Thousands of companies match donations made by employees to a range of nonprofit causes through corporate matching gift programs. However, billions of dollars in available corporate matching revenue go unclaimed each year—largely due to a lack of awareness surrounding the programs and the matching gift guidelines and request process that are required for donors to participate.
A general understanding of corporate giving is a great foundation for maximizing nonprofit revenue. However, in order to succeed in acquiring matching gifts, you’ll need to understand the nitty-gritty elements of program stipulations.
For example, companies are able to decide their specific guidelines for matching gift participation based typically on employee eligibility, nonprofit eligibility, and submission deadlines. From there, the amount that a company will match (per employee per year) is based on a combination of matching gift ratios, minimums, and maximum match amounts.
In this post, we’ll break down the key components of basic matching gift guidelines:
- Match Ratios
- Minimum Match Amounts
- Maximum Match Amounts
- Employee Eligibility
- Nonprofit Eligibility
- Forms and Deadlines
Not to mention, we’ll also provide an overview of the most effective method for determining program eligibility through companies’ matching gift guidelines. Equipped with the right tools, you can easily identify matching gift opportunities and communicate eligibility criteria and next steps to guide donors through the request process.
1. Match Ratios
Companies determine how much to match employee donations based on a preset ratio. In most cases, companies choose to match donations at a dollar-for-dollar rate (otherwise known as a 1:1 ratio).
When a program offers a 1:1 ratio, an employee will donate to an eligible nonprofit, submit their matching gift request to their employer, and then their company will match that gift with the same amount.
For instance, if an employee donates $100 to a nonprofit that’s eligible for the company’s match program, the employer will donate an additional $100. In the end, the nonprofit receives a $200 donation, which is double the original contribution.
Although you can expect to see a lot of 1:1 matching programs, ratios can range from .5:1 (or a $50 corporate donation for a $100 employee gift) all the way up to 4:1 (which would be a $400 company gift in response to a $100 employee contribution). Either way, the nonprofit receiving match funding results in significantly increased amounts flowing to the organization.
Let’s take a look at matching gift ratios in action. Consider these companies, for example:
- Puget Sound Energy matches employee donations at a .5:1 rate.
- Apple matches employee donations at a 1:1 rate.
- Coca-Cola matches employee donations at a 2:1 rate.
Another thing to keep in mind when it comes to matching gift rates is an individual’s employment type. While ratios are typically standardized across all employee types, some companies will vary amounts depending on an employee’s position or type of employment.
For example, part-time employees, retirees, and even team member spouses may have a lower match rate than corporate executives who work for the same company. Take the following companies as an example:
- Soros Fund Management matches donations from partners at a 1:1 rate and employees at a 2:1 rate.
- Johnson & Johnson matches donations from current employees at a 2:1 ratio and retirees at a 1:1 ratio.
Takeaway: Matching gift ratios vary from company to company and may change based on employee position. These stipulations are entirely up to the company, and nonprofits and employees should stay up-to-date on their match opportunities.
2. Minimum Match Amounts
Unfortunately, not every company will match every donation made by an employee—even if they do have a matching gift program in place. In order to qualify for a company match, restrictions are often put in place regarding the minimum donation amount they will match.
If a donor’s contribution falls below that set amount, the company will not match the gift. Keep in mind that this isn’t intended to restrict employees’ philanthropic efforts. Rather, it’s to ensure that employees are requesting matches for causes they truly care about.
Nonetheless, corporate matching gift best practices suggest keeping the minimum low to encourage participation and make the programming accessible to employees of all budget sizes. As a result, some companies will match donations that are as little as $1. However, the most common minimum requirement is $25, with 93% of companies having a minimum match requirement of less than or equal to $50, and the mean minimum amount falling at $34.
Let’s take a look at these companies’ matching gift minimums for a few common examples:
Another thing to note is that, depending on the company, an individual who makes multiple smaller donations within a year may be able to consolidate them into a single donation match request—despite falling beneath their employer’s minimum for any particular gift.
Takeaway: Companies apply minimum matches to ensure that the giving budget goes to nonprofits that employees actually care about. Most often, set minimums are $25, but they range from $1 to $100+.
3. Maximum Match Amounts
In addition to match minimums, companies also put caps on match amounts to ensure there’s enough in the giving budget for each employee to participate. If an employee donates more than the maximum match amount, still, only the defined maximum will be matched by the company.
Maximum matches have quite the range, too. Often, you’ll come across upper limits of between $1,000 and $5,000, with $3,728 as the average maximum threshold. However, there are plenty of companies with matches that are way above that scope.
Take a look at these companies with matching gift caps across the spectrum:
Regardless, each philanthropic program is generous and has the power to make a major difference in the nonprofit world.
Takeaway: Each company has a different maximum amount it will match. Typically, these are around $1,000 to $15,000, but it’s not uncommon to see caps that are higher or lower than this.
4. Employee Eligibility
Often, companies create eligibility requirements for employees that may depend on their position or another factor.
For example, some companies match donations made by any current employee, regardless of full- versus part-time status. Others will match retired individuals’ donations even after they depart from the business. Others still will even match gifts made by an employee’s spouse.
To get a real-world idea of this concept, take a look at these companies:
- Acuity Brands matches donations from directors and executives only.
- British Petroleum (BP) matches donations made from current employees, but not retirees.
- Sherwin-Williams matches donations made from all current employees and retirees.
- ExxonMobil matches donations made from employees, spouses, surviving spouses, and retirees.
Keep in mind that, as previously mentioned, different positions can sometimes mean different match ratios and maximum match amounts, too. For instance, some companies may allow current employees to donate up to a higher amount than retired employees. Another common case is programs that offer executive employees higher maximums than other employees.
Some companies also choose to further reward employees who go the extra mile. For example, take a look at these programs’ matching gift guidelines:
- American Express offers a 1:1 match ratio for employee donations. However, if the donor serves on a nonprofit board or volunteers more than 50 hours in a year, the first $1,000 of their donations will be matched at a 2:1 ratio.
- RealNetworks offers a standard matching gift program, but if an employee works at the company for 5 years, they receive an additional $500 grant for a nonprofit of their choosing.
Takeaway: In most cases, there aren’t too many requirements employees have to meet to be eligible for matching gifts. However, sometimes, companies adjust program criteria based on employees’ positions.
5. Nonprofit Eligibility
Just like there are standards employees have to meet to request matching gift funds, there are requirements for the nonprofits looking to receive match funding, as well.
While companies typically match donations to most registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits, some companies place restrictions on the types of organizations that are eligible. If a company deems a nonprofit ineligible, employee donations made to that organization will not be matched.
Like all other components of corporate giving programs, the eligibility requirements for nonprofits differ from company to company. These restrictions are often put in place because companies want to support organizations that align with their own views and values while avoiding controversial causes.
For example, churches and other religious organizations are often excluded from matching gift programs. However, many companies will match to religiously affiliated organizations that serve a secular purpose (such as an associated K-12 school or food pantry), while others will match to houses of worship all the same.
Other companies may choose a particular type of organization to which it will exclusively match donations. For example, some businesses match only to educational organizations, while others offer higher maximums or match ratios for schools and higher ed institutions.
Take a look at these companies’ nonprofit eligibility criteria:
- Air Products and Chemicals matches donations made to colleges and universities at a 1:1 ratio up to $5,000, arts and cultural organizations at a 2:1 ratio up to $2,000, and environmental and conservation organizations at a 1:1 ratio up to $1,000.
- ExxonMobil has a maximum match amount of $22,500 for donations made to educational institutions, while it will only match up to $2,000 for donations made to cultural organizations.
- Verizon will match up to $5,000 per employee per year to schools or $1,000 per employee per year to other 501(c)(3) organizations.
Takeaway: Companies sometimes place restrictions on which organizations can receive matching gifts. It’s up to donors and nonprofits to be on the lookout for these eligibility requirements.
6. Forms and Submission Deadlines
Once all requirements of a company’s matching gift program have been met, this is when submission forms and deadlines come into play.
As a quick refresher, here’s how the typical process works:
At this point, we’re coming up on the third step in the above procedure. The donor has previously determined that they’re eligible to participate, and now they’re ready to submit their matching gift request.
Though some companies may still utilize paper request forms, most companies are turning to online portals to manage and process employee requests. The bottom line is that there needs to be a way for employees to submit their match requests and the way in which they expect the request to occur should be outlined within the company’s matching gift guidelines.
