Strategies for marketing your nonprofit’s gift-matching program

Did you know $4-7 billion in matching gift funds goes unclaimed each year? It costs donors nothing beyond their original donation to submit a matching gift request to their employers, yet many don’t apply. How does this much potential funding slips through the cracks? The answer is simply that donors aren’t aware of these opportunities, which is why it’s up to nonprofits to promote matching gifts to their donors. Promotion will help increase donation page conversions and boost matching gift revenue.

Here are five strategies nonprofits can use to encourage donors to boost their impact through matching gifts:

1. Use a variety of marketing channels

To effectively market matching gifts, it’s a good idea to reach supporters in the channels they’re active in. That way, you’ll inform them about matching gift opportunities through their preferred method of engaging with your organization.

Extend your matching gift campaign across a variety of marketing channels, including: 

• Email: Send email reminders letting people know how to check their eligibility and submit their requests to their employers.
• Social media: Share graphics visualizing the matching gift process, or spotlight donors who have impacted your cause with matching gifts.
• Website: Embed an employer search tool in your donation form, enabling donors to research their eligibility for their employers’ programs when their engagement is highest. Then, take your marketing a step further by creating a dedicated gift-matching page that explains the process and highlights the potential impact on your cause.
• Direct mail: Through direct mail outreach, send gift-matching cards, being sure to mention matching gifts in your solicitation and thank-you letters.

Beyond creating new marketing collateral, make sure to take advantage of marketing opportunities you already leverage, such as an email newsletter. Consider creating a section on your existing site defining matching gifts and how easily donors can participate. Be sure to link to your donation page so donors can easily contribute and jumpstart the matching gift process.

2. Include businesses in your marketing efforts

When marketing your matching gifts program, don’t forget about the other party involved in the process – the business. While it’s important to ensure donors know about matching gift opportunities, it’s equally important to market matching gifts to their employers.

Contact corporate partners or local businesses to inquire about their matching gift offerings. You could also reach out to some of your donors’ employers directly to seek out their matching gift opportunities.

If you find that some businesses don’t have matching gift programs in place, launch a campaign about the benefits of matching gifts for businesses. As Double the Donation’s employee engagement guide explains, matching gifts are a powerful way to engage employees as they demonstrate that companies support the causes their employees care about. As a result, employees may feel a deeper connection to their workplace and be more invested in their jobs.

Another advantage companies access from matching gift programs is a positive public image. Be sure to inform businesses that they can promote their charitable efforts to customers, investors and other stakeholders to prove their propensity to give back.

3. Incorporate storytelling

Make the impact of matching gifts come to life with storytelling. Telling the story of one of your beneficiaries can elicit emotion from your donors and encourage them to send a matching gift request.

Start by interviewing beneficiaries to illustrate the effect donations have on their lives. For example, an animal shelter may interview a family who recently adopted a dog to explain how donations covered their new pet’s medical treatments, breaking down financial barriers to pet adoption and ultimately saving the lives of animals in need. 

Make your story actionable by including what different donation amounts allow your organization to accomplish. For instance, $100 may allow a soup kitchen to provide five families with a meal while $500 would feed 25 families. This specificity helps donors make a clearer connection between their contributions and your work, enabling them to fill out a matching gift request to make a larger impact.

4. Capitalize on popular giving occasions

There are certain times of the year when giving is more popular, namely the holiday season. As this holiday fundraising guide explains, 30 percent of annual giving occurs in December, meaning your matching gift marketing can go a long way in increasing your donation revenue during this time.

Launch matching gift marketing campaigns that coincide with this time of year. Encourage donors to get into the giving spirit by putting a holiday spin on your communications. For example, you may send a holiday-themed newsletter during December that discusses the true meaning of the season: spreading joy and helping others. Then, you can explain how matching gifts touch beneficiaries’ lives during the holiday season and allow donors to feel proud about their choice to give back.

You can also take advantage of designated giving days and promote matching gifts then. One of the most popular giving occasions is GivingTuesday, the Tuesday following Thanksgiving. This global movement challenges people to donate to nonprofits within a 24-hour period, which inspires people to show their generosity. 

Since people are already more likely to contribute to your nonprofit on this day, make sure to send them instructions on how to request a matching gift prior to GivingTuesday and on the day of. That way, they’ll know how to maximize their contributions when the time comes.

5. Implement matching gift software

Matching gift software can help donors identify and facilitate matching gift opportunities, inherently promoting matching gifts and seeing them through to completion.

As mentioned earlier, an employer search tool can be added to your donation or confirmation pages. When you embed matching gift software, you highlight matching gifts when it’s most critical to do so: at the time of a donor’s contribution. That way, donors can learn about matching gifts and ultimately send a request to their employer without ever leaving your donation page.

If donors choose not to kick off the matching gift process on your donation page, matching gift software enables you to set up automated email streams that help you follow up with these donors and encourage them to fill out a matching gift request. You can also identify which recurring donors most frequently request matching gifts and thank them for their contributions.

A helpful feature to look for when selecting matching gift software is auto-submission. When your platform enables matching gift auto-submission, donors can opt to have the system send a matching gift request to their employer on their behalf. This feature simplifies the matching gift request process. As a result, more donors send matching gift requests, more employers match employee donations, and more donation revenue flows back to your organization.

Matching gifts are akin to hidden treasures for nonprofits – they’re extremely valuable but need someone to bring them to light. Encourage donors to unearth this extra funding by promoting matching gift opportunities. Emphasize how easy it is to participate in your matching gifts program and how donors can increase their impact on your beneficiaries without spending any extra money.