Securing Matching Gifts: What Your Nonprofit Needs to Know
You drop your quarters into the slot, tap a couple of buttons, and the machine gives you two candy bars for the price of one. Hallelujah! You’re rich!
The concept of matching gifts works just like that vending machine.
You get twice the money at no additional cost to your donors.
Think of it this way: If someone offered to give your organization free contributions each time someone donated, would you say yes? Of course!
But where is all the free extra money coming from?
The extra “free” money comes from corporations!
Over the past several years, social responsibility has become a phenomenon that’s taken over the for-profit and nonprofit sectors alike. Corporations have quickly become aware of their responsibility to do good in their communities. Each day, more companies are building their initiatives to include new programs to support their employees’ philanthropic efforts. Among these programs are matching gifts that empower donors to double, triple, or sometimes quadruple their gifts to eligible nonprofits.
Here’s what’s new: the digital revolution has made it incredibly easy to determine eligibility and submit match requests.
Here’s what’s sad: a mere 7% of donors at companies with matching gift programs actually submit a request. That equates to more than $4-7 billion in unclaimed revenue every single year, according to recent matching gift studies.
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