Regardless of form type, once the donor has navigated to their company’s matching gift forms, they’ll be prompted to provide basic information for the submission. This typically involves details about themself, the specific gift they made (including donation amount, currency, date of transaction, etc.), and the nonprofit that received the donation (such as the organization name, mailing address, and tax ID number).
In addition to the forms themselves, companies also have to define a specific deadline by which the forms must be submitted. For instance, an employee generally can’t donate to a nonprofit and submit a match request two years later.
Instead, in their guidelines, companies might select a specific annually occurring deadline, accept requests for a specific time period (such as six months or one year) after the individual donation was made, fall in line with the end of the calendar year in which the donation was made, or offer a brief extension beyond the calendar year.
To view a few common types, here are request deadlines for several major companies:
- CarMax accepts matching gift requests within 180 days from the date of the donation.
- Microsoft accepts matching gift requests for donations up to 12 months later.
- Boeing accepts matching gift requests from employees until January 31 of the following year after the donation.
Takeaway: Businesses must create accessible forms and define deadlines before putting a match program in place. Nonprofits and their donors need to be aware of these submission instructions and deadlines, otherwise, they may miss out on matching gifts.
Matching Gift Database: Identifying Companies’ Guidelines
Nonprofits need to stay up-to-date on companies’ matching gift guidelines, such as donation minimums, maximums, ratios, eligibility, and so on—and that’s a lot of information to manage. Unfortunately, gathering companies’ guidelines on your own can be a mundane and time-consuming process.
With a matching gift database (like Double the Donation), the research is streamlined and simplified for nonprofits and donors alike.
This type of innovative technology ensures that your organization has access to thousands of companies’ matching gift program guidelines at your fingertips. As a result, you can easily determine donors’ match eligibility potential and communicate the opportunities to qualifying donors.
Specifically, a matching gift database enables you and your donors to:
- Search for 20,000+ companies’ and subsidiaries’ matching gift programs in seconds
- View and share available information (e.g. forms and requirements) for easy access
- Determine matching gift eligibility and next steps
Think your nonprofit can benefit from this type of tool?
With Double the Donation, organizations like yours can even automate the process. From collecting employment data directly within the donation process to quickly determining eligibility and following up via email, no match opportunities will be overlooked.
Matching gift programs have several guidelines that need to be met in order to qualify for participation, all defined by the companies that offer them. As you’ve learned, the most commonly defined elements are the match ratio, minimum and maximum match amounts, employee and nonprofit eligibility, and submission deadlines.
Take all of these factors into account, and equip your team with the tools you need for success, and you’ll be able to effectively increase the funding source for your organization and its mission. Now, get out there and boost your matching gift potential!
Interested in learning more about matching gifts? Check out these additional resources for more corporate giving tips and tricks:
Live Auction – Nonprofit Catalog
/in Nonprofit Basics /by Adam WeingerA live auction has the potential to raise significant funds for your organization. When your auction is held live, you give donors the chance to be recognized publicly for their giving, increasing the desire to give big. Additionally, a talented auctioneer can use the time-limited nature of a live auction to your organization’s advantage to yield the highest return on investment possible. By planning your live auction strategically, you can use it to build the momentum of your event and maximize giving.
What is a Live Auction?
A live auction is the sale of items or experiences that guests at your in-person fundraising event can bid on. An auctioneer or fundraising host will sell the items to your guests live, who will bid until the highest bid is made and the auction item is won.
You can plan a live auction for hybrid or in-person audiences. There will just be a couple of key differences in how you plan your event. For virtual audiences, we recommend having an online auction.
Making Your Live Auction Strategic
Before your event, you’ll secure your live auction items by making strategic asks. Contrary to popular belief, having more items or experiences to sell doesn’t mean you’ll make more money. Focus instead on the value of the package. People’s attention is limited, so we suggest having no more than 12 packages. Many organizations have successful live auctions with only 5-6 packages. The more desirable the package, the higher price it’ll sell for.
Pro tip: Each live auction package will take about 5 minutes to sell. Be sure you have a strategy behind how long your live auction will be so that your guests stay engaged and donors keep giving.
What to Solicit for Your Live Auction
Auction packages that sell well for one audience won’t necessarily do so for another. Know your audience and know who’ll show up live and in the room for your fundraising event. Who are they, what are their interests, and what do they value?
Generally, top-selling packages include:
Avoid items that are subjective like:
Remember, focus on making your live auction packages desirable for donors and empower yourself to get creative! You might even consider combining related experiences into one package to create incentive. For example, you could pair tickets to a local show with an upscale dining experience to give donors the feeling that they’re getting something extra special.
Choosing an Auctioneer for Your Live Auction
Not all auctioneers are a fit for nonprofit fundraising events. You’ll want to hire a professional auctioneer with a Benefit Auction Specialist (BAS) certification. Auctioneers with BAS training will understand how to sell your live auction packages using your mission language rather than relying solely on the items to sell themselves. Additionally, while some auctioneers have the skills to emcee your event, we strongly suggest you hire a separate professional for each.
A Benefit Auction Specialist will help you advance your fundraising in the following ways:
Live Auction Description Formats
While your Benefit Auctioneer will help you sell your live auction packages to your audience, you still have to write auction descriptions for the whole experience to be effective.
You’ll need to write separate descriptions for the following:
Writing Your Live Auction Package Descriptions
The more details you know about each of your live auction packages, the more equipped you’ll be to write engaging and informative descriptions that stand out in your promotional materials.
Follow these best practices when writing your live auction descriptions:
You’re now ready for your live auction! With some strategic planning and coaching and the help of a Benefit Auctioneer, you can have a successful live auction that helps carry your mission forward.
Additional Resources
Nonprofit Basics – Learn more about nonprofit management essentials by exploring other expert resources.
Top 7 Ways to Keep Your Audience Engaged During the Live Auction – Get creative ideas for how to make your live auction a compelling experience for your guests.
Live Auctions: How To Raise More With Consignment Packages – Learn all about consignment packages and how they can benefit you in your live auction.
Nonprofit Basics: Fundraising Thermometer
/in Nonprofit Basics /by Adam WeingerFundraising campaigns are a nonprofit’s bread and butter when it comes to getting donations. Since these campaigns can last for days or weeks, donors and participants need to be able to track the progress made. Nonprofits use a variety of marketing tactics to promote their progress, including social media posts, email reminders, and other forms of outreach. A fundraising thermometer can be another effective tool to show your campaign’s progress and get supporters excited about helping to reach your goal.
What is a fundraising thermometer?
A fundraising thermometer is a graphic that represents the progress a nonprofit organization has made throughout a fundraising campaign. A fundraising thermometer can be a tangible visual, such as a poster or drawing on a whiteboard, that is updated as the fundraising campaign progresses. It can also be a virtual representation that is automatically updated as new donations come in.
Fundraising Thermometer FAQs
When can you use a fundraising thermometer?
Fundraising thermometers can be useful additions to your marketing strategy for almost any event. However, they can be particularly effective for events like:
Fundraising thermometers can be used as an engaging visual for nearly any event to encourage greater giving. Regardless of whether the event is in-person or online, you can always find a place for your thermometer that will provide maximum impact.
Where can you display a fundraising thermometer?
Depending on the type of fundraising campaign you’re hosting, you might choose to display your fundraising thermometer in person or online. Here are a few options for where to showcase a fundraising thermometer:
Aside from encouraging greater giving, fundraising thermometers are a great way for viewers to quickly grasp how close you are to your next goal. You can make your thermometer as simple or as complicated as you want, depending on the tools you use to create it.
How can you create a fundraising thermometer?
Fundraising thermometers can be in person or digital. You have a few options for creating your thermometer:
Making a fundraising thermometer doesn’t have to be difficult, and including one in your fundraising activities helps you garner more engagement and donations. It’s worth taking the time and effort to make one!
Other Resources to Explore
Nonprofit Basics – Learn more nonprofit management essentials by exploring other expert resources.
8+ Quick Fundraising Ideas that Work [Updated 2022] – Looking for a fundraising idea that might offer a good opportunity to make a fundraising thermometer? Check out this list.
4 DIY Fundraising Ideas to Boost Participation & Donations – Read more about DIY campaigns, one of the fastest-growing types of peer-to-peer fundraising.
