Why Your Nonprofit Needs a Matching Gift Solution

Why Your Nonprofit Needs a Matching Gift Solution

Equipping your nonprofit with the right tools and resources is essential for successful fundraising. In addition to your online donation forms and contact center solution, a matching gift platform plays an integral role in your organization’s optimized giving and engagement efforts.

Here’s why:

A dedicated matching gift solution empowers your team to…

  1. Identify opportunities for overlooked corporate funds
  2. Drive donor engagement with impactful outreach
  3. Simplify the matching gift experience
  4. Save staff time that can be reallocated elsewhere

As we discuss the wide-reaching benefits of employing a matching gift platform, we encourage you to consider implementing such a solution in your own fundraising toolkit. Just think of the unmatched value this funding source can offer for your mission.

Now, let’s dive in with the first key advantage of matching gift software.

1. Identifying opportunities for overlooked corporate funds

One of the most obvious benefits of matching gifts⁠—and, by extension⁠, a matching gift automation solution⁠—is increased funding provided to organizations that take advantage of the programs. Unfortunately, however, corporate matching gifts remain a significantly underutilized source of revenue.

Double the Donation research reports that over $4 to $7 billion in available matching gifts are left on the table each year, and it’s largely due to a gap in knowledge regarding the programs. For example, an estimated 78% of donors are unaware that their company offers a matching gift program, while an additional 16% know their employers match gifts but lack understanding of their exact eligibility or submission processes.

That just means most nonprofits have a lot of room for growth in their strategies⁠—specifically when it comes to uncovering match-eligible donations. And luckily, a matching gift tool can help. By automating identification methods such as email domain screening, donation form and confirmation page searches, and email follow-ups, your organization can gather donor employment information, compare against a comprehensive database of matching gift programs, and initiate outreach accordingly. And you can expect over 61% growth in match revenue by doing so!

2. Driving donor engagement with impactful communications

Engaging with donors regarding matching gifts can go a long way in strengthening relationships with your cause, showcasing maximal donation impact, and retaining your mission at the forefront of supporters’ minds. In fact, incorporating matching gifts into donor-facing communications even incentivizes individuals to give⁠—and to give in larger amounts. Simply mentioning matching gift opportunities in a fundraising appeal produces 71% higher response rates and 51% larger donation sizes!

Rather than having to manually reach out to donors with information about donation-matching, a matching gift solution handles the tedious aspects of your engagement efforts. As a result, you can ensure no opportunity slips through the cracks as you incorporate matching gift engagement in your phonathons, email appeals, online giving campaigns, and more.

3. Simplifying the matching gift experience

Previously, we mentioned that another roadblock facing matching gift success for many organizations is a lack of donor understanding regarding the request process. Even if a donor knows their employer will match their gift, they may still struggle to submit their request.

That’s why an effective matching gift solution⁠—like 360MatchPro by Double the Donation⁠—aims to streamline and simplify the process for donors as much as possible. And it can do so by providing tailored next-step recommendations that provide direct links to their companies’ online request forms or submission portals. Or, in some cases, a solution equipped with auto-submission can even empower donors to complete their matches directly within the giving experience itself.

Remember: the easier it is for your supporters to participate in matching gifts, the greater the benefits you can expect to see from the programs!

4. Saving staff time that can be reallocated elsewhere

The above benefits should sound appealing to any organization. But you might worry that implementing matching gifts throughout your fundraising endeavors would require a lot of staff time and resources that you can’t afford to spare.

The good news is that automating matching gifts with a dedicated platform actually reduces manual labor⁠. When the software handles your efforts from start to finish, it frees your staff to reinvest in other fundraising and mission-related activities. And you can do all of this while still generating additional revenue for your cause!

Matching gifts offer a powerful opportunity for organizations to increase fundraising revenue, drive corporate and individual engagement, and more. And a matching gift solution makes pursuing these opportunities more accessible than ever before.

Interested in exploring such a solution for your nonprofit team? ACD Direct partners with the industry’s leading matching gift automation platform: Double the Donation’s 360MatchPro.

To find out how you can integrate matching gifts into your online donation forms and call scripts, request a personalized walkthrough of Double the Donation here. Don’t forget to mention you use ACD Direct in your demo form!

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