allowing for seamless integration into the daily operations of both businesses and nonprofits.
As a fundraising professional, understanding and leveraging the power of payroll giving is crucial. The more you target this opportunity, the more payroll giving funds you can expect to receive. By actively promoting payroll giving opportunities and educating donors about its ease and impact, you can tap into a consistent, reliable source of funding. Good luck!
To learn more about payroll and other forms of workplace giving, check out these resources:
Nonprofit Capacity Building: How to Grow Your Organization
/in Learning Center /by Adam WeingerWhen researching nonprofit capacity building, the definitions you find may seem a bit vague. You may hear the term at a board meeting, fundraising team gathering, or networking event and wonder “What exactly defines my nonprofit’s capacity, and why is it so important to build?”
The truth is that many definitions of nonprofit capacity building are very generalized because the term means different things in the context of different organizations. What allows an animal shelter to grow and support its mission may look much different from what an environmental organization, museum, or public school needs to thrive.
No matter what type of nonprofit you run, here’s what you’ll need to know about capacity building:
To help your organization forge its own path, we’ll define what nonprofit capacity building may look like for different organizations and offer tips for creating a strong capacity building strategy that fits your nonprofit’s needs.
What is nonprofit capacity building?
The National Council of Nonprofits defines nonprofit capacity building as “whatever is needed to bring a nonprofit to the next level of operational, programmatic, financial, or organizational maturity, so it may more effectively and efficiently advance its mission into the future.”
This definition is relative to your nonprofit’s unique goals and operations, but the ultimate objective is to realize your operational potential. That way, you can fulfill your mission to the best of your nonprofit’s ability.
To build capacity, your nonprofit may employ a mix of three approaches:
When you combine individual, organizational, and systemic nonprofit capacity building, you fortify all areas of your organization and ensure each has the resources necessary to carry out mission-critical work.
Why is nonprofit capacity building important?
Nonprofit capacity building allows your organization to create a healthy infrastructure that supports future growth and longevity. Through capacity building, your nonprofit will receive a variety of benefits, including:
Your nonprofit’s focus should be your mission. When you allocate time to capacity building, you strengthen your nonprofit’s operations so all underlying processes are as efficient as possible, allowing your mission to remain at the forefront.
How to Create a Strong Nonprofit Capacity Building Strategy
Like with any strategy, it’s essential to follow a systematic approach to building your nonprofit’s capacity. That way, you can craft a strategy that’s thorough and fits your organization’s unique needs.
To develop your nonprofit capacity building strategy, keep these steps in mind:
1. Start with your mission.
As mentioned before, your mission is at the heart of your nonprofit’s operations. Think about how all elements of your organization come together to support your mission, and determine any areas you could improve to better achieve your goals.
For example, an organization for at-risk youth may have a mentoring program that has worked well for beneficiaries in the past but is currently understaffed. This nonprofit may look into hiring additional staff members or volunteers to manage the program so it can better fulfill its mission of providing a brighter future for at-risk students.
As your organization grows and changes, so may its priorities. Before diving into the nonprofit capacity building process, take a careful look at your mission to ensure it still reflects your organization’s current services and values. You may eliminate facets of your mission if they’re no longer relevant or make additions if your nonprofit has taken on new initiatives.
For instance, a healthcare organization may have added a focus on stopping the spread of COVID-19 to its mission in 2020 when the pandemic began but might have removed this element in May 2023 when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an end to the global Public Health Emergency (PHE) caused by the virus.
2. Evaluate your needs and current resources.
Next, assess your organization’s most pressing needs and whether you have the resources to address them. While some needs may be more readily apparent, others may require further investigation.
All staff members, board members, and volunteers have different perspectives on your organization that allow them to identify unmet needs. Send periodic surveys that invite these stakeholders to provide feedback on your nonprofit’s operations. You may also host discussions during team meetings to obtain more candid feedback on your organization’s needs.
Once you’ve compiled a list of your nonprofit’s highest-priority needs, evaluate your current resources’ ability to fulfill them. You may consider the following questions when assessing your needs and resources:
If your nonprofit has some resource gaps to fill, brainstorm how you can efficiently acquire the tools you need at a low cost.
For instance, you may find that your organization is eligible for a grant that would help you cover the costs of obtaining fundraising software. Additionally, if you don’t have enough staff to address a pressing need, you may tap into your corporate partnerships to see if they’re willing to donate their services pro bono or leverage your volunteer network.
3. Get your team involved.
Your team’s involvement in nonprofit capacity building shouldn’t end with them offering their initial input. Lean on the support of staff, board members, and volunteers to implement your capacity building plans.
Your board in particular should have a role in creating your capacity building strategy. As the governing body of your organization, your nonprofit board can decide how to best allocate resources for capacity building and successfully address each need.
If you need additional support in developing your nonprofit capacity building strategy, enlist the help of a nonprofit consultant. An outsider’s perspective may be just what your organization needs to provide an objective opinion about your capacity building priorities.
4. Determine your goals and timeline.
Clear goals and metrics will break your needs down into manageable goals and help you evaluate your progress. Stick to the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goal framework to ensure your goals are actionable.
Let’s say that your nonprofit is looking to develop a new onboarding process that better informs team members of their responsibilities, company culture, and your mission. Take a look at how your team may qualify and quantify this objective using the SMART goal framework:
Applying the SMART goal framework to your nonprofit’s needs can also help you determine which ones to address first. You may be able to address multiple needs at once or have to prioritize certain needs over others in order to commit your full attention and resources to each one.
5. Invest in the right tools.
Once you’ve further defined your goals, you may notice you’re missing some of the tools or software you need to succeed. For instance, if you’re launching a campaign to promote a new service your nonprofit is offering, you may need to invest in new marketing software that will automate your outreach.
Although it’s best to take full advantage of the resources you currently have, an investment in the right tools is an investment in your nonprofit’s future. To increase your nonprofit’s capacity, it may be worth it to purchase new software or obtain additional resources that will make your nonprofit’s operations more efficient.
6. Track your progress.
Before you embark on your nonprofit capacity building efforts, set up benchmarks that allow you to mark your progress. You may schedule monthly check-ins with the appropriate team, take notes on the state of each project, or survey those involved with each endeavor to see where you can improve your efforts.
For all goals with clear performance metrics, make sure to check your campaign data regularly to ensure you’re on track. For example, if you’re running a capital campaign and intend to raise $10,000 overall, download reports from your fundraising software each month that indicate how much money you’ve raised in the past month and how much you’ve raised throughout the campaign.
5 Ways to Enhance Your Nonprofit’s Capacity
Now that we’ve covered the basics of nonprofit capacity building, it’s time to dive into some specific strategies you can implement to enhance your nonprofit’s capacity. While your organization’s specific plan will depend on your goals and resources, here are some ways nonprofits in a variety of sectors can expand their operations and increase efficiency:
1. Invest in matching gift software.
Our top recommendation is to invest in matching gift software. Companies that offer matching gift programs match their employees’ donations to eligible nonprofits. While most companies match employee contributions at a 1:1 ratio, some match at a 2:1 or even 3:1 ratio.
However, 78% of donors are unaware if they’re eligible for matching gift opportunities. As a result, they don’t fill out matching gift requests, and nonprofits collectively miss out on $4-$7 billion in matching gift funds each year.
Matching gift software resolves this matching gift gap by automatically informing donors of their matching gift eligibility and prompting them to fill out a matching gift request form. Nonprofits can embed this type of tool right on their donation pages so that donors can submit their requests immediately after contributing. Check out the video below to learn more about how our matching gift software, helps nonprofits earn more:
As the video explains, Double the Donation users raise 20-50% more in matching gifts each year. This passive income allows charitable organizations to expand their programming and ultimately help more beneficiaries.
To make the matching gift process more efficient and help your nonprofit earn even more, some matching gift platforms offer auto-submission. Instead of donors filling out a matching gift request form, all they have to do is input their company email address and check a box indicating they’d like to opt into auto-submission. Then, the platform creates and sends the request to the donor’s employer on the donor’s behalf, driving even more matches to completion.
2. Provide professional development opportunities.
When you invest in each individual staff member at your nonprofit, you fortify the team as a whole. Professional development opportunities allow team members to hone their skills and build confidence.
The types of opportunities you may offer include:
To ensure team members are motivated to participate in professional development opportunities, survey them to see which they’d be most interested in. Then, implement the most popular methods to begin growing your staff’s skills while measuring the opportunities’ engagement and impact.