Nonprofit Basics: Strategic Philanthropy
/in Nonprofit Basics /by Adam WeingerA significant amount of time, resources, and effort goes into powering social change.
Many of the problems we strive to address today require well-researched and detailed strategies from a variety of actors in the nonprofit sector. To make sense of this process, funders have turned to the model of strategic philanthropy.
With principles that are simple and straightforward to follow, this model guides charitable organizations toward crafting a strategy for contributing the right funds to the right places in order to further their particular missions.
What is strategic philanthropy?
Strategic philanthropy is a philanthropic model that involves allocating funding to charitable work according to a concrete, overarching strategy in pursuit of a definable mission. For individual donors, charitable foundations, corporations, and governments, this model can serve as an effective basis for determining where to direct their financial support.
Some basic elements of strategic philanthropy include:
In order to foster a healthy funder-funded relationship, remember to prioritize reporting and communication. Whether you’re interfacing with partners and stakeholders during the funding cycle or conducting a social impact assessment for outcome measurement, sharing metrics will allow you to demonstrate the tangible results of financial contributions.
While strategic philanthropy lays out a reliable framework for social-good organizations to determine how best to allocate their funds, applications of this model have led to several notable critiques. Because of this, many funders are adjusting their approach. Strategic philanthropy is evolving, and for the better.
What are other philanthropic models?
In recent years, several other approaches to philanthropy have come to prominence. The limits and perceived inflexibility of strategic philanthropy have become increasingly visible in many contexts, especially for more dynamic challenges that require changes across an entire system. So what are philanthropic organizations turning to instead?
The spotlight has fallen onto collaboration and communication, ensuring that foundations, nonprofits, and their constituents are well-aligned in their missions, financial strategies, and goals. This includes keeping all stakeholders updated on collected data or potential issues. One particular model that has begun to rise in popularity is emergent philanthropy.
What is emergent philanthropy?
Emergent philanthropy is an approach that emphasizes collaborating with multiple organizations and partners to co-create a strategy that will be refined as it’s applied in order to maximize on-the-ground impact. In response to strategic philanthropy’s fixed predictive model, this model is all about flexibility.
Complex problems in the world of social change require strategies that have the ability to adapt to the many moving parts of a given plan or initiative. Emergent philanthropy acknowledges that generating social progress can be messy and, therefore, leans into the need to regularly modify and communicate changes to strategy based on current needs and past results.
Participatory grantmaking is an inclusive process that has sprouted from the ideas of emergent philanthropy. This practice addresses the problematic disconnect that can often develop between philanthropic organizations and nonprofits while pursuing their predefined objectives. By prioritizing real-time communication of funding impact and potential strategy issues, you’ll be able to stay on the same page with your stakeholders and partners to drive the most effective impact.
What are the critiques of strategic philanthropy?
The model of strategic philanthropy has many merits, especially when it comes to tackling simple and even complicated problems in society. However, when organizations attempt to deal with complex problems, with interventions aimed at systemic change, this logic model becomes limiting.
The basis of strategic philanthropy rests upon a single overarching plan, backed by research, that determines how the stakeholders of a charitable mission make decisions and carry out activities to reach their objectives. Adhering strictly to a predetermined plan becomes increasingly difficult as a multitude of unpredictable factors begins to impact stakeholders at all levels.
Whether you’re working with grantmaking organizations such as a corporation’s philanthropic branch or just interacting with others within your nonprofit, the emergent model’s principles of collaboration and communication attempt to address the challenges that emerge from the complexity of social change.
How is strategic philanthropy evolving?
With the help of updated approaches such as participatory grantmaking, real-time communication, and updated technology, the traditional strategic philanthropy model is evolving into a more adaptive, modernized form.
Many philanthropic organizations and nonprofits have come to realize the need for more flexible approaches to their goals. SureImpact walks through the new philanthropic model of the Siemer Institute, a foundation that effectively adapted its approach to philanthropy through improved communication, data reporting, and software training.
As these innovative practices continue to rise to the forefront of philanthropy, organizations and nonprofits alike will be much better equipped to maximize their social impact.
Other Resources to Explore
Nonprofit Basics – Learn more nonprofit management essentials by exploring other expert resources.
Nonprofit Basics: Nonprofit Accounting – Collecting and sharing data is crucial for your nonprofit’s financial strategy and relationships with donors. Read more about fund accounting essentials in this guide.
Nonprofit Basics: The Donor Pyramid – Discover how to optimize your donor communications and engagement by creating a donor pyramid for your nonprofit.
Matching Gift Videos | Examples and Best Practices
/in Learning Center, About Double the Donation, Marketing Strategies, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerCorporate matching gifts can significantly benefit any institution’s fundraising efforts. Raising awareness of the programs is essential, however, as available opportunities are often overlooked, especially for organizations developing a new matching gift program. For nonprofits, schools, and other fundraising organizations, matching gift videos may be just the answer you were looking for.
In this guide, we’ll walk through the basics of matching gift videos (and how to create the most impactful content for your audience), as well as share high-performing examples from organizations to be inspired by. Feel free to explore the following topics:
In the age of YouTube, TikTok, social media reels, and more, video is a favorite channel for content creators to share important information and engage with their audiences. And, when done well, viewers love to watch them (on average, for a total of 100+ minutes a day).
When it comes to matching gifts, you may already have a good amount of content on your website—perhaps a dedicated match page, informative blog posts, and even a matching gift widget on your donation forms.
But did you know that research indicates viewers retain significantly more of a message when they watch it in video format (95%) compared to written text (10%)? Thus, matching gift videos can be a powerful tool for effectively marketing matching gift opportunities to your institution’s supporters.
Let’s dive in with a few tried-and-true tips and tricks for creating optimized matching gift video content.
6 Best Practices for Producing Impactful Matching Gift Videos
A well-made video has the ability to engage its audience from beginning to end, share vital information that is processed and retained, and remain at the top of the viewers’ minds for long after the last second is up. Plus, video has only gotten increasingly popular according to shifting trends.
Follow these tips to create a video that elevates your matching gift strategy and meets the above standards and more.
1. Embed the video on your matching gift web page.
In order for your matching gift video to produce the greatest results, you’ll want to ensure it reaches the widest audience. One of the best ways to do so is by embedding the video directly into your organization’s matching gift page. After all, this is where supporters will navigate to learn more about matching gift program opportunities, so it makes sense that it’s the key location in which your video will live. Then, be sure to share your matching gift page with supporters and potential donors alike.
We also recommend incorporating your video in donor-facing communications such as donation receipts and gift acknowledgments, as well as any campaign landing pages for giving days, peer-to-peer fundraisers, annual fund campaigns, and more. The more opportunities you have for donors to engage with your video, the better you’ll fare!
2. Start by introducing matching gifts as a concept.
Before you dive into the nitty gritty of matching gifts in your donor-facing video, it’s a good idea to cover the basics. After all, tons of donors will have never heard of matching gifts prior to being introduced via your newly developed content.
Thus, we recommend starting at the beginning. Explain what corporate matching gift programs are, provide an overview of the wide availability of the initiatives, and emphasize how matches are made possible through the direct actions of individual donors.
3. Highlight how quick and simple the matching process is.
Most companies with matching gift programs offer a simple request process that can be kicked off online in less than five minutes. However, donors who don’t understand what’s involved in matching gift programs may assume that it’s a significant undertaking.
Be sure to emphasize the speed and simplicity of the donor’s end of the process! Typically, all it takes is some basic information about the donor, their initial donation, and the organization they supported.
You might even mention how it’s typically an entirely digitized submission experience, often involving an online portal or PDF form to complete. Plus, some companies now offer auto-submission, allowing their employees to submit a request in just a few clicks without ever leaving the organization’s giving page!
4. Keep your content short, sweet, and to the point.
There’s a ton you could say about matching gifts if you were, for example, giving a multi-hour lecture on workplace giving programs. In your matching gift video, however, it’s best to keep it short and sweet.
You’ll want to cover the basics of matching gifts and provide enough of a foundation to draw donors in and inspire them to participate. But you don’t want to lose your audience’s attention, so you’ll want to stick with an overview (with a call to action to dive in). 60 seconds is our recommended run time!
