For nonprofit fundraisers, every bit of financial backing helps support your mission. So, if your team had the chance to count each dollar twice, you’d surely want to take it.

Corporate matching gifts, though an often underutilized fundraising resource, offer a unique opportunity to do just that.

Thus, as we head into the 2024 fundraising season, it’s the perfect chance to refresh your organization’s strategies and better utilize the funding streams available to you. And the advantages of corporate matching gift programs for nonprofit teams are multifold.

These benefits include:

1. Increasing corporate giving revenue
2. Elevating donation response rates
3. Encouraging larger initial gift sizes
4. Enhancing donor engagement
5. Unlocking broader corporate partnerships

Matching gifts have the potential to transform the way nonprofits approach individual and corporate engagement alike. Read on to explore the various ways these programs can propel your mission forward this year and beyond.

Let’s get started!

1. Matching gifts increase corporate giving revenue.

Employee matching gifts are one of the most widely offered corporate philanthropy initiatives⁠—and the most accessible way for organizations of all shapes and sizes to tap into corporate funding streams.

It’s essentially implementing a “two for one” sale on charitable gifts. If a donor gives $100 and their employer matches it, the latter gift supplies an additional $100 (or more!) in corporate giving revenue it wouldn’t have otherwise secured. Those dollars can support new campaign efforts, expanded nonprofit programming, and more.

2. Matching gifts elevate donation response rates.

Getting donors to respond to your fundraising appeals can be a challenge. Across all generations, one of the biggest drivers of nonprofit giving is a donor’s desire to see their contributions producing a real impact on a mission they care about. When individuals are made aware that their employers could double their giving at no additional cost to themselves, they perceive their donations as making a larger difference.

This incentivizes generosity, encouraging those on the fence about giving to make the leap to support your cause. As a result, they’re more likely to respond positively to the donation request and ultimately make a gift. In fact, Double the Donation research indicates that 84% of survey participants say they’re more likely to donate if a match is offered. This ultimately results in a 71% increase in gift response rate when a matching gift is mentioned!

3. Matching gifts encourage larger initial gift sizes.

The availability of a matching gift can also inspire giving at higher levels by providing donors with a powerful incentive to increase their contributions. To demonstrate this idea, an estimated 33% of survey respondents state they’d give more if a match were to be applied to their donation. Consequently, fundraising appeals that highlight matching gifts saw 51% growth in the average donation size.

Why? Many businesses offer generous matching gift thresholds (most often between $500 and $10,000 per employee each year). In order to make the most of their companies’ program opportunities, donors are increasingly inclined to give in larger amounts. And that’s even before you account for a gift being doubled with a corresponding corporate match!

4. Matching gifts enhance donor engagement.

Another key benefit of corporate matching gifts is that promoting the programs supplies organizations with a unique opportunity to engage individuals after they give⁠—without asking for additional funds. This means incorporating additional touchpoints in the donor journey and retaining your cause at the top of supporters’ minds for longer post-donation.

Here’s what this might look like:

• Following up with donors in the hours or days after their initial gifts to inform or remind supporters about the potential to double their impact
• Supplying personalized and employer-specific program guidelines (i.e., minimum and maximum donation amounts, match ratios, submission forms and deadlines, and more) to guide donors through the request process
• Thanking donors once they indicate that they’ve completed their employer’s matching gift request form on your nonprofit’s behalf
• Reiterating your gratitude for donors going above and beyond for your cause after their company’s match is fulfilled

Not to mention, prioritizing matching gift opportunities in your marketing and communications demonstrates your organization’s efforts to maximize the impact of each contribution. This enhances individuals’ satisfaction and fulfillment in giving, and the proactive approach communicates effective financial stewardship practices, too.

5. Matching gifts unlock broader corporate partnerships.

Matching gifts aren’t the only kind of corporate philanthropy program your organization should be pursuing, either. But they can assist in uncovering additional corporate giving opportunities by…

• Supplying invaluable donor data (i.e., what companies your supporters work for)
• Identifying philanthropic-minded companies in your network
• Allowing your team to get its foot in the door with prospective partners

For example, you might take a look at the largest suppliers of matching gift funds to your organization. In this scenario, let’s say that Coca-Cola Company has fulfilled 90 employee matches worth more than $1,500 in the last year.

Use this information from your matching gift strategy to pitch a sponsorship that benefits both teams. Make sure to emphasize your shared audiences as a core value-add, too!