3. Diversify revenue streams.
Imagine your nonprofit’s only source of revenue is from individual donations. You have a large donor base with many generous recurring donors. However, the economy starts to decline, and you notice donation revenue is decreasing as a result. Suddenly, you begin to worry that you won’t have enough funds to cover all of your programming and have to start cutting important services that your beneficiaries depend on.
Building your nonprofit’s capacity should make your organization more sustainable. However, if you rely on one main revenue source, you put your nonprofit at risk.
Tapping into a variety of revenue streams allows your nonprofit’s finances to remain steady, even if one source dries up. We recommend leveraging a combination of the following revenue streams:
Once you’ve properly diversified your nonprofit’s revenue streams, keep track of how much you’re earning from each method for internal and tax filing purposes. If you need help reporting your nonprofit’s revenue, partner with a nonprofit accountant.
4. Rework your strategic plan.
Your nonprofit’s strategic plan serves as your roadmap for success. It aligns your organization’s goals with its values to provide a strong foundation for decision-making.
Since your strategic plan helps you prioritize projects and navigate challenges, it’s a good idea to revisit it when trying to build your nonprofit’s capacity. You may find that your organization’s initial strategic plan is not comprehensive enough to cover all of your current operations or that the goals outlined in your plan no longer reflect your nonprofit’s current priorities.
When you update your strategic plan, you can get all your team members on the same plan and provide more direction to your nonprofit capacity building efforts.
5. Network with other industry professionals.
From time to time, you may feel stuck with how to properly build your nonprofit’s capacity. Luckily, there are many nonprofit professionals out there who have gone through the process and can provide advice on how to improve your organization’s operations.
Networking is essential to gaining insider industry knowledge and building inter-organizational relationships. Start networking with other nonprofit professionals by:
By connecting with others in your industry, you can help each other navigate challenges and learn from each other’s experiences. Along the way, you’ll acquire tips that will help you build your nonprofit’s capacity and operate more efficiently.
Wrapping Up
Nonprofit capacity building is an ongoing process. As your organization grows and changes, new ways to scale your operations or function more efficiently will emerge. It’s up to your team to build a strong foundation for building capacity by evaluating your organization’s values, goals, and resources. Then, develop a strategy based on your nonprofit’s current needs and work with staff, board members, and volunteers to implement it.
Want to dive deeper into some of the nonprofit capacity building strategies we’ve covered? Check out the following resources:
Donor Walls, Plaques, & Signs: The Best Recognition Strategy
/in Donor communications, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerImagine a place where every name tells a story of generosity, where each plaque and sign is a testament to selfless giving. That’s the power of well-conceived donor recognition. This guide invites you into a world where gratitude meets artistry. We’ll help you understand why expressing gratitude through donor walls, plaques, and signs is more than a courtesy—it’s a catalyst for continued philanthropy.
Recognizing donors is an art form, and through donor walls, plaques, and signs, your supporters’ contributions can be immortalized. This guide will help you fully understand these symbols of gratitude, from their basic concepts to the intricate process of designing them. We’ll explore the following:
Whether you’re a nonprofit, an educational institution, or a healthcare facility, understanding donor recognition is key to fostering lasting relationships with those who support your mission. In no time, you’ll create a recognition space that honors donors and inspires future generosity.
FAQs About Donor Recognition Walls, Signs, and Plaques
What’s A Donor Recognition Wall?
A donor recognition wall is a wall that displays the names of major donors or donors who contributed to a particular campaign. The wall can take many creative forms depending on the campaign. Donor recognition walls can display a lot of names, so they are most often installed after a large capital campaign. Walls are usually permanent installations, though digital walls can be updated often.
What’s A Donor Recognition Sign?
Similarly to a donor recognition wall, a donor recognition sign often lists the names of donors who contributed to a particular campaign. A sign is usually portable and printed on a plastic or vinyl banner instead of metal or brick. As such, donor recognition signs are better choices for charity walks and other off-site or outdoor sponsored events.
What’s A Donor Recognition Plaque?
When an individual, organization, or small group of individuals are the sole or lead donors to a particular campaign, honor those supporters with a donor recognition plaque. Plaques are often posted outside doors in buildings that a major contribution helped build. Donors could also take their plaques home with them if you don’t have anywhere permanent to house them.
How Much Do Donor Recognition Walls, Signs, Or Plaques Cost?
The cost of donor recognition walls, signs, or plaques can vary widely depending on factors such as:
As an estimate, small to medium-sized organizations might spend anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars on donor recognition, while larger institutions with extensive customization and high-quality materials could see costs exceeding $10,000.
Get quotes from multiple vendors and consider the balance between cost, durability, and aesthetic appeal to find the best solution.
How Do You Make A Donor Wall, Sign, Or Plaque?
To make a donor wall, sign, or plaque, you’ll need to work with a professional designer or signage company to design and manage the fabrication and installation process, ensuring that the final product aligns with the intended aesthetic and quality standards. For a more cost-effective solution, you might work with a local artist to hand paint a donor wall.
What Should Donor Recognition Walls, Signs, And Plaques Say?
When deciding what to write on your donor recognition walls, signs, and plaques, aim for grateful language that highlights your donors, not your own efforts.
Remember, the purpose of plaques is to reward your current donors and encourage prospective donors to give to future campaigns.
Think about phrases like:
Especially when creating plaques for individual donors, ask the honorees how they’d like to be acknowledged.
Why Donor Walls, Plaques, and Signs Are Effective
Donor walls, plaques, and signs all provide a tangible way to thank donors and create a sense of community. Each one serves as a visual testament to the generosity of the individuals and corporate sponsors who contribute to a cause or institution. Most commonly, organizations create these recognition installations to:
By showcasing names and contributions prominently, a donor wall, plaque, or sign fosters a sense of community and investment among stakeholders.
When to Recognize Donors on Walls, Signs, and Plaques
Any organization that wants to honor donors meaningfully can create donor recognition walls, signs, or plaques. This includes nonprofits, foundations, higher education institutions, faith-based organizations, athletic associations, and medical facilities.
In other words, recognize your donors if you have them! It’s just a matter of determining who you’ll recognize. Here are some types of impactful supporters to thank with your display or plaque:
Of course, you’ll want to set a threshold for how much someone needs to donate to earn a spot on your donor wall. Determine your contribution levels and what kind of reward will be associated with each one. Leverage your donor database to determine who meets each threshold. Then, add each contributor to your display.
How to Design Your Donor Recognition Displays
Now that you understand the fundamentals, let’s delve into the process of creating impactful and memorable recognition pieces, complete with examples and design tips.
Choose A Style.
Start by considering where you’ll build your display. Your donor wall, sign, or plaque should complement its surroundings. In a historic building, traditional materials might blend in better, whereas in a new, minimalist space, contemporary designs could be more fitting.
In terms of materials, here are some common styles of donor recognition walls, signs, and plaques to consider:
Each material has its unique qualities and can be chosen based on the desired aesthetic, durability, maintenance requirements, and budget.
Know What Elements to Include.
When designing a donor wall, sign, or plaque, incorporating key elements is crucial to effectively acknowledge contributions, show impact, and convey the right message. Depending on which type of display you choose, here are the fundamental components to include:
Each of these elements is vital for creating a meaningful, effective donor recognition display, ensuring that contributors feel valued and appreciated for their support.
Create A Strong Layout.
How you arrange elements on a donor recognition wall, plaque, or sign is a critical aspect of its design. For starters, ensure the layout strikes the right balance and avoids an overly cluttered or excessively sparse appearance. The layout must enhance the overall design and harmonize with the architectural characteristics of the surrounding space.
Above all, it needs to resonate with your organization’s purpose and align with your campaign’s objectives. For example, a sleek, minimalist arrangement might represent vibrancy, whereas a detailed, gallery-like setup could reflect the rich heritage of your organization’s endeavors.
Moreover, the layout offers an excellent chance to differentiate between various donor tiers through varying sizes and prominence. For instance, matching gift donors or top matching gift companies that support your nonprofit could have a special designation.
Infuse Your Nonprofit’s Branding.
Infusing your branding into a donor wall, sign, or plaque display is crucial for maintaining a consistent identity. For instance, a modern, tech-focused company might prefer a sleek, digital display, while a traditional academic institution might prefer classic materials like wood or brass.
To effectively incorporate your organization’s brand, consider the following elements:
By following these guidelines, you can create a donor recognition display that not only honors contributors but also serves as an extension of your organization’s brand, enhancing its visibility and impact.