5. Incorporate closed captioning for increased accessibility.
If your matching gift video will include a voiceover or other speaking parts, it’s important to add closed captioning for the text. This will allow for optimal accessibility, enabling individuals who are hard of hearing and those watching without volume to get the most out of your video content.
6. Direct viewers to additional resources.
Your matching gift video is great for providing an overview of matching gift programs quickly and effectively. But it’s not the only source of information on matching gifts you should make available to your supporters. Thus, in your video, we recommend directing viewers to additional resources as well. This may include your dedicated matching gift web page, company search tool, or even resources on Double the Donation’s website.
Sample Matching Gift Videos Created That Work
See our best practices in action by exploring existing matching gift videos created and utilized by organizations like yours. As you watch these videos, consider which elements can be brought into your own video production strategy to drive success.
Virginia Commonwealth University — You could double your donation! | Matching Gifts
Virginia Commonwealth University produced this video in early 2020 to educate donors about the impact and availability of matching gifts. Get inspired by their matching gift video here:
Summary of the Matching Gift Video
Virginia Commonwealth University’s matching gift video stars two sets of look-alikes, each donning VCU apparel to represent matching gift opportunities to their audience.
The video shows the pairs walking through three key steps that a viewer can take to get their donation matched to VCU. These include navigating to the school’s matching gift page with its embedded company search tool, making an individual donation at the provided giving page URL, and following the instructions provided to request a match.
Here are a few standout screengrabs:
What this Matching Gift Video Does Well
Virginia Commonwealth University’s matching gift video stands out for its:
Case Western Reserve University — CRWU Annual Giving Matching Gifts
Case Western Reserve University is another example of a higher education institution that uses a top-notch matching gift video to communicate the importance of corporate matching opportunities. Take a look at their video here:
Summary of the Matching Gift Video
CWRU’s matching gift video utilizes animated elements to highlight matching gift opportunities to viewers. The video begins by likening matching gifts to more common “deals” such as BOGO (buy one, get one free) sales, instant rebates, and more to establish the value of these programs.
From there, they continue to convey that matching gifts are widely available and allow donors to create a greater impact with their gifts while directing the audience to their dedicated matching gift web page to learn more. Finally, they concluded with a powerful data point that states that the school collected nearly $300,000 in matching gift funds the previous year, encouraging viewers to follow suit.
Here are a few standout screengrabs:
What this Matching Gift Video Does Well
Case Western Reserve University’s matching gift video stands out for its:
Other Unique Ideas for Nonprofit Matching Gift Videos
We’ve shared several tips and examples for effective matching gift videos—but what exactly should your video contain?
Here are some content ideas that can help guide the creation of your nonprofit or school’s matching gift video to ensure it stands out, resonates with your supporters, and drives impact.
Share a constituent story.
One of the main reasons donors participate in matching programs is because they want to increase their impact on a cause they care about. Make the most of that idea by telling specific constituent stories that will connect with your audience and urge them to do more.
For example, consider sharing about one student we’ll call Jack. Jack was able to pursue a degree and thrive at your university thanks to a scholarship opportunity made possible by generous donor funding. Now, enter Jill. When donors request matching gifts on behalf of your institution, it allows you to support twice as many students—including Jack’s sister, Jill.
Use relevant imagery to help visualize matching.
Videos rely on incorporated imagery to grab and maintain viewers’ attention and interest. In order to represent an abstract concept such as matching gifts, we recommend utilizing applicable symbols.
A few of our favorites include a pair of matching (or mismatched) socks and identical gift boxes. Other ideas may include twins or look-alikes (human or otherwise), multiple briefcases or stacks of cash, matching games, or complementary puzzle pieces. The more creative, the better!
Conduct a brief matching gift FAQ.
Many donors will have questions about matching gift programs, the role they play in fundraising, and how an individual would get involved. Answer some of the most commonly asked questions rapid-fire style to provide all the information an individual would need to get started and remove possible roadblocks before they even arise.
Alternatively, you could ask your audience what questions they might have about corporate gift-matching, then create a matching gift video for your organization based on the inquiries provided.
Highlight matching gift fundraising statistics.
Matching gift statistics can be one of the most effective ways to communicate the power and prevalence of matching gift program opportunities to your audience.
When a donor hears something like, “$4 to $7 billion in matching gift funds goes unclaimed per year,” or “Over 26 million individuals work for companies with matching gift programs,” they may be more inclined to look into their own matching gift eligibility status and, as a result, request a match on your behalf.
Interested in including matching gift stats? Here are a few of our other favorites:
Emphasize local businesses with matching gift programs.
Many businesses have local roots, which means there are likely many opportunities for corporate matching programs right in your neighborhood. Research a few companies’ programs and consider highlighting the opportunities in your matching gift videos!
For example, if you’re fundraising for an organization in Atlanta, you may choose to highlight companies based out of the city, such as Coca-Cola, Home Depot, IBM, and more. Then, don’t forget to inform your audience that tons more companies across the country or even the globe offer these programs as well. They’re typically not restricted to a single geographic location, meaning all donors should look into their employers’ available matching initiatives.
Bonus! Get a Matching Gift Video From Double the Donation
In case you don’t have an in-house production team, we wanted to make it as quick and as easy as possible to acquire an impactful matching gift video for your audience. That’s why Double the Donation is now offering matching gift video production services!
Existing Double the Donation clients have two options…
Free Generic Matching Gift Video
Getting started with a Double the Donation-branded, 60-second overview of the matching gift opportunity and how Double the Donation’s tools can help is easy—and free!
Ready to download your matching gift video? Simply navigate to the Marketing tab in your account. From there, scroll to the Matching Gift Videos section, locate the FREE Matching Gift Video for Donors, and select Download Now. The video will instantly begin to download to your device, and from there you can upload it to your matching gift page and other fundraising resources.
Custom-Branded Matching Gift Video
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a video that will match your organization’s branding and style—complete with your logos, colors, and more—a personalized matching gift video is the way to go. And now, you can request one from the Double the Donation team in seconds for a small fee.
To do so, head to the Marketing tab in your Double the Donation account, and locate the Matching Gift Videos module. Select the Learn More button from the Personalized Video for Your Nonprofit section, and you’ll be prompted to complete a brief form that requests your organization name, logo image file, and primary brand color.
From the time you submit your inquiry, you can expect to receive the completed video in approximately five business days—and it will be delivered straight to the email address indicated on the video request form!
Learn more about requesting a matching gift video from Double the Donation here.
That’s a Wrap!
Matching gift videos can be a particularly effective (and memorable) way to communicate information about matching gift programs and encourage donors to participate. With these tips, tricks, and examples in your back pocket, you should be well on your way to creating impactful videos for your nonprofit or educational institution. Best of luck!
Interested in learning more about strategic matching gift marketing best practices? Check out our other blog posts here:
What Is an Email Append? All Your Questions Answered
/in Learning Center, Learning Center, Marketing Strategies /by Adam WeingerEmail marketing is an extremely cost-effective way to reach out to your supporters. Compared to other types of marketing, email campaigns don’t require any physical materials or the same level of staff time. Not to mention, they also offer a higher response rate than other marketing methods such as direct mail or phone calls.
Therefore, email marketing is an effective communication channel for getting in touch with your supporters and sending them valuable information.
However, the email addresses in your supporter database may not be accurate or may be missing entirely for some supporters. With email appends, you can stay on top of your email address data and have more time to focus on your campaigns’ content.
We’re here to answer your questions about email appends, so you can successfully deliver more emails and ultimately boost your marketing ROI. To cover all of the essential topics, we’ve compiled a list of the most frequently asked email append questions, including:
At Double the Donation, we help connect nonprofits with matching gift opportunities. Email is one of our primary forms of communication with our clients and their match-eligible donors, so we understand how important it is to have the correct email addresses for each of your contacts. That’s why we’ve written this guide to email appends. Our goal is to make sure your nonprofit can leverage this useful data for easier communication with your supporters.
Since we have a lot to cover in this guide, let’s should get started!
What Is an Email Append?
An email append occurs when an organization submits information from its supporter database to an email append service and receives updated supporter email addresses in return.
To help correctly locate email addresses, some of the identifying information the nonprofit might share with the data appends provider can include full names, postal addresses, past email addresses, and other details they have on file. The provider will then match the information against their database to obtain the most recent contact information. Since it’s easy for email addresses to become outdated, email appends are extremely helpful in making sure you can stay in touch with your supporters.
