How to Move Matching Gifts from the Back Burner to Top of Mind

Matching gifts are one of the most overlooked and neglected parts of fundraising, but they don’t have to be.

What Is A Matching Gift?

When corporations financially match donations that their employees make to a nonprofit or charity, that is referred to as a matching gift. For years, matching gifts were thought of as nice to have but not essential. Checks would trickle into an organization. Staff might be aware of a few opportunities where corporations match the gifts. But who had the time to follow up on that?

Major gifts, digital engagement, phonathon, planned giving, events, direct mail—these were the programs and priorities topping the agenda of most fundraising teams. Matching gifts sat on the backburner. Was it because they require too much effort? Or did organizations simply not have enough data? I always wondered why.

What’s The Value Of A Matching Gift Program?

I once asked a close colleague, a VP of Advancement for a small college, “If you know more matching gift donors are out there, why don’t you proactively pursue them?”

His answer alarmed me: “Because even if we can identify the 11% of our donors who can double their gift, how will we possibly reach out and engage them? We don’t have time for that. We have fundraising to do!”

I suggested that he look at ROI, engagement metrics, and overall donor loyalty. How much harder is it to acquire 11% new donors than it is to ask the 15% of your loyal donors who work for matching gift companies to simply submit their request to have their gift doubled or even tripled? To me, it was a no-brainer.

How HEPdata’s Matching Gifts Program Can Help You

Well, that was then, and this is now. HEPdata works with thousands of colleges, universities, and nonprofits to proactively pursue matching gifts. Using our Matching Gift Solutions, we help organizations raise hundreds of millions of dollars every year that were previously anonymous and ultimately unclaimed.

HEPdata certainly would help my colleague, and it can help you. Here’s how:

  • First, matching gifts should be an integral part of your fundraising strategy. This means when you’re having conversations with your donors, matching gifts should be an integrated, intentional part of that conversation. Think about that 15% of donors and how their match can boost your fundraising.

There are two main challenges with matching gift fundraising campaigns:

  • Identification—How do you identify which of your donors work for companies that offer corporate matching gift programs? Seems like a tedious process, right? To us at HEPdata, that’s the easy part. No matter how the gift comes in, our first step is to identify where those matching gift opportunities lie so that we can engage them. The days of waiting for checks to trickle in are over. We don’t let our clients wait for matching gifts to come to them. We go out and bring our clients to those matching gift donors.
  • Conversion—As my close colleague suggested, the resources and time needed to engage donors around matching gifts is often the most daunting task. Often organizations are not equipped to follow up with donors to ensure they submit their match requests. HEPdata to the rescue! We can build out an automated engagement plan with fully customized and branded emails to deliver everything the donor needs to take action.

We make it as easy for donors to double their gift and provide our clients’ development staff with valuable insights into where their donors are in the matching gift process, reporting and analytics, and any next steps required. It’s like having a team of matching gift coordinators working for you!

Matching Gift Programs Don’t Have To Be Hard

As we’ve continued to work with clients and fine-tune our solutions, we’ve realized that matching gifts don’t have to be hard. Using technology and automated tools for matching gifts should no longer be something that would be nice. Rather, it should be an important part of your fundraising operation, unlocking “free money” to help move your mission forward.

So, now that you know matching gifts don’t have to take a lot of time and toil, schedule an exploration discussion with us, so we can help you turn opportunity into revenue.

Double the Love: February is Matching Gift Month

Did you know February is Matching Gift Month? This can be a great way to build awareness around matching gifts for your cause. Research suggests that your donors are more likely to contribute to a cause and make a larger donation if they know their employer will match their gift. Below are several tips on how you can make the most of Matching Gift Month!

Tip 1: Automate your matching gift engagements with Auto Match from HEPdata

  • Seamlessly integrate into your online donation forms.
  • Store and update all matching gift policy information in your CRM in real time.

Tip 2: Give a shout out to your Corporate Donors

  • Take this opportunity to publicly thank all of your corporate donors for their support.
  • Share a story of how a corporate partnership made a difference to your constituents and mission.

Tip 3: Use social media to remind your donors about matching gifts

  • It’s free advertising to those constituents who engage with you digitally (and often!).