Working With A Donor Recognition Wall Agency
Working with a donor recognition wall, sign, or plaque agency can streamline and enhance the process of creating an impactful, professional display. These agencies specialize in understanding the unique needs and vision of organizations, bringing expertise through the following services:
For instance, Eleven Fifty Seven designs and builds custom donor recognition walls to celebrate your supporters and your purpose. They blend creativity with functionality, ensuring the final product aligns not just with aesthetic preferences but also with practical considerations like space, durability, and budget. From the initial idea to thoughtful designs to the finished product, their team will collaborate with you to create something truly meaningful.
Their process involves understanding your nonprofit’s needs and even includes a space planning process. Through on-site and virtual brainstorming sessions with your team, Eleven Fifty Seven develops the entire look and feel of your donor recognition wall, ensuring it’s unique. Then, their team handles to process of creating your donor recognition wall by doing all the fabrication in-house, as well as handling project management and installation.
Whether you’re looking to create a traditional donor recognition display or think beyond the wall, Eleven Fifty Seven can help you do it.
Additional Donor Recognition Resources
In the tapestry of philanthropy, each thread of support weaves a rich narrative of community, innovation, and progress. Recognizing the individuals behind these threads transforms gratitude into an art form.
A well-branded donor wall, sign, or plaque can act as a powerful marketing and engagement tool. You’ll not only acknowledge donors but also communicate your organization’s values to visitors, potential donors, and the wider community.
To continue learning about powerful fundraising and donor recognition, explore these carefully curated resources:
Nonprofit Board Orientation: How to Get New Members On Track
/in Learning Center /by Adam WeingerImagine this: you’ve been a passionate advocate and donor for a nonprofit’s cause for many years. When the organization reaches out with an invitation to join its board, you’re ecstatic about the opportunity and eagerly accept.
However, when you show up to your first board meeting, you quickly realize that your role as a nonprofit supporter has not adequately familiarized you with the ins and outs of the organization. Suddenly, your excitement for this new opportunity turns to nervousness and frustration. You don’t feel prepared enough to contribute during the meeting and instead wonder how and when you’ll be brought up to speed about the board and the nonprofit’s general operations.
As a nonprofit board chair or president, it’s your job to avoid scenarios like these and ensure your board operates effectively. By holding a proper nonprofit board orientation, you create a smooth transition for new board members and simplify board management.
In this guide, we’ll cover the following nonprofit board orientation topics:
Throughout the article, we’ll answer all of your nonprofit board orientation questions and offer tips to ensure it’s a positive experience for all parties involved, including new board members, existing board members, and board leadership.
What is nonprofit board orientation?
Nonprofit board orientation is the process of informing new board members about your board’s structure and policies, as well as your organization’s mission and overarching goals.
While nonprofit board orientations are typically in-person, single-session meetings, nonprofits have adapted their board orientation formats in recent years. You may choose to host your orientation in multiple in-person sessions or through live virtual, asynchronous virtual, or hybrid sessions.
No matter which format you implement, your nonprofit board orientation should review the following information:
At the end of orientation, new board members should feel prepared to attend their first meeting, equipped with the knowledge they need to succeed in their new role. Even if your orientation materials are extremely thorough, be sure to leave time for questions to clear up any confusion and ensure new board members fully understand their responsibilities.
Who should participate in a nonprofit board orientation?
New board members are the main audience of your nonprofit board orientation. However, you should incorporate other team members into your orientation to provide a holistic experience for new members.
Here are the main groups that should participate in your orientation, as well as their roles:
If your nonprofit is interested in hiring a third party to lead your board orientation, you may also have facilitators lead certain sessions. External facilitators specialize in encouraging participation and fostering valuable discussions. They also bring a neutral perspective to your nonprofit board orientation.
Why is holding a nonprofit board orientation important?
On the surface, it may seem that a nonprofit board orientation’s only purpose is to acquaint new board members with your organization and board. While that is one benefit of holding an orientation, there are several other advantages your organization will receive.
Holding a nonprofit board orientation is important for any charitable organization welcoming new board members because it:
While holding a nonprofit board orientation takes up more team member time and resources than a welcome packet, it’s well worth the investment to have fully informed board members who are ready to take on important decisions on your organization’s behalf.
How to Prepare for Your Nonprofit Board Orientation
Like any type of meeting, nonprofit board orientations require extensive preparation to ensure they’re effective. Your goal should be to develop an engaging and informative experience for new members that begins the moment they accept your invitation to join the board.
To prepare both new members and facilitators for your orientation, treat the following as your board orientation checklist:
1. Announce your new board members.
Kick-off orientation preparation by announcing your new board members to your organization. That way, staff and existing board members can familiarize themselves with the new individuals. Additionally, creating an official announcement will help new board members feel valued by your organization and start your relationships with them on the right foot.
While you may first send an internal announcement via email, inform the public about your new board members through social media and your website to keep external stakeholders in the loop.
2. Host a welcome event for new board members.
Shortly after you officially announce the arrival of your new board members, host an event to welcome them to the team. This meet-up will demonstrate your appreciation for your new board members’ commitment to your nonprofit.
A welcome event is also a chance for new board members to mingle with each other and current board members, allowing them to start forming working relationships that will strengthen your board.
3. Add new board members to necessary communications.
Make sure new board members start receiving necessary organizational communications by adding them to your email lists. For instance, you may have a general email list for your entire nonprofit, as well as a board-specific email list that informs members of upcoming meeting dates and offers previews of each meeting’s agenda.
4. Schedule a tour of your facility.
Becoming comfortable with your facility will help new board members determine the logistics of where to meet and how best to get there before their first meeting. While you should introduce them to the boardroom, show them other parts of your facility as well to help them get a better sense of your organization’s activities and what different staff members and volunteers do each day.
5. Create a new member welcome packet.
As mentioned before, a new member welcome packet should not be the end-all-be-all of your nonprofit board orientation. However, it can serve as a jumping-off point to help summarize key information for new board members.
If possible, distribute your new member welcome packets before your first orientation session. That way, new board members can review the contents ahead of time and note any questions they’d like to ask during orientation.
6. Delegate orientation responsibilities to different team members.
To ensure your board chair or president isn’t doing all the heavy lifting, distribute the responsibilities of leading your nonprofit board orientation to different team members. You may have current board members and senior staff members volunteer to lead certain sessions or delegate them based on each team member’s area of expertise.
7. Pair up new and current board members.
New board members may be hesitant to speak up in their initial board meetings. To help new board members acclimate to the board, pair them with current board members who can serve as mentors.
These board member mentors can meet with their new member mentees one-on-one to discuss any concerns and answer any questions. New board members may feel more comfortable going to a singular point person for advice than voicing their doubts in front of the entire board. As a result, they’ll get the information they need to feel confident in their abilities and become effective board members.
Wrapping Up
While it can be stressful to switch up the composition of your board and incorporate new members, holding an effective nonprofit board orientation helps to create a smooth transition for everyone involved. With a dedicated process for acclimating new members, you can quickly familiarize new board members with your organization, helping them step into their new roles and build relationships with other board members. Consequently, you’ll have a more well-informed, effective board governing your organization.
If you’re looking for more tips to help your nonprofit board run efficiently and effectively, check out the resources below:
The Fundraiser’s Guide to Powerful Corporate Partnerships
/in About Double the Donation /by Adam WeingerCorporate partnerships play a pivotal role in advancing nonprofits’ missions. Companies partaking in philanthropy supply charitable organizations with substantial amounts of funding—to the tune of $20 to $26 billion each year. And strategic partnerships are built to ensure that each party, the company and the organization, receives significant benefits from the relationship.
But many nonprofit fundraisers don’t know where to start.
Lucky for you, we aim to empower teams like yours as you learn to navigate corporate partnerships effectively. In this guide, we’ll walk through each of the following steps integral to establishing a constructive strategy.
These include…
Ready to unlock new possibilities? Following this complete how-to can transform your approach to collaboration and elevate your fundraising game overall. In the end, you’ll unleash a powerful treasure trove of support for your cause.
Dive in to explore the intricacies of corporate partnerships, reveal tried-and-true strategies, and uncover innovative, tech-driven methods for success.
Understanding the Corporate Partnership Landscape
In order to best leverage the corporate partnership opportunity, it’s crucial that your team has a solid understanding of such collaborative efforts at large. Here are a few things you should know.
What Are Corporate Partnerships?
These initiatives are generally characterized by shared objectives, mutual benefits, and strategic cooperation. In other words, a nonprofit and a company work together to achieve common goals and widely advantageous outcomes by leveraging their combined strengths, resources, and expertise.
These collaborations may go beyond traditional philanthropy, encompassing various forms of engagement that create positive social impact, promote community development, and enhance the brand image of both parties involved.