Why Does My Organization Need Email Appends?
It’s very common for email addresses in your supporter database to be incorrect. Think about how many times you’ve changed an email address, abandoned one, or gotten a new one. Here are some examples of situations that could cause email addresses to be incorrect or become outdated:
With this lengthy list in mind, it’s clear to see how it’s incredibly likely that your supporter database includes invalid email addresses, which can make your communication with your supporters less effective.
How Will My Nonprofit Benefit from Email Appends?
As we previously discussed, you may have missing or inaccurate information regarding your supporters’ email addresses. Email appends will help fill in the gaps so you can communicate with as many of your supporters as possible.
When you have a strong collection of supporter email addresses, opportunities open up for how you can communicate and share information with them. Check out these six areas that will improve by using email appends:
How Email Appends Will Impact Your Marketing Performance
In addition to the ones listed above, there are so many other benefits that email appends provide, specifically for the quality of your email communications. Some of the most impactful benefits you can expect on your marketing performance include:
Email appends can help you with your marketing efforts and overall data hygiene. To add the updated contact information to your supporter database, you’ll need to work with an email append service for help with the process.
How Can My Organization Obtain Email Appends?
If your organization is interested in email appends, you’ll need some help getting the necessary data. That’s where an email append service comes in.
Hiring an email append service simplifies the email append process. It will be your job to give them access to the relevant identifying donor data from your supporter database. In return, they’ll send you the email appends they find.
Here’s a list of different information types you can send an email append service to utilize as they search for your supporters’ current email addresses:
Email append service providers will know that you probably don’t have all of this information on hand, and that’s okay. Just give them as much as you have to make their job easier.
Using the data you provide them, your email append service provider will find your email appends in different online databases. To ensure that they’re accurate, most providers will perform some sort of accuracy check or scan before sending them back to your organization.
Are There Other Types of Data Appends Beyond Email Appends?
Email appends aren’t the only data append type out there. If you’re missing other data from your supporters, chances are there are appends available to help acquire that information.
Here are some kinds of data appends that data append services typically offer:
Combining your appended email addresses with other data appends can create even more value for your nonprofit. For example, you can use date of birth appends to segment your supporters by age. Then, you can leverage your email appends to send personalized newsletters to each age group with relevant organization updates and opportunities.
To knock out all your data appends at once, it’s best to find a data append service that will provide all the data append types you need. That way, they can extract all the information and import it into your CRM all at once.
How Can Different Nonprofits Leverage Email Appends?
Organizations of all kinds communicate with their supporters via email. Therefore, there’s a high chance your nonprofit could benefit from email appends by emulating the ways other organizations leverage them.
If you’re not sure how your organization could best leverage email appends, we have a couple of examples of how different nonprofits use them to assist them in their communication with their supporters.
Bear in mind that to leverage email appends to their fullest potential, you’ll need to contact an email append service provider and chat about your nonprofit’s unique needs.
To start, use these examples for inspiration:
Environmental Nonprofits
It’s important that your organization’s operations align with your nonprofit’s values. That’s why environmental nonprofits choose to communicate in ways that are better for the environment. Direct mail can waste paper that can be saved by communicating through email instead.
Email appends ensure that these organizations can stay true to their missions while still fostering effective communication with their supporters.
Schools
Schools and universities rely on their alumni for donations, volunteers, and feedback. However, once people graduate, they typically abandon their university email accounts. Additionally, young alumni may start new jobs or enroll in graduate school, acquiring new email addresses as they go.
With the help of email appends, schools and universities can make sure they continue their relationships with alumni wherever they go after graduation.
Associations
It can be difficult to reach association members through direct mail, especially if they’re spread out around the globe. Staying in contact with members through email is important because it reminds them of the perks of their membership and updates them about upcoming events and initiatives.
Cultural Institutions
Cultural institutions such as museums, zoos, and aquariums are nothing without their members and visitors. They depend on membership fees and ticket revenue to stay running. Therefore, it’s necessary to keep supporters engaged through email to encourage them to come back and check out new events and exhibits.
Political Organizations
Informing people about important issues can be difficult over the phone and through text messages. Emails from political organizations allow people to digest the information on their own time and refer back to it when it’s time to vote.
All Nonprofits
Any nonprofit can use email appends to identify matching gift opportunities. With business email appends, your organization can easily identify your supporters’ employers and research their matching gift programs. If you already know your supporters’ employers, you can leverage email appends to reach out to potential donors and inform them of their employers’ matching gift programs to encourage them to donate.
What Qualities Should a Good Email Append Service Possess?
There are lots of email append services out there, so what makes one right for your organization? If you’ve never used an email append service before, it can be difficult to know what to look for and which claims are actually important.
Here’s a list of qualities that every reliable email append service should possess:
When you’re looking for your email append service, keep these qualities in mind to find the best service for your organization.
Conclusion
Considering how widespread email newsletters, updates, and general communications are for nonprofits, it makes sense that any organization would benefit from email appends.
At their core, email appends ensure that you’re reaching your intended audience and retaining relationships with your supporters. Additionally, they’ll provide more information about your supporters, which is always helpful for guiding your decisions as an organization.
Now that you know all about email appends, you might want to learn more about other types of data appends that could benefit your organization. Check out these data append resources below:
Nonprofit Basics: Nonprofit Jobs
/in Nonprofit Basics /by Adam WeingerThe nonprofit world is full of talented individuals working to further charitable missions. From executive directors to grant coordinators to volunteers, there are a variety of roles that need to be filled for a nonprofit organization to run smoothly.
What are examples of nonprofit jobs?
There are many different types of nonprofit jobs, such as the following:
There are plenty of jobs available underneath these umbrellas as well. For example, a marketing department for a large nonprofit might include a marketing director, a social media manager, and a public relations specialist.
How to prepare for a nonprofit job
Jobs in the nonprofit industry are not significantly different from jobs in other industries. However, if you’re specifically interested in nonprofit jobs, here are some ways you can prepare for them:
You don’t necessarily have to specialize in nonprofit topics to be employed in the nonprofit sector. There are many skills from a variety of jobs that are applicable in nonprofits as well. However, it may be worth it to do more research and get some experience in the industry if you know you want to work in it.
How to find nonprofit job opportunities
After learning more about nonprofit job responsibilities, perhaps you’ve decided that you are very interested in working in the industry. But you’re not sure where you should look for nonprofit jobs. Here are a few places that you can search:
Having a nonprofit career can be very rewarding, as you will be working with like-minded individuals dedicated to improving society. Just with making any other career move, make sure you take the time to research and learn more about the industry and the specific organizations you’re interested in.
Other Resources to Explore
Nonprofit Basics – Learn more nonprofit management essentials by exploring other expert resources.
Nonprofit Fundraising Training: FAQs and 8 Top Resources – Curious about fundraising training? You can find answers to commonly asked questions here.
Nonprofit Conferences That You Won’t Want to Miss in 2022 & 2023 – Nonprofit conferences are an opportunity to meet and discuss the state of the nonprofit world. Check out this list of top conferences in 2022 and 2023.
What Is a Date of Birth Append? A Comprehensive Guide
/in Learning Center, Marketing Strategies, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerWhen collecting information from your supporters, you’ll probably capture bits and pieces of who they are. You’ll learn their names, email addresses, and phone numbers just to name a few. However, there are probably some snippets of information you don’t collect that could really benefit your organization’s understanding of your supporters.
Date of birth is one such category of information you might not gather from supporters, and that’s where a date of birth append comes in handy. Some people might not want to offer their date of birth to an organization to reveal how old they are. Additionally, they may not see how that information could improve their experience with your nonprofit. Frankly, you might not understand how having one’s date of birth could help your organization either.
However, gathering date of birth appends can actually help your organization communicate more effectively with your supporters once you know a little more about them.
In this guide, we’ll answer questions you may have about what a date of birth append is and how it works. The questions we’ll be covering include:
Here at Double the Donation, we help make the matching gift process easy for nonprofits. Considering our focus on efficiency, we know how important it is for nonprofits to have easy access to the data they need to improve their communications with supporters. This guide will walk you through date of birth appends and how they can help out your organization.
With that in mind, let’s get started learning about date of birth appends!
What Is a Date of Birth Append?
