Maximizing employee matching gifts from a nonprofit’s donors is a critical element of fundraising for any organization.

Double the Donation often receives requests from Boston-based nonprofits asking if there are companies in their city offering employee matching gift or volunteer grant programs.

To clear up some of the confusion, we’ve highlighted a few of the top companies in Boston that offer to match donations from their employees. We’re going to examine the following companies:

• Fidelity
• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Raytheon
• Thomson Reuters
• State Street Corporation

Follow along for a look at Boston’s corporate philanthropy and the tools that can help you discover these opportunities.

Boston and Corporate Philanthropy

Boston is the largest city in Massachusetts and, in turn, has a diverse local economy consisting of companies in the financial services, publishing, media, and nearly every other industry.

If you’re a nonprofit with a large Boston donor base, you should be asking yourself one question: “Are we taking full advantage of philanthropic giving from corporations in Boston?”

There’s a decent chance you’re not. Boston has the 6th largest economy in the country, with many companies building headquarters in the city. Therefore, there is a major opportunity for matching gift programs in Boston.

If you’re not familiar, matching gift programs occur when companies pledge to make donations matching those their employees made to a nonprofit organization. Nonprofits that prioritize matching gift solicitation effectively receive two donations for the price of one.

The Best Way to Solicit Matching Gifts

When it comes to collecting matching gifts, the biggest obstacle for nonprofits is a lack of education around the subject–many donors are entirely unaware of the potential impact of their donation! This is true in many large cities, including Boston.

The most important thing your organization can do to secure matching gifts is to educate donors whenever possible about these corporate philanthropy programs. As each company with a matching gift program has different parameters, this may seem like a difficult task. However, with a matching gift software solution, educating donors is actually easier than you may think.

For example, 360MatchPro allows organizations to automatically discover match-eligible donors and send them information regarding the gift request process. This solution also equips users to embed an industry-leading matching gifts database into their websites and donation forms so donors can search their own eligibility.

List of Boston’s Top Matching Gift Programs

Fidelity

Responsible in part for Boston’s status as a top financial center, Fidelity Investments matches employee donations between $50 and $4,000.

While the program company’s program is generous, only donations made to educational institutions (ex. colleges, universities, and educational organizations) are eligible.

Read more about the Fidelity Investment matching gift program.

 

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is a major publishing firm headquartered in Boston. It matches gifts up to $500 to a wide variety of nonprofits including:

• Educational institutions (K-12 included)
• Health and human services
• Arts and cultural organizations
• Civic and community organizations
• Environmental organizations

Both full and part-time employees are eligible for this program.

Read more about the Houghton Mifflin matching gift program.

 

Raytheon Corporation

Raytheon will match any gift greater than $25, up to $10,000 made to an educational institution. This includes both public and private higher education institutions, as well as K-12 programs.

In addition to Boston, Raytheon has a large presence in multiple states across the U.S. That means that the company holds a huge opportunity for increasing donations to your nonprofit through matching gift programs.

Read more about the Raytheon Corporation’s matching gift program.

 

Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters will match employee donations up to $1,000 each year to nearly all educational institutions and 501(c)(3) organizations. A unique aspect of this company’s program is that it is open to all global employees (ex. Canada, UK, USA, India, etc.)

Thomson Reuters also offers a very generous volunteer grants program! An organization is eligible for a $500 grant from Thomson Reuters after an employee volunteers 20 hours in a year.

Read more about the Thomson Reuters gift matching program and volunteer grants.

 

State Street Corporation

The State Street Corporation has one of the most generous employee giving programs in the game. It consists of an individual matching gift program, a fundraising match program, and a volunteer grant program.

In terms of the matching gift program, State Street will match any employee’s donation up to $5,000 to nearly all nonprofit organizations. And depending upon the seniority of the employee, he or she could be eligible for a match of as much as $35,000 per year.

Read more about State Street Corporation’s employee giving programs.