While the nature of these collaborations can vary widely, such partnerships typically result in long-term relationships rather than standalone giving initiatives.
Types of Corporate Partnerships to Consider
Corporate partnerships can come in all shapes and sizes, varying greatly based on the organization and the company involved. Despite their differences, each form of partnership holds unique benefits that significantly impact the success of the initiatives’ success.
These include:
Cause Marketing
A collaboration between a nonprofit and a corporation to mutually promote their brands and causes, respectively. This type of partnership often involves a company contributing a percentage of profits or another specific monetary contribution to the organization based on the quantity of products or total revenue sold.
Corporate Sponsorships
A company providing financial support to a nonprofit for a particular event, program, or other specific initiative in exchange for visibility and acknowledgment. Sponsors may benefit from branding opportunities, exposure to the nonprofit’s audience, and strategic alignment with a cause that resonates with their own values.
Team Volunteerism
Corporate employees engaging in volunteer activities as a group, fostering team-building within the company, and supporting the nonprofit through the contribution of volunteer hours. Activities can range from community service projects to skill-based volunteering and beyond. Some companies also offer volunteer grants or paid Volunteer Time Off, too.
In-Kind Giving
The donation of goods or services by a corporation to a nonprofit organization. This type of partnership contributes valuable resources without monetary exchange, supplying the organization with essential items at no or low cost that it may be unable to afford otherwise and ultimately reducing its operational costs.
Pro Bono Services
Corporate professionals offering specialized skills and expertise to nonprofits without charge. These collaborations help organizations access beneficial services such as legal, marketing, or consulting advice, thus strengthening their internal strategies as a whole.
Disaster Relief Efforts
Corporations collaborating with nonprofits to provide disaster relief efforts in times of crisis. This might include financial contributions, in-kind donations, or logistical support to aid affected communities. And it ultimately allows both parties to showcase social responsibility in challenging periods.
Corporate Matching Gift Programs
A company matching donations its employees contribute to a range of nonprofit causes and mission types. As one of the most widely accessible forms of corporate partnerships, employee matching gifts encourage a company’s workforce to be actively involved in the partnership. The organization receives corporate funds and reaps the benefits of strengthened individual supporter relationships, too!
One-Off Matching Gift Programs
A subset of corporate matching gifts, one-off matching gift programs involve a company matching donations its employees contribute to a single organization, typically within a predetermined timeframe. These types of targeted match initiatives form increasingly personalized relationships between businesses and nonprofit fundraisers.
Advocacy or Awareness Campaigns
Corporations partnering with nonprofits to raise awareness around relevant social issues or to advocate for policy change or reformation regarding specific causes and social issues. These campaigns generally leverage the corporation’s reach and resources to amplify the nonprofit’s message and influence positive change.
Collaborative Research Efforts
Corporations and nonprofits joining forces to fund and conduct research studies relevant to both parties. This type of partnership allows for the sharing of expertise, resources, data, and more, thus leading to innovative solutions and groundbreaking advancements.
Joint or Co-Branded Initiatives
The creation of products, services, or events in collaboration between, and jointly marketed by, a nonprofit and a corporation. These partnerships leverage the strengths and audiences of both entities, resulting in initiatives that benefit each team while promoting a shared cause.
With so many collaborative efforts to choose from, it’s likely your organization has already begun to benefit from partnering with charitable-minded businesses. Still, there’s always room to grow in your strategies and explore new types of partnerships. Open doors to fresh opportunities and expand the scope of your impact!
Laying the Partnerships Groundwork
To set the stage for successful partnerships, it’s important for organizations to lay a robust groundwork for collaboration. Think of this step as the prep work your team does before launching into your actual partnership-seeking strategy.
Your actions might include:
Successful partnerships begin with thoughtful planning, and these steps can go a long way in preparing your organization for the undertaking. Remember: the goal is ultimately to build lasting corporate relationships that not only meet your immediate needs but also align with your overarching mission and vision.
Uncovering Prospective Corporate Partners
Identifying opportune partners is the key to getting the most out of your organization’s efforts. You don’t want to pitch a partnership to any company you can think of. Rather, thorough research is paramount, empowering nonprofits to utilize their limited time and resources wisely. Plus, you can focus on prospects most likely to result in a positive return on your investment.
Consider employing a prospect rating system like this:
Careful analysis of potential corporate partners will allow your team to select the best partners. For optimal results, we recommend looking for:
Don’t forget about the power of your nonprofit’s support network, either!
Finding an existing connection to a business—whether that’s a donor, volunteer, board member, or other constituent—can open doors and significantly enhance the impact of your efforts.
How? Utilizing available contacts not only provides a warmer introduction but also adds a layer of trust and familiarity that positively influences the perception of your organization. Instead of a cold solicitation, you offer a personal and genuine interaction fueled by shared values and mutual associates.
To find out how your matching gift software can help at this stage, jump to that section now!
Crafting a Persuasive Partnership Proposal
The art of persuasion is fundamental to successful partnerships. You’re essentially selling your organization’s worth to prospective corporate parties.
Drafting a convincing proposal involves not just showcasing the initiative’s unique value proposition but also outlining the specific needs and opportunities of your cause.
Key Components of an Effective Partnership Pitch
Customizable Partnership Proposal Template
Establishing a Strategy for Inbound Partnership Prospects
While nonprofits traditionally source most of their own corporate relationships, being prepared for inbound interest from potential partners is equally crucial. One of the best ways you can do so is by creating a page on your organization’s website dedicated to getting involved in corporate partnerships.
Such a page should include…
You’ll also want to plan how your organization will respond to the inbound interest you receive. Once a company expresses interest in working together (e.g., by filling out the contact form on your site), your team will need to follow up, thank them for their interest, and engage in a conversation about the possible partnership.
Initiating Corporate Partnership Outreach
Proactive outreach is a core component of successful corporate partnerships.
Once you feel prepared to begin your outreach, you’ll want to determine the key decision-makers within the corporation. This might include those in the corporate social responsibility, marketing, community engagement, or executive leadership departments. The goal is to get your pitch in front of the company’s decision-makers!
It’s worth noting that leveraging any personal connections or common contacts within the corporate organization can significantly facilitate the initial introduction. Such connections not only enhance credibility but also increase the likelihood that your proposal will receive consideration.
When making your initial outreach, it’s a good idea to propose a low-commitment interaction. For example, a brief introductory call, virtual meeting, or coffee chat allows for a casual and exploratory conversation. You’ll have the space to discuss potential collaboration without placing immediate pressure on the prospective partner.
Prior to engaging in discussion, make an effort to anticipate potential concerns or objections from your prospective partner. Then, prepare a thoughtful response beforehand. Approach discussions with respect, empathy, and a focus on mutual success, and be open to innovative approaches that meet the interests of both parties.
Following the initial contact, follow up promptly with a personalized thank-you message, showing your gratitude for the company’s consideration. Remember to reiterate your interest in the potential partnership, supply any additional information or materials, and express openness to further discussions.
Building and Maintaining Long-Term Corporate Relationships
It’s easier (and more cost-effective) to retain long-term corporate relationships than it is to be constantly on the lookout for new, one-off partnership opportunities. That’s why, from the beginning, it’s important to approach potential partners as an opportunity for genuine, mutually beneficial relationships—rather than focusing solely on the transactional value.
Aim to foster a lasting connection by making a commitment to collaboration and maintaining regular and transparent communication. Implementing these best practices in your partnership strategy can help you do so:
All in all, you’ll want to identify opportunities to deepen the existing relationship with corporate connections. As your partnership progresses, make it a priority to work collaboratively and develop a roadmap for future collaboration and growth.
Bonus! Unlocking Partnerships With Corporate Giving Software
Does your organization invest in the industry’s leading matching gift solution, Double the Donation? If so, it can be one of your greatest assets as your team begins sourcing corporate partnerships.
While corporate partnerships can encompass a lot more than employee matching gifts alone, there’s a close relationship between the two concepts. As such, you can use data collected from one initiative (matching gifts) to inform your strategy for the other (broader corporate partnerships). And Double the Donation built its platform to help.
Plus, leveraging a solution equipped with auto-submission not only streamlines the process for your own team but also enhances the partnership experience on the company’s end by demonstrating proactive engagement and efficiency.
Using Double the Donation’s Sponsorship Search Functionality
Historically providing information about matching gifts and other employee-led giving initiatives, Double the Donation has recently expanded into the broader corporate partnerships space. With their updated database, you can now access information that goes beyond matching gifts to include corporate giving programs like sponsorships, in-kind giving opportunities, and more.