A date of birth append comprises an individual’s day, month, and year of birth sourced from a public database of demographic information. You use the information supporters have already shared with your organization to successfully identify them and pull the correct birthdate. This might include their full name, contact information, and education.
Knowing your supporters’ dates of birth can allow you to send customized messages based on age and birthday, resulting in a higher ROI for your marketing efforts.
What Are the Benefits of Date of Birth Appends?
Data about supporters, such as their email addresses or phone numbers, have obvious benefits. They allow you to get in touch with your supporters in different ways to share important updates, request donations, or let them know about upcoming events.
The benefits of knowing a supporter’s birthdate may not be as clear to you, so we’ve developed a list of some of the top advantages of using date of birth appends, including:
If any of these birthdate append benefits seem useful to your organization, you might be wondering how to move forward with the date of birth append process. Let’s make sure you fully understand the process so that you can experience all of the great advantages we just covered!
How Does the Date of Birth Append Process Work?
Once you’ve decided that you want to conduct a date of birth append, it’s important to know how the process works so you can be prepared. To conduct a date of birth append, most organizations use a date of birth append service that finds the information for them. These services make it way easier for you to secure the data you need without wasting your team’s time.
For a date of birth append service to help you out, you must first give them the data you currently have for each of your supporters. They accept a variety of information, including:
Don’t worry if your nonprofit doesn’t have all that information, though! As with any data append, just provide as much information as you can. That way, it’s easier for the date of birth append service to correctly identify your supporters and find the birthdates you’re looking for.
After receiving the information you’ve provided, date of birth append services will search public demographic information databases to match birthdates to your supporters. To ensure they pull accurate records, most service providers perform some sort of accuracy scan or check. They may also assign an accuracy rating to each birthdate append based on the results of the scan to share with your team.
At the end of the process, your date of birth append service provider will send you your birthdate appends and related accuracy information if applicable.
Hopefully, you’ll leave the process satisfied with the data you’ve received and have a more complete picture of your supporters. However, you might be missing other information that similar data append services can also help you with.
What Other Types of Data Appends Are There Aside from Birthdate Appends?
Most date of birth append services offer much more than just birthdates. If you find a comprehensive data append service, they will be able to help you with all kinds of data appends. Here are some other common types of data appends your organization might benefit from:
The best part about using a general data append service is that they’ll likely provide you with all your data appends at once. That way, there’s no need to go through multiple rounds of pulling data, resulting in a quicker experience for your team. Equipped with all your new data, you’ll be able to immediately update your supporter database and start sending out more personalized campaigns.
How Do Organizations Use Date of Birth Appends?
Earlier on, we introduced some of the benefits of date of birth appends, but what might they look like for your nonprofit in particular? Different organizations use date of birth appends to personalize their marketing efforts and offerings based on age and birthday.
To help you gauge what this might look like for your organization, here are some specific ways nonprofits take advantage of birthdate appends:
Hopefully, these use cases gave you a better idea of how your organization could leverage date of birth appends. If so, you’ll want to move forward by leveraging a date of birth append service provider.
Which Date of Birth Append Service Provider Is Right for Me?
If you’re researching date of birth append service providers, you might be overwhelmed by the number of options you have. It’s helpful to know what to look for when selecting which service you’ll work with. After all, you’ll be entrusting them with sensitive data and will expect them to provide efficient, accurate results.
That’s why we’ve put together this list of guarantees every good birthdate append service should provide, including:
Keep these qualities in mind when looking for a date of birth append service provider, and you’re sure to find one that will handle your supporters’ data with care and give you the information you need.
Additional Resources
With date of birth appends, you’ll be able to communicate with your supporters in more personalized ways. Whether you send them birthday wishes or include them in an age-specific campaign, gathering date of birth information will get you one step closer to a complete picture of who your supporters are and how you can best reach out to them.
As we mentioned before, you may be looking for other types of appends or resources about supporter data. If so, we’re here to help you out with these relevant articles:
What Is Phone Number Appending? How the Process Works
/in Learning Center, Marketing Strategies, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerThese days, people are glued to their phones, and most would probably consider either texting or calling as their primary form of communication with others. Therefore, making sure the phone numbers you have for your supporters are up to date is essential for smooth and effective communication with them.
Even if you know how important it is to have phone numbers for your supporters, you may not know how to go about gathering that information. Of course, you could periodically ask your supporters if they’ve gotten a new phone number. However, phone number appending is a much simpler way to collect phone numbers without bothering your supporters.
Phone number appending ensures that you have accurate phone numbers so that you can effectively reach out to your supporters and keep them engaged with your organization. Whether you’re updating contact information or missing phone numbers from several individuals, phone appends can help you round out your supporter data without your supporters having to lift a finger.
Before seriously considering this type of service, you might have some questions about the phone number appending process. Here are some questions we’ll go over in this article:
At Double the Donation, our main focus is educating nonprofits about matching gift opportunities and software. Matching gift software makes the process of acquiring matching gifts easier, just as phone appends make gathering current contact information for your supporters more efficient. We’re happy to help nonprofits find ways to get the resources they need that will make their operations run smoother. That way, they can save time and reallocate it where it’s really needed.
Click on the questions you’re wondering about to learn more or keep scrolling to answer them all!
What is Phone Number Appending?
Phone number appending is the process of inputting supporter data into phone append software and receiving missing and updated phone numbers back.
When leveraging a data append provider, you’ll simply provide them with identifying information for each supporter. Then, they’ll use that information to correctly identify them within their comprehensive database of phone numbers. That way, you can contact your supporters using the correct information. Doing so will ensure that you’re reaching your target audience.
What Advantages Does Phone Number Appending Provide?
Your organization likely already has phone numbers for some or all of your supporters. However, people change their phone numbers all the time, so the ones you have may no longer be accurate.
Phone number appending provides several general benefits for your organization, such as:
In addition to these general advantages of phone appending, there are certain types of fundraising and outreach that your organization can leverage or improve with updated supporter phone number data.
Specific Use Cases for Phone Number Appends
Of course, the top advantage of phone number appending is being able to actually reach your supporters, but what does that look like in different scenarios? Here are three different areas where phone number appending is particularly useful:
If we’ve convinced you how important phone appends are, you might want to jump right into the process. Lucky for you, we’ll walk you through it step by step.
What Does the Phone Number Appending Process Look Like?
Hiring a reliable phone append service provider makes phone number appending a breeze. All you have to do is supply them with the supporter information you do have so they can give you the phone numbers you need.
Examples of information you can provide to a phone append provider include:
You don’t need to have all of this information to go through the phone number appending process. However, the more data you give to your phone append provider, the easier it will be for them to find accurate data.
Once your phone append service provider has your supporters’ information, they can use it to find recent numbers for your constituents. In most cases, they’ll obtain the numbers from a variety of data sources online.
To help you determine how accurate the phone appends they’ve found are, some phone append providers will run the numbers through software that checks for accuracy and may even conduct manual checks. They will then rate the accuracy of each append so you know how much you can trust each one.
Lastly, your phone append service will send you the complete phone appends. From here, update your nonprofit’s CRM with the new and missing phone numbers for your supporters.
Can I Get Other Kinds of Data Appends?
Yes! There are plenty of other kinds of data appends, and most phone append services will offer them in addition to phone appends. If your nonprofit needs other data appends, check which ones your phone append service provides. Since they’ll likely pull the data all at once, they’ll probably them back to you at the same time as your phone appends.
There are several common types of data appends you can leverage, including:
While employer appends can help you identify matching gift opportunities, email, postal address, and date of birth appends can improve your communication with supporters. Ultimately, strengthening your database with this information will allow you to cultivate stronger relationships and push your work forward altogether.
What Are Some Examples of How Nonprofits Actually Use Phone Appends?
If you’re still unclear about whether your nonprofit could benefit from phone appends, it might help to hear some real examples of how organizations have used them in the past. That way, you can compare these organizations’ situations to your own to figure out if you should move forward with the phone number appending process.
Here are some organization types that use phone appends and what they use them for:
Universities
We mentioned before how phonathons are a great way to connect with alumni and potentially receive donations from them. Besides phonathons, universities can also use phone appends to update alumni about current campus initiatives and invite them to alumni-specific events.
Political Organizations
Especially in the midst of election seasons, it’s important to communicate your most important issues to voters and how your organization aims to solve them. However, these issues can be too complicated to spell out in a text or email. Contacting constituents over the phone presents the opportunity for you to actually converse with them about important topics and answer any questions they may have.