Tip 4: Add a Matching Gifts reminder to your email signature

  • Add the following reminder to your email, customizing the link as needed: “Your donation may be eligible for a matching gift from your employer. Click here to search our matching gift database.”
  • The reminder also includes a place for you to insert your HEPdata eMatch Donor Link.

Tip 5: Screen your data for matching gift eligibility

  • HEPdata can not only screen your organization’s data but also identify employment info on your donors first.
  • You can then determine exactly which donors are matching gift eligible. Of course, they can then be loaded into the Auto Match portal for automated engagement.
  • Remember, a well-thought-out strategy for Matching Gift Month is your opportunity to send a well-crafted message to your donors promoting the benefits of matching gifts.

If you are interested in learning more about our matching gift solutions, or how we can fully automate your entire matching gift program, please contact us. The HEPdata team is here to help you meet your goals for Matching Gift Month and beyond.

12 Best Practices for Matching Gifts in Higher Education

1. Create a Strategic Plan for Matching Gifts

If you plan for it, the donations will come. Take time this year to create a Matching Gift strategic plan that includes annual Matching Gift goals, action items on how to meet those goals, and deadlines to keep your team on task. HEPdata’s Matching Gift Solution offers a user-friendly home page that lists the status of all gift-match eligible donations with real-time updates to make keeping up with your strategic plan a breeze.

2. Foster a Regular Dialogue with Donors

How often do you follow up on incomplete matching gift donation opportunities? If you do not have a plan to do this regularly until the paperwork crosses the finish line, you’re leaving a lot of funding to chance. Follow up every month until the paperwork is complete. If this task seems burdensome, remember that platforms like HEPdata’s Auto Match can track, monitor, and follow up on your behalf.

3. Segment and Customize Your Communications

Not all donors are the same. The messages you send to students will be different from the messages going to new alumni, alumni ages 70+, alumni from the top 50 matching gift employers, and donors who have given $100 or less. Take your database and segment each donor based on various factors, then create highly targeted marketing campaigns for each.

4. Stay Up to Date on Matching Gift Companies

Do you know the latest updates on the top Matching Gift corporations? Who is no longer offering Matching Gifts? HEPdata’s Auto Match offers exhaustive tracking of Matching Gift companies with 7,000 more monitored than the nearest competitor (for a total of 20,000!). It also includes direct access to Fortune 500 companies for accurate information and updates on guidelines.

5. Add a Website Feature that Gives Donors a Way to Look Up Employer Matching Gift Info

This is the easiest, fastest way to connect your donors to information without them needing to ask HR or research on their own. Part of the HEPdata’s Match Lookup, the eMatch Donor Link has been a top resource for higher education institutions for the past 20 years.

6. Quantify How a Donation Will Make an Impact

No one wants to imagine their donation going towards the electric bill, however necessary it may be. Inspire donations by letting donors know exactly what their dollars will go to, such as $25 providing 10 meals for a student or $100 going toward books for the new student library.

7. Use Actionable Language During Follow Up

What headline grabs your interest more: “Complete your matching gift paperwork” or “Help us turn your $25 donation into $50?” Write headlines that spark action and offer tangible outcomes.

8. Make Outreach Calls Personal and Conversational

When your fundraising team hits the phones for donations, be sure they make a donor feel recognized and appreciated. How are they doing? Where are they working? How are they involved with the university? These questions can also uncover important database info. If they’re with a company offering Matching Gifts, solicit that on the phone. Also, be sure to recognize that they’re a Matching Gift donor during the call.

9. Celebrate Matching Gift Donors

Recognize and celebrate donors who have their gifts matched. This acknowledgment can encourage others to participate and shows appreciation for their contribution.

10. Educate Your Staff About Matching Gifts

Ensure that all staff members, especially those interacting with donors, are well-informed about matching gift programs and can effectively communicate their benefits.

11. Leverage Technology to Streamline the Process

Utilize software solutions that can automate the identification, tracking, and follow-up of matching gift opportunities, reducing manual effort and increasing efficiency.

12. Regularly Review and Update Your Matching Gift Strategy

Periodically assess the effectiveness of your matching gift initiatives and make necessary adjustments to improve outcomes and adapt to changing circumstances.