When using the search tool, simply enter a company’s name. The system will display detailed information about that company’s corporate philanthropy efforts, including types of nonprofits they support, giving guidelines, and whether they have sponsorship or partnership programs in place. Many listings also include direct links to applications and contact details for key decision-makers in corporate social responsibility (CSR) departments, which can be incredibly helpful for outreach.
Using Double the Donation’s ‘Leading Companies’ Tool
You know that companies with which you share personal connections can be your organization’s most valuable prospects. Such connections showcase overlapping audiences and demonstrate the potential benefits a partnership can bring. Your donors’ employers are some of the best examples of this—and that data is already stored within Double the Donation.
That said, take a look at the companies featured in your organization’s “Leading Companies” tool (under the reporting tab) within the platform. This feature displays the companies most often selected by your donors as they interact with your employer search tool on your donation form or email follow-ups. And it means they’re companies well-represented within your donor base.
Once equipped with your list of top employers, you can divide prospects into two categories (which are already conveniently color-coded in Double the Donation). These include:
Companies with existing matching gift programs
These are companies that employ a significant number of your donors and have already proven to be philanthropic in nature. Reach out and see if they’d consider a supplemental partnership—such as a sponsorship, volunteer event, or donation drive. If it actively engages the company’s employees (and your supporters!), even better.
Consider this helpful template to get you started:
Companies without existing matching gift programs
Companies lacking matching gift programs but prevalent within your donor base may be interested in easy ways to step into the corporate philanthropy realm. Utilize your shared audiences to demonstrate value and propose a partnership opportunity with mutual benefits.
One-off matching gift initiatives are an excellent option in this case as it allows an employer to explore donation-matching in a limited-scope environment. And Double the Donation makes it easy to manage such initiatives within an organization’s matching gift portal using the one-off program management feature!
Consider this helpful template to get you started:
You always want to make the most of the tools in your nonprofit’s toolkit. This often-overlooked feature in Double the Donation can provide invaluable insights for your partnership strategy—so long as you know what to do with the information at your fingertips.
Not yet a Double the Donation client? Get a demo of the platform to see how it will elevate your matching gift and corporate partnership efforts.
Final Thoughts & Additional Resources
With this helpful roadmap in hand, we hope your team can pursue and cultivate powerful corporate relationships. As you embark on the journey, feel encouraged to approach each potential partnership with intention, creativity, and a deep commitment to mutually beneficial outcomes, creating lasting positive change. Plus, make the most of the resources at your disposal (such as your matching gift software) to produce the greatest impact possible for your cause.
The result? Increased revenue through additional philanthropy opportunities and stronger partnerships that bring each team to new heights.
Interested in learning more about effective corporate partnership strategies? Check out these recommended resources for further reading:
How to Identify Corporate Partners
Double the Donation can help your team locate its greatest potential partners. Find out how you can do so in this guide to corporate partnership identification.
One-Off Matching Gift Programs
One-off (or custom) matching gift programs are easy and powerful corporate partnerships. See how your nonprofit can build personal employee giving initiatives!
The Ultimate Guide to Volunteer Grants
Don’t overlook the power of corporate volunteerism! Many companies even provide “dollars for doers” grants to the organizations with which their employees volunteer.
How to Conduct Feasibility Studies: Your Nonprofit’s Roadmap
/in Nonprofit Basics /by Adam WeingerImagine pouring your heart, soul, and crucial resources into a project, only to watch it falter due to a lack of proper planning. This is a nightmare scenario for any nonprofit.
However, what if there was a strategic tool that could significantly reduce this risk, ensuring your efforts are well-directed and more likely to succeed? This is where a well-conducted feasibility study comes into play.
To lead a successful fundraising campaign, your nonprofit has to put a lot of time and effort into planning it. From conducting prospect research to investing in the right fundraising tools, there are several moving parts to manage. These tasks become especially critical (and complex) when planning large-scale campaigns, like capital campaigns, and a thorough feasibility study can help substantially.
These studies can be complex, so we’re here to help you get up to speed on the basics. We’ll explore the following:
These studies can guide you through the complex maze of project planning, helping you avoid common pitfalls and align your resources with your most achievable and impactful goals. Now, let’s learn what makes this step in the fundraising process so pivotal and how it can transform the trajectory of your nonprofit’s endeavors.
What Is A Feasibility Study?
A feasibility study is a comprehensive assessment that evaluates the viability and potential success of a proposed project or large-scale initiative, like a capital campaign.
The study tests your preliminary plans and goals by gathering input from the stakeholders who will later help make the campaign a reality, including board members, major donors, and other funders and partners in the community. Nonprofits typically conduct feasibility studies before:
Because of the size of these projects, they can take multiple years to complete, which is why it’s so critical to know whether your nonprofit is ready to launch a campaign at the desired scale long before you invest in planning it.
Who Conducts Feasibility Studies?
Various individuals or groups can conduct feasibility studies, depending on the nature and complexity of the project, as well as the resources and expertise available to the nonprofit organization. Those commonly involved in conducting feasibility studies include:
Overall, it’s crucial that the team or individual leading the study has the necessary skills, objectivity, and understanding of the nonprofit’s goals and the community it serves.
How Far In Advance Should We Conduct A Feasibility Study?
For a nonprofit organization, the ideal time to conduct a feasibility study is well before committing significant resources or detailed planning to a proposed project, especially for large-scale initiatives like capital campaigns or major program expansions.
Typically, this means conducting the study at least a month or longer in advance, depending on the project’s complexity and scope. This lead time allows for thorough research, stakeholder consultation, and strategic assessment, enabling the organization to make informed decisions and adjust strategies based on the study’s insights. What’s more, it provides a window for addressing any identified challenges or aligning the project more closely with the organization’s capabilities.
Benefits of Conducting Thorough Feasibility Studies
Essentially, a feasibility study helps nonprofits make informed decisions by providing a thorough analysis of the practicality and potential impact of a proposed project. It’s critical for ensuring effective resource use and alignment with the organization’s mission and goals. Graham-Pelton’s guide to capital campaign feasibility studies explains that these studies identify how you can move forward with the campaign, rather than only if you can.
Here’s a rundown of the benefits of conducting a feasibility study when considering substantial projects or new initiatives:
Overall, a well-conducted feasibility study is a valuable tool for guiding your nonprofit through complex decisions, ensuring the effective use of resources, and maximizing the chances of project success. That way, you can be an effective steward of donations by not wasting resources on an unsuccessful initiative.
Suggested Elements to Include In Your Feasibility Studies
Any time a nonprofit conducts a feasibility study, they’re looking for specific elements, so they can make informed decisions about their upcoming initiative. The specifics of what the study focuses on depends on the nature of the project. Here are common elements organizations include in their feasibility studies:
Collectively, these elements provide a holistic picture of the proposed project’s feasibility, helping the organization make informed decisions about whether and how to proceed.
5 Steps to Conducting a Fundraising Feasibility Study
To get a complete picture of your organization’s current ability to conduct your large-scale campaign, you’ll need to conduct a thorough feasibility study. Let’s walk through the five major steps you’ll need to take to conduct your study:
1. Conduct a preliminary assessment.
The preliminary analysis in a feasibility study is a crucial early step that helps determine whether a more detailed study is warranted. It involves these key components:
The preliminary analysis doesn’t require a deep dive into data, but instead, it provides a high-level view to determine if your project warrants further investigation. It helps to filter out unfeasible projects at an early stage, so you don’t waste time and resources. Once you’ve concluded your preliminary analysis, you can determine if a larger feasibility study is needed.
2. Identify key supporters and stakeholders.
Without a substantial number of supporters to back your campaign, you’ll struggle to meet your goal. That’s why one of the first steps in conducting a fundraising feasibility study is identifying your key supporters and stakeholders.
Involving key stakeholders such as donors, community leaders, beneficiaries, and partners can be crucial. While they may not lead the study, their input and feedback can provide valuable perspectives and data.
Of course, you likely already have some supporters that come to mind, like your board members, long-time major donors, community stakeholders, and local business owners. Learn more about them by conducting prospect research.
Prospect research is the process of identifying new potential donors (or, at this stage, getting to know existing supporters) who have both the capacity (wealth) to give large gifts and an affinity (warmth) for your cause. Prospecting will involve leveraging your current donor database, prospect generator tools, government records, and more to learn about your supporters.
Once you’ve identified a prospect likely to support your project, it’s time to get to know them. During this stage, take your time identifying your key supporters. After all, building a genuine relationship with a prospect is far more valuable than scurrying to secure a one-time donation.
3. Create a case for support.
The next step in a feasibility study is to draft up a case for support (also known as a case statement). This document explains the purpose of your campaign and gives compelling reasons why your supporters should help you with your campaign.