Advocacy Groups
If any of your supporters are young adults, you’ll want to contact them in their preferred style of communication: texting. With phone appends, advocacy groups can share information about their causes with younger supporters using SMS outreach. That way, they can be sure that they’re reaching out to their supporters in ways that work best for them.
Public Broadcasting Services
Does your organization run pledge drives on the radio or TV? Chances are, it’d be helpful to feature testimonies from real supporters. By calling previous donors and asking them to give a statement about their involvement with your nonprofit, you can encourage new donors to donate and one-time donors to convert into recurring donors.
Takeaway: Phone appends provide all sorts of benefits depending on your organization’s needs. If you’re unsure how it might play into your team’s strategies, feel free to ask your service provider about how they’ve seen other organizations leverage them. With that in mind, it’s time to find a phone append service that will provide you with accurate results.
Are There Guidelines for Selecting a Phone Append Service?
There are a couple of things to keep in mind when choosing a phone append service. After all, picking the right one could make the process quick and easy whereas selecting one that does not fit your organization’s needs or standards could be a waste of your time.
There are some guidelines for picking the phone append service provider that’s right for your nonprofit. For example, you’ll want to find a phone append provider that:
Think about which of these guidelines are most important to your organization and prioritize them when you conduct your phone append service search. It’s even possible to find a phone append provider that has it all. For example, NPOInfo by Double the Donation offers everything we’ve listed above.
Wrapping Up
Communication with your donors and volunteers is what ensures lasting relationships and support. To make sure you can effectively reach out to your supporters through texts or phone calls, reach out to a phone append service and learn more about how they could help you find the phone numbers you need.
Once you have your phone appends, you might be looking for more tips that will help you keep donors and volunteers around. Check out these resources for advice on how to retain your supporters and put your phone appends to good use:
Matching Gift Guidelines | Ratios, Minimums, Maximums & More
/in Learning Center, Matching Gift Companies /by Adam WeingerThousands of companies match donations made by employees to a range of nonprofit causes through corporate matching gift programs. However, billions of dollars in available corporate matching revenue go unclaimed each year—largely due to a lack of awareness surrounding the programs and the matching gift guidelines and request process that are required for donors to participate.
A general understanding of corporate giving is a great foundation for maximizing nonprofit revenue. However, in order to succeed in acquiring matching gifts, you’ll need to understand the nitty-gritty elements of program stipulations.
For example, companies are able to decide their specific guidelines for matching gift participation based typically on employee eligibility, nonprofit eligibility, and submission deadlines. From there, the amount that a company will match (per employee per year) is based on a combination of matching gift ratios, minimums, and maximum match amounts.
In this post, we’ll break down the key components of basic matching gift guidelines:
Not to mention, we’ll also provide an overview of the most effective method for determining program eligibility through companies’ matching gift guidelines. Equipped with the right tools, you can easily identify matching gift opportunities and communicate eligibility criteria and next steps to guide donors through the request process.
1. Match Ratios
Companies determine how much to match employee donations based on a preset ratio. In most cases, companies choose to match donations at a dollar-for-dollar rate (otherwise known as a 1:1 ratio).
When a program offers a 1:1 ratio, an employee will donate to an eligible nonprofit, submit their matching gift request to their employer, and then their company will match that gift with the same amount.
For instance, if an employee donates $100 to a nonprofit that’s eligible for the company’s match program, the employer will donate an additional $100. In the end, the nonprofit receives a $200 donation, which is double the original contribution.
Although you can expect to see a lot of 1:1 matching programs, ratios can range from .5:1 (or a $50 corporate donation for a $100 employee gift) all the way up to 4:1 (which would be a $400 company gift in response to a $100 employee contribution). Either way, the nonprofit receiving match funding results in significantly increased amounts flowing to the organization.
Let’s take a look at matching gift ratios in action. Consider these companies, for example:
Another thing to keep in mind when it comes to matching gift rates is an individual’s employment type. While ratios are typically standardized across all employee types, some companies will vary amounts depending on an employee’s position or type of employment.
For example, part-time employees, retirees, and even team member spouses may have a lower match rate than corporate executives who work for the same company. Take the following companies as an example:
Takeaway: Matching gift ratios vary from company to company and may change based on employee position. These stipulations are entirely up to the company, and nonprofits and employees should stay up-to-date on their match opportunities.
2. Minimum Match Amounts
Unfortunately, not every company will match every donation made by an employee—even if they do have a matching gift program in place. In order to qualify for a company match, restrictions are often put in place regarding the minimum donation amount they will match.
If a donor’s contribution falls below that set amount, the company will not match the gift. Keep in mind that this isn’t intended to restrict employees’ philanthropic efforts. Rather, it’s to ensure that employees are requesting matches for causes they truly care about.
Nonetheless, corporate matching gift best practices suggest keeping the minimum low to encourage participation and make the programming accessible to employees of all budget sizes. As a result, some companies will match donations that are as little as $1. However, the most common minimum requirement is $25, with 93% of companies having a minimum match requirement of less than or equal to $50, and the mean minimum amount falling at $34.
Let’s take a look at these companies’ matching gift minimums for a few common examples:
Another thing to note is that, depending on the company, an individual who makes multiple smaller donations within a year may be able to consolidate them into a single donation match request—despite falling beneath their employer’s minimum for any particular gift.
Takeaway: Companies apply minimum matches to ensure that the giving budget goes to nonprofits that employees actually care about. Most often, set minimums are $25, but they range from $1 to $100+.
3. Maximum Match Amounts
In addition to match minimums, companies also put caps on match amounts to ensure there’s enough in the giving budget for each employee to participate. If an employee donates more than the maximum match amount, still, only the defined maximum will be matched by the company.
Maximum matches have quite the range, too. Often, you’ll come across upper limits of between $1,000 and $5,000, with $3,728 as the average maximum threshold. However, there are plenty of companies with matches that are way above that scope.
Take a look at these companies with matching gift caps across the spectrum:
Regardless, each philanthropic program is generous and has the power to make a major difference in the nonprofit world.
Takeaway: Each company has a different maximum amount it will match. Typically, these are around $1,000 to $15,000, but it’s not uncommon to see caps that are higher or lower than this.
4. Employee Eligibility
Often, companies create eligibility requirements for employees that may depend on their position or another factor.
For example, some companies match donations made by any current employee, regardless of full- versus part-time status. Others will match retired individuals’ donations even after they depart from the business. Others still will even match gifts made by an employee’s spouse.
To get a real-world idea of this concept, take a look at these companies:
Keep in mind that, as previously mentioned, different positions can sometimes mean different match ratios and maximum match amounts, too. For instance, some companies may allow current employees to donate up to a higher amount than retired employees. Another common case is programs that offer executive employees higher maximums than other employees.
Some companies also choose to further reward employees who go the extra mile. For example, take a look at these programs’ matching gift guidelines:
Takeaway: In most cases, there aren’t too many requirements employees have to meet to be eligible for matching gifts. However, sometimes, companies adjust program criteria based on employees’ positions.
5. Nonprofit Eligibility
Just like there are standards employees have to meet to request matching gift funds, there are requirements for the nonprofits looking to receive match funding, as well.
While companies typically match donations to most registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits, some companies place restrictions on the types of organizations that are eligible. If a company deems a nonprofit ineligible, employee donations made to that organization will not be matched.
Like all other components of corporate giving programs, the eligibility requirements for nonprofits differ from company to company. These restrictions are often put in place because companies want to support organizations that align with their own views and values while avoiding controversial causes.
For example, churches and other religious organizations are often excluded from matching gift programs. However, many companies will match to religiously affiliated organizations that serve a secular purpose (such as an associated K-12 school or food pantry), while others will match to houses of worship all the same.
Other companies may choose a particular type of organization to which it will exclusively match donations. For example, some businesses match only to educational organizations, while others offer higher maximums or match ratios for schools and higher ed institutions.
Take a look at these companies’ nonprofit eligibility criteria:
Takeaway: Companies sometimes place restrictions on which organizations can receive matching gifts. It’s up to donors and nonprofits to be on the lookout for these eligibility requirements.
6. Forms and Submission Deadlines
Once all requirements of a company’s matching gift program have been met, this is when submission forms and deadlines come into play.