According to our guide to fundraising feasibility studies, your case for support should include:
Once you’ve created a compelling case for support, you can use it in the interview phase of the feasibility study to gather feedback on your campaign from your key supporters.
4. Interview your key supporters and analyze your data.
During this step of the study, you’ll find out how your supporters feel about your campaign and how viable your project is given your organization’s current capacity.
For the interview portion of the study, you should prepare thoughtful questions that help you better understand why your key supporters back your organization and what they think about your project. Here are some questions to add to your list:
Many nonprofits hire a fundraising consultant to conduct these interviews, so they can obtain objective information from key supporters. For the data analysis process, you’ll take a critical look at the results of your interviews, your donor data, and the information you’ve gathered from prospecting.
5. Evaluate the results of your study.
Once you have all of the information from your feasibility study compiled, it’s time to evaluate the results. Typically, your results will point to four options:
If your organization is ready to move forward, it’s time to make any necessary adjustments to your campaign plan and present it to your organization’s leaders.
However, learning that your nonprofit isn’t quite ready for a large-scale campaign can be a tough pill to swallow, especially after investing time and effort into a thorough feasibility study. If this is the case, you can use the feedback and data you’ve gathered to begin refining your organization’s strategies and planning for a bright future.
An Example of A Feasibility Study
Now, let’s look at those steps in action with an example. Reviewing examples of feasibility studies offers valuable insights into practical methodologies, demonstrates real-world applications and outcomes, and helps identify common challenges and effective solutions.
Examples serve as a learning tool, providing a reference for best practices and potential pitfalls. That way, you’ll feel empowered to conduct more effective feasibility studies for your own projects.
Let’s explore an example we created to help you better understand feasibility studies. While fictional, this example emulates real nonprofit projects and how a thorough analysis can help determine plausibility.
Feasibility Study Example: Urban Gardens
Project Name: Green City Gardens
Background: Green City Gardens is a project proposed by a nonprofit focused on community development. The project aims to create community gardens in urban areas, bringing life to spots that lack green spaces. These gardens would be muli-purposed: provide fresh produce to local residents, foster community engagement through gardening, create natural habitats for wildlife, and offer educational opportunities for students.
Need for A Feasibility Study: Given the multifaceted nature of this project, the nonprofit recognized a comprehensive feasibility study was necessary to assess viability. Key considerations included:
The feasibility study involved conducting surveys and interviews with community members, consulting with urban planning and environmental experts, and researching potential funding sources. The outcome of this study would determine whether the nonprofit should proceed with the Green City Gardens project, modify it, or explore alternative initiatives.
Working With a Fundraising Consultant to Conduct A Feasibility Study
Many nonprofit organizations find it helpful to call in the help of a third-party expert—a nonprofit fundraising consultant—when conducting a feasibility study. While these professionals will get to know your organization’s unique goals, they can also help you take an objective approach to the feasibility study and set you up with the fresh strategies you need to succeed with your campaign.
Specifically, they can help with the following:
Feasibility studies are an important part of preparing your organization to dive into a large-scale campaign. Make sure to allow yourself plenty of time to collect all the information you need to evaluate your organization’s capacity and to lean on the help of outside experts as you conduct your own study!
Other Resources to Explore
Feasibility studies stand as a cornerstone in any nonprofit’s strategic planning. They provide clarity, direction, and a sense of realism, ensuring that passion and purpose match practicality and potential for impact. They are critical in guiding organizations like yours through informed decision-making, optimizing resource allocation, and ultimately fulfilling worthwhile missions more effectively.
To continue learning about effective nonprofit management, explore these educational resources we think you’ll love:
Understanding the Fundraising Cycle: 5 Ways to Raise More
/in Donor communications /by Adam WeingerWhether you’re a seasoned nonprofit professional or a newcomer to the fundraising world, your team likely follows a similar set of processes to attract, acquire, and retain donors. This framework is called the fundraising cycle, and optimizing your current practices can make a big difference in your campaign results and donor retention rate.
To help you start optimizing your fundraising cycle activities, we’ll review these topics:
Understanding your organization’s approach to the fundraising cycle can greatly enhance your fundraising prowess. As we review the details of the fundraising cycle, consider how your nonprofit currently operates within each stage. Let’s explore how to leverage these tips and secure sustainable support.
Fundraising Cycle: Important Terms to Know
You’ll likely encounter these terms as you delve deeper into the fundraising cycle. Here are their definitions and an extended example of an animal shelter to contextualize them:
The animal shelter’s fundraising cycle starts by identifying goals, which is followed by planning adoption drives and fundraising events, which is followed by the launch of these campaigns and ends with the nonprofit assessing performance.
The animal shelter creates a strategy of organizing an open house adoption fair, inviting interested supporters to a small-group shelter tour, and then concluding the cycle by inviting these attendees to the shelter’s annual fundraising event.
The animal shelter keeps donors updated and interested in its cause by sending out monthly donor newsletters highlighting new additions to the shelter and pointing out upcoming fundraising events.
The animal shelter notices a shift in their donor dynamics when it experiences an influx of young professional donors who prefer to give on mobile devices, so the organization revamps its online giving page to align with their preferences.
An average donor lifecycle for the animal shelter might be a donor who hears about the shelter from a friend, adopts a pet, donates at least once a year, and eventually upgrades the value and frequency of their gifts.
The animal shelter’s team invites animal lovers in the community to join them for an adoption open house where the nonprofit can show the impact of its mission in an emotional way and secure support.
After a donor gives for the first time, the animal shelter’s team sends a personalized thank-you letter. Also, the team puts the new donor in an outreach segment that’s designed to suggest new engagement opportunities so they can scale up their support.
The animal shelter practices donor development by prioritizing outreach and building relationships with donors and prospects by leveraging the emotional impact of adopting an animal. As donors progress through their lifecycle, tactics get increasingly personalized so that the donor trusts them enough to devote more gifts to them over time.
Now that you know these essential terms, let’s answer some other questions you might have about the fundraising cycle.
Fundraising Cycle FAQs
What are the stages of the fundraising cycle?
Fundraising cycles might differ from organization to organization, but the typical fundraising cycle includes these stages. Let’s view them through the lens of the example animal shelter from earlier:
The animal shelter uses multiple analytics and strategies to pinpoint potential donors who are more likely to support its cause. The team focuses its efforts on those who have adopted animals from them.
Once the animal shelter’s team has pinpointed a group of donor prospects from its group of adopters, it examines the public information available that could signify each prospect’s financial capacity to give. For instance, the team could leverage public records to research the prospect’s past contributions to charitable causes, as well as their participation in animal welfare programs as volunteers.
Next, the animal shelter’s team gathers the contact information for each prospect and adds them to its outreach stream. To show prospects how important the shelter’s work is, the team might invite them to a behind-the-scenes tour of the facility or highlight metrics from previous annual reports in outreach materials.
Depending on the prospect’s giving potential, it might take the animal shelter’s team some time to build a strong relationship with them. After the team has cultivated a firm connection with the prospect, it’s time to make an ask tailored to the prospect’s interests, preferences, and giving potential.
Once the prospect has donated, the animal shelter’s team expresses its appreciation. For example, the team might send a handwritten thank you note, publicly recognize the donor online, or add them to a plaque in its office. Even after the donor gives, the team continues strengthening their relationship so the donor renews their support in the future.
Your fundraising circle will eventually follow this pattern with consistent iteration over time:
Why is the fundraising cycle important?
Using the fundraising cycle as a blueprint for your own strategies can help your nonprofit:
Leveraging the Fundraising Cycle: Top Strategy for Each Stage
As you plan to implement a fundraising cycle for the first time or optimize your existing setup, keep these tips in mind to improve your efforts.
Identification Stage: Use Data Analytics and Key Performance Indicators
In the initial stage of the fundraising cycle, your team needs to start strong by precisely researching and pinpointing donor prospects. By using a data-driven approach, your nonprofit can reduce errors, save time and resources, and quickly funnel prospects to stage two. These tips can help you implement data analytics and key performance indicators (KPIs) into your strategy:
Throughout this stage, ensure that your team is following the correct data hygiene protocols so you can maintain efficiency and effectiveness. NPOInfo’s guide to data hygiene for nonprofits suggests adding these activities to your routine:
Qualification Stage: Implement Donor Scoring
Once you’ve identified donor prospects, you need to prioritize who you plan to reach out to so you can secure gifts faster. Donor scoring provides a standard measurement to help you structure your outreach. You can score donors based on the following criteria:
Your nonprofit should pick criteria that align with your objectives. For example, if your nonprofit is deeply involved with a corporate sponsor, you might consider adding a field to account for that sponsor’s employees as they might have unique motivations for supporting your cause. Here’s an example donor scorecard to inspire your nonprofit:
Cultivation Stage: Segment Donor Audiences
From general community members to major giving prospects, your team has many donor audiences that you should target with your communication strategy. However, to resonate with the most donors possible, you need to create unique messages for them.
You can conduct personalized donor outreach efficiently by segmenting your donors based on shared characteristics. For example, you might segment them based on their relationship to your mission, demographic factors, or giving capacity. That way you can send out targeted communications without painstakingly writing an original message for everyone.
As you start to segment your communications, consider adding these tactics to improve results:
Solicitation Stage: Promote Matching Gifts
The fourth stage is the most crucial for achieving your end goal of securing a donation. Offering many ways to give helps you target as many prospects as possible and convert them into loyal donors. You likely already offer tried and true ways to give such as individual donations, but you can attract even more people by promoting and leveraging matching gifts.
Did you know that 84% of donors are more likely to donate if they know their gifts will be matched? Many employers offer matching gift programs, which your nonprofit can leverage to inspire community members to give. Besides promoting matching gifts, you can boost the likelihood of donors matching by using matching gift software. The right solution will connect to a database of companies with matching gift programs and tell your donors about their company’s policy based on their work email. Ultimately, offering matching gifts is a win-win-win—your nonprofit receives crucial funding, your donors can multiply their impact effortlessly, and their employers can give back to a worthy cause.
Want to learn more about matching gift software? This educational video from Double the Donation is a great resource for beginners:
Stewardship Stage: Leverage Donor Feedback Loops
Once you’ve acquired donors, you need to actively maintain your relationship with them to keep them actively engaged long-term. Feedback loops can inform your engagement strategy with insights straight from your donors and help them feel valued by your organization. Here’s how to implement them to improve your fundraising cycle:
By openly communicating with donors during the feedback process, you demonstrate your commitment to improving your practices to serve donors better and that you respect your donors’ opinions. This can help you attract more donors in the future and retain current donors.
Wrapping Up + Additional Resources
Now that you understand how the fundraising cycle works and why you should leverage it, you can start creating and improving your own. With some planning, standardization, and iteration, your nonprofit can make a solid structure that works for your niche and, ultimately, improve the donor journey and secure lifetime support.
Here’s How You Can Celebrate Matching Gift Month This February
/in Learning Center, Fundraising Ideas, Marketing Strategies, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerFebruary is a time to celebrate love and happiness—and matching gifts. That’s why it’s been dubbed the official Matching Gift Month. This year, we recommend taking the opportunity to scale up your matching gift promotional efforts accordingly.
We’ll cover everything you need to know to celebrate corporate giving and drive action (and matches) this February.
This includes:
Looking for new and exciting ways to amplify your nonprofit’s matching gift efforts leading up to Match Month? You’ve come to the right place. At Double the Donation, we’re experts at matching gifts, and we’ve compiled a list of suggestions sure to elevate your engagement efforts this February.
Ready to bring your matching gift fundraising to the next level? Let’s explore top recommendations for making the most of Match Month—and see what your team can do to bridge the knowledge and funding gaps alike.
What is Matching Gift Month?
Matching Gift Month is an annual celebration of corporate donation matching, often used to increase awareness and usage of match programs. Held in February each year, Match Month is an opportunity to recognize the extensive impact that corporate philanthropy programs, like matching gifts and more, can have on nonprofit fundraising groups.
And what is that impact? Research indicates that an estimated $2 to $3 billion is donated through matching gift programs each year. That’s a substantial source of funds provided to charitable causes like yours. Not to mention, the mere existence of a match incentivizes individual donors to give at new heights, too. The same reports state that 84% of donors are more likely to give if a match is available, while 1 in 3 would give a larger amount if a match were to be applied.
However, an additional $7 billion goes unclaimed by qualifying nonprofits and their donors each year—largely due to a lack of information surrounding the programs. That’s why many mission organizations and schools are taking the opportunity to elevate their matching gift fundraising and push the initiatives forward this year. And Match Month is the perfect chance to begin.
10+ Powerful Ways to Celebrate Matching Gift Month This Year
These smart marketing and engagement ideas inhabit a fun sense of novelty this month. But they’re also impactful for long-term engagement in your organization’s overall strategy.
For the best results, we suggest integrating multiple of the following methods—both this month and beyond.
1. Give your internal team a refresher course.
Before ramping up your organization’s matching gift efforts for Match Month, it’s a good idea to take a look inward. Hopefully, your internal fundraising team should be well-versed in matching gift information. But perhaps you’ve had a few new team members join since your last group training. Or maybe your staff (and volunteers!) could just use a refresher.
The solution? Start the month off right with your own team. Take the time to reiterate the importance of corporate matching gift programs. Practice asking common matching gift questions, ensuring that all individuals have the knowledge and assets to answer them.
You can even provide your team with access to educational resources and other materials to help grow their knowledge and preparedness for the celebrations ahead.
We have some fantastic free eBooks, blog posts, templates, webinars, and more at Double the Donation.
Plus, we offer the industry’s first-ever Matching Gift Academy—an online learning hub encompassing 45 lessons and more than 7 hours of informational video content across 10+ modules.
When it comes to driving matching gift revenue, your internal team encompasses your greatest assets. Make sure they’re equipped to advocate for the opportunities as best they can!
2. Share on social media.
Your organization likely has at least one, but likely a number of profiles on popular social media sites. Whether it’s a Facebook page, an Instagram profile, or even a TikTok account, your strategic web presence can go a long way toward marketing matching gifts online.
And what better time is there to begin (or to elevate your strategy) than a month dedicated to all things matching gifts?
To get started, consider sharing the following types of content on your nonprofit’s social profiles:
Images and videos
Social media platforms are increasingly visual-focused. If you want to grab—and maintain—your audience’s attention as they scroll through their feeds, research indicates that incorporating eye-catching images and videos is the way to go. In fact, studies show that image-based social posts receive 2.3 times more engagement than those without, and posts with video content can see up to 10 times higher engagement levels.
That said, Match Month is an optimal time to produce and share matching gift marketing videos and imagery. Or get started with our pre-made social media graphics here!
(Hint: click each image to enlarge the attachment and download a copy.)
Industry research
Highlight key statistics that effectively demonstrate the potential that corporate matching brings. Double the Donation has compiled some of our favorite metrics here, including an overview of unclaimed funding and a wide range of participating companies.
Check out these examples:
of Fortune 500 companies offer matching gift programs.
individuals work for companies with matching gift programs.
of corporate cash donations are made through matching gift programs.
was contributed through corporate matching gift programs last year.
in matching gift funds are left unclaimed by eligible donors each year.
Success stories
Social media is driven by connectivity, networking, and social proof. That’s why case studies, testimonials, and other success stories can be some of the most influential content you can share!
Take a look at a few examples here:
Your supporters care about the impact your organization (and, by extension, their donations) brings. When your followers see the influence that other matching gifts have had, they’ll be more likely to take steps to do so themselves.
Reiterate that donation-matching programs enable donors to double their impact without reaching back into their own wallets. If you can put it in terms of tangible impact (e.g., feed two shelter cats for the cost of one), even better!
3. Optimize your site for matching gifts.
Social media marketing is great—but there’s only so much you can share in each post. So, how can you ensure your audience can easily access the information they need to take action? Be sure every matching gift-related item you share links back to additional resources for learning more.
The best place to house those resources is your organization’s website. If you already have a built-out matching gift web page (which you should), consider driving traffic to the page for supporters to learn more about the opportunity. And if you don’t have an existing matching gifts page, Match Month is the perfect time to build that online hub.
Here’s an example of a well-designed matching gifts page to consider:
This inspiring sample follows all of our recommended practices. Take a look at the embedded matching gift search tool (which empowers donors to locate the information they need in seconds), a helpful infographic to visualize the involvement process, a detailed FAQ section, and information about the institution required for donors’ requests. Not to mention, it’s prominently located on the school’s navigation menu!
From there, we also suggest integrating matching gifts directly into your online donation process. Ideally, this should include an employment data widget to your giving form and company-specific program details on the confirmation screen.
Consider adding a separate page about one-off matching gift programs, too. (We’ll talk more about those below!)
4. Send a Matching Gift Month newsletter.
Does your organization send regular newsletters as a way to keep donors and other supporters in the know about upcoming events and opportunities? A matching gift-focused newsletter—whether physical or digital—can serve as a powerful tool for raising awareness of matching gift opportunities.
And it’s a great way to elevate engagement with the annually celebrated Match Month.
At the very least, consider adding a section about Matching Gift Month involvement in your standard newsletter. But an entire edition dedicated to matching gifts can go a long way toward inspiring participation in the programs!
5. Look for fundraising match opportunities.
Some companies extend their programs to encompass gifts collected by an employee through a peer-to-peer fundraising effort on behalf of a nonprofit organization—even if the funds didn’t come directly from the employee’s own wallet.
Programs like these are known as fundraising match programs. And since these initiatives can also be considered a form of donation-matching, they can fit perfectly into a well-rounded Matching Gift Month plan!
Here’s how it works:
For example, let’s imagine that John Doe of State Street Corporation raises $1,572 for your organization. This is collected from 15 peers and associates through a social fundraising effort your team hosts this Match Month. When John requests a match from his employer, State Street supplies an additional $1,572 for your cause. This brings the total value of John’s fundraising efforts to $3,144!
That’s a lot of extra funding for your mission—all while engaging your donors at new heights and growing corporate support.
6. Encourage non-eligible donors to advocate for new programs.
Unfortunately, not all companies match employee donations (though new programs are added every day). And some employers are likely interested in getting started—they might just need a little push to do so.
Luckily, your existing (and non-match-eligible) donors can be some of your best champions for inspiring new matching programs. Sometimes, all it takes is an email from a philanthropic employee to get the ball rolling for a new corporate program. And Matching Gift Month can be the perfect time to begin laying a foundation.
Consider sharing a template like this to provide a baseline for supporters considering advocating on your behalf this month:
We’ve even written a dedicated blog post on the topic. Feel free to send this article—How to Advocate for a Matching Gift Program to Your Employer—to your donors to guide them through the process of proposing programs for their companies.
7. Pursue one-off matching gift program opportunities.
Most companies that match employee donations agree to do so to most nonprofit causes. However, if an organization has an existing partnership with a corporation, it may seek a one-off (or unique) matching gift program that is exclusive to the cause.
In some cases, this type of offering can be an ongoing sponsorship opportunity. But it also may be limited to a particular period of time—such as Matching Gift Month! Thus, February (and/or the weeks leading up to February) can be a great chance to begin pursuing such a relationship.
There are a few types of one-off matching gift programs to consider. These include…
Keep in mind that both types of programs can be beneficial to your cause, your donors, and your corporate partners. In either case, your donors’ employing companies can be some of your most valuable prospects!
8. Follow up on previously made donations.
Your organization’s work promoting Matching Gift Month might very well drive a number of new donations—and matches—to your cause. But another strategy you can employ involves following up on previously made gifts. Then, encouraging still-eligible donors to submit their requests retroactively.
Here’s a sample follow-up email you might send:
Not to mention, Match Month falls just a few weeks after the year-end giving season when most organizations see elevated giving. Many of those donations may still qualify for corporate matching, even into the first few months of the new year.
In fact, tons of companies set generous matching gift request deadlines—often accepting submissions for up to a year after the initial donation is made. Take this opportunity to remind eligible donors about their employers’ matching gift programs and how they can get involved.
9. Include matching gifts in staff email signatures.
This is perhaps our simplest suggestion for celebrating Match Month, but it can be particularly effective when paired with some of our other top ideas. We recommend adding a quick line mentioning matching gift opportunities to all of your team members’ email signatures.
More than likely, your organization sends a ton of emails—from donation appeals to thank-you messages and even nonprofit programming outreach. By incorporating matching gifts in automatic signatures, you can use every piece of communication with your cause as a way to promote donation-matching.
While you could add a simple blurb beneath an individual’s name and contact information, making it stand out can produce great results. For that reason, consider getting a graphic made and added to each person’s signature.
You can even use the space to link to additional resources where recipients can learn more.
10. Consider matching challenge grants.
Corporate matching gifts aren’t the only type of match opportunity your organization should keep an eye out for—they’re just the most widely available. But other match-based initiatives, like challenge grants, also have the potential to multiply the impact of a group’s fundraising success.
Rather than a company matching the donations its employees make to charitable causes, challenge grants are facilitated as a way to offer a donation match to all of a nonprofit’s supporters. Typically offered by a generous major donor, corporation, or foundation, these programs are generally organized according to a set time frame (e.g., a 24-hour period) or predetermined threshold (such as up to $10,000). Then, any individual who gives within the time frame prior to the match fund being depleted will have their gift doubled for your cause by the challenge grant supplier.
It’s important to remember, too, that challenge grants and matching gifts are usually not mutually exclusive. That means you can layer a few matching gift opportunities on top of one another (for example, a donor’s gift being matched through a challenge grant and by their employing company) to further amplify your efforts.
And that’s what we recommend doing to celebrate Matching Gift Month!
Bonus: Make matching easy.
Our final idea for celebrating Matching Gift Month is one that will benefit your organization well beyond the 28 (or 29) days of February. A lot of our previous recommendations involve raising awareness of program opportunities in the first place. Now, we suggest going a few steps further and driving matches by simplifying the processes involved.
After all, donors love matching gifts. They love getting the opportunity to multiply their contribution impact. But even your most dedicated supporters might not follow through when the process is too complicated or time-consuming.
That’s why we recommend fundraising organizations employ matching gift software to streamline and simplify the process. For example, Double the Donation empowers nonprofits to:
Not only does this benefit your donors by making matching programs more accessible, but it also ensures more back-end efficiency for your internal team and results in matching gift revenue growth of more than 61%.
Inspiring Matching Gift Month Examples to Review
Drawing inspiration from other nonprofits’ Matching Gift Month efforts can be highly beneficial for organizations strategizing their own campaigns. Not only can successful examples provide invaluable ideas and insights, but they can also spark creativity among your team and establish a deeper understanding of what resonates with nonprofit audiences.
That said, take a look at these Match Month campaigns to aspire to.
Example #1: Matching Gift Month Social Media Post
This independent Massachusetts private school took to Facebook and other social media platforms to promote the corporate matching gift opportunity last Match Month.
This institution uses the post as a way to promote matching gifts and encourage unprecedented individual giving. Not to mention, it links to the school’s matching gifts page and company search tool. These resources can supply additional information and assist supporters in getting started!
Example #2: Matching Gifts Web Page
One university opts to use its matching gift web page as a way to increase awareness about Match Month celebrations.
The blurb, which is embedded in the web page, encourages users to research their companies’ matching gift programs and double their giving impact if they qualify. It also includes an informational matching gift video that uses animated graphics to visualize the institution’s matching gift efforts.
Example #3: Match Month Landing Page
This organization published a dedicated landing page on its website as a way to drive awareness of Matching Gift Month among its supporters.
The page begins with a flashy and eye-catching graphic, shares specific performance metrics that reiterate matching gift impact, and implements an embedded company search tool. It even includes a template supporters can use to advocate for matching gift efforts when their employers lack such programming.
Example #4: Matching Gift Month Blog Post
In order to encourage Match Month participation among its supporters, this nonprofit published an informational blog post on its website.
The article outlines the basics of Matching Gift Month, emphasizes the importance of matching gifts for the organization’s mission, and shares additional resources donors can use to pursue matching gift opportunities (such as a direct link to the dedicated Match Page and integrated search tool). Plus, it uses illustrated statistics to communicate the availability of employee gift-matching in a user-friendly way!
Looking for more matching gift success stories?
Wrapping Up
Matching gifts have the potential to elevate your organization’s fundraising, bringing your overall community impact to new heights. February’s celebrations can be a fantastic opportunity to jumpstart or scale up your efforts. But it’s certainly not the only time to pursue this funding source.
As you aim to drive awareness of (and participation in) the programs this month, remember that the value of a long-term matching gift strategy can boost your fundraising for years to come. Keep in mind that the practices outlined above—and powering your team with the right tools and resources—can help!
Looking for more helpful matching gift resources? Check out our other recommended blog posts to continue learning:
Complete Guide to Matching Gifts
Dive into the basics and beyond with this complete guide to corporate matching gift programs.
Find out everything from common guidelines and well-known programs to streamlining your efforts with matching gift software.
How to Encourage Matching Gifts
Not all match-eligible donors will complete their submission processes right away. Discover several impactful strategies for driving more matches to completion with this smart guide.
Then, incorporate these methods to raise more!
eBook: Matching Gift Marketing
Learn everything there is to know about marketing matching gift programs effectively with our free downloadable resource.
This guide covers top strategies for raising awareness and elevating matching gift fundraising with ease.