As a quick refresher, here’s how the typical process works:
At this point, we’re coming up on the third step in the above procedure. The donor has previously determined that they’re eligible to participate, and now they’re ready to submit their matching gift request.
Though some companies may still utilize paper request forms, most companies are turning to online portals to manage and process employee requests. The bottom line is that there needs to be a way for employees to submit their match requests and the way in which they expect the request to occur should be outlined within the company’s matching gift guidelines.
Regardless of form type, once the donor has navigated to their company’s matching gift forms, they’ll be prompted to provide basic information for the submission. This typically involves details about themself, the specific gift they made (including donation amount, currency, date of transaction, etc.), and the nonprofit that received the donation (such as the organization name, mailing address, and tax ID number).
In addition to the forms themselves, companies also have to define a specific deadline by which the forms must be submitted. For instance, an employee generally can’t donate to a nonprofit and submit a match request two years later.
Instead, in their guidelines, companies might select a specific annually occurring deadline, accept requests for a specific time period (such as six months or one year) after the individual donation was made, fall in line with the end of the calendar year in which the donation was made, or offer a brief extension beyond the calendar year.
To view a few common types, here are request deadlines for several major companies:
Takeaway: Businesses must create accessible forms and define deadlines before putting a match program in place. Nonprofits and their donors need to be aware of these submission instructions and deadlines, otherwise, they may miss out on matching gifts.
Matching Gift Database: Identifying Companies’ Guidelines
Nonprofits need to stay up-to-date on companies’ matching gift guidelines, such as donation minimums, maximums, ratios, eligibility, and so on—and that’s a lot of information to manage. Unfortunately, gathering companies’ guidelines on your own can be a mundane and time-consuming process.
With a matching gift database (like Double the Donation), the research is streamlined and simplified for nonprofits and donors alike.
This type of innovative technology ensures that your organization has access to thousands of companies’ matching gift program guidelines at your fingertips. As a result, you can easily determine donors’ match eligibility potential and communicate the opportunities to qualifying donors.
Specifically, a matching gift database enables you and your donors to:
Think your nonprofit can benefit from this type of tool?
With Double the Donation, organizations like yours can even automate the process. From collecting employment data directly within the donation process to quickly determining eligibility and following up via email, no match opportunities will be overlooked.
Matching gift programs have several guidelines that need to be met in order to qualify for participation, all defined by the companies that offer them. As you’ve learned, the most commonly defined elements are the match ratio, minimum and maximum match amounts, employee and nonprofit eligibility, and submission deadlines.
Take all of these factors into account, and equip your team with the tools you need for success, and you’ll be able to effectively increase the funding source for your organization and its mission. Now, get out there and boost your matching gift potential!
Interested in learning more about matching gifts? Check out these additional resources for more corporate giving tips and tricks:
What Is an Address Append? Ultimate Guide for Nonprofits
/in Learning Center, Marketing Strategies, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerAs a nonprofit professional, you know that reaching out to your supporters is an essential part of your fundraising and marketing strategy. You’ve built relationships with these people, and in order to strengthen them, you must stay in touch using effective communication. However, you might not have all of the correct contact information that will allow you to connect with your supporters. That’s where address appends come into play.
Donors, volunteers, and board members among other supporters have probably provided you with information such as their email addresses or phone numbers on registration or lead forms. Other information such as mailing addresses may be more difficult to obtain, especially if you don’t want to ask people outright for their addresses.
An address append will allow you to take existing supporter data to verify someone’s identity and fill in the missing postal address information. Instead of directly asking your supporters for their addresses, you can work with an address append service to efficiently obtain that information and keep your direct mailing efforts alive.
Now you know that address appends could be useful to your organization, but what exactly are they? We will answer the following questions to help you better understand the basics of an address append:
At Double the Donation, we make matching gifts easy for nonprofits. We know the importance of efficiency and easy access to the data you need to grow your organization. That’s why we’re providing you this guide to address appends to make sure your nonprofit has the information it needs to reach its supporters.
With that, let’s dive into address appends and how they could help out your nonprofit!
What Is An Address Append?
An address append when you use an online database or service to find the correct, most recent mailing address for someone based on other information about them such as their name, phone number, or email address.
With address appends, you can send direct mail to individuals without having to ask them for their mailing address. You can also use these services to verify that the past postal address you have for someone is still accurate. Therefore, address appends make it easier for nonprofits to communicate with their supporters without having to scour the Internet for the necessary information.
Why Are Address Appends Useful?
You might be wondering why address appends are important, especially if most of your marketing occurs online. However, direct mail is still an effective marketing method that your organization should leverage.
With the help of address appends, your organization could put together a stellar direct mail campaign. Additionally, address appends are useful because they can help you do the following:
Clearly, address append data can help you learn more about your supporters and in turn run a successful direct mail campaign. However, you’re probably curious about how address append services obtain the information you need. Let’s take a closer look at the process so you can experience all the great benefits of postal address appending.
How Do Address Appends Work?
As we’ve mentioned previously, an address append service can make the process extremely easy for nonprofits. Before reaching out to a provider, you’ll want to make sure you understand how the process works, so you’re fully prepared.
The way address appends work is that you first provide an address append service with the existing supporter information in your CRM. It works best if you give them as much information as possible, which could include:
After receiving your supporters’ information, an address append service provider will match that information with the data they have in their own database or find in public records.
While the process is pretty straightforward, you may be wondering how these address append services know that the information they’re providing you is correct. The answer is that they typically ensure the information is accurate before they send it to you by performing different types of accuracy scans and checks. Some may even provide an accuracy rating so you have an idea of how accurate the data you’re receiving is.
What If I’m Missing Other Information?
You might just be missing mailing addresses from your supporters, but you could also be missing other information. Not to worry, though! Most address append services also supply nonprofits with other types of appends, including:
If your organization is looking for other categories of information in addition to address appends, most data append services will append everything at once based on the information you provide them. That way, you can get all the information you’re looking for as quickly and efficiently as possible.
How Can My Nonprofit Use Address Appends?
The great thing about address appends is that they’re not limited to one type of nonprofit. Any nonprofit organization can benefit from address appends if they’re looking to improve their direct mail campaigns. Check out these examples of how different organizations can use this service:
Advocacy Groups
Some causes depend on having supporters located in certain areas. For example, political campaigns often target specific regions where support is strong to remind them to vote or where support is weak to see if they can capture their attention. Address appends can help you identify where supporters live so you can segment them based on location.
Associations
Associations depend on communication with their members to ensure that they keep their membership programs alive. Ensuring you’re sending mail to the correct addresses will make it easier for members to renew their memberships, stay up to date with your association, and continue to engage with your organization.
Schools
Support from alumni can really help take your initiatives off the ground. These are the people who comprise the legacy of your school and want to see it continue to prosper. By sending them magazines and newsletters, you can stay in touch with alumni and continue to foster their relationships with your school. In turn, they may be more willing to donate or volunteer when needed.
Broader Nonprofits
Is your organization having trouble retaining volunteers? Could your organization benefit from recurring donations? For most nonprofits, the answer to both of these questions is a resounding yes.
Address appends can help you to seamlessly communicate with your supporters and remind them of any upcoming opportunities available to them. Hopefully, your regular communication with them will make them feel more connected to your organization and therefore more willing to offer their help, whether through volunteering or donating.
Takeaway: No matter what type of organization you’re a part of, you can benefit from address appends. You’ll just have to find an address append service provider that is efficient and acts as an extension of your team.
How Do I Choose the Right Address Append Service Provider?
If you’ve decided address appends would be useful to your organization, the next step is to look for an address append service provider. Since you’re entrusting an external party with your supporters’ information, you’ll want to make sure you do your research and pick the right provider.
Here are some qualities to look for in an address append service provider:
While this is a long list of requirements, there are address append service providers out there that can satisfy all of your organization’s needs! After all, you’re entrusting them with your supporters’ data.
Conclusion & Additional Resources
By now, you’ve learned all about address appends and how they help nonprofits maximize their direct mail campaigns. Any information you can add to the supporter data you already have can help you to foster better, more meaningful relationships with them, and address appends are no different.
From segmented campaigns based on location to donation request letters ending up in the hands of your supporters, there are so many benefits that address appends can have for your organization.
If you’re interested in learning more about data appends, check out this resource: