One of the largest sources of untapped funding for nonprofit organizations comes from corporate philanthropic programs. These include matching gift programs, in which corporations match employee donations, usually dollar for dollar, to eligible nonprofit organizations.
About 65% of Fortune 500 companies offer a program like this, as well as countless other corporations, so the chances that a donor works for a company with a matching gift program is relatively high.
The problem is that a majority of donors aren’t aware that these programs exist. Or if they do, they believe the matching gift request submission process to be a long and arduous one, requiring several hours of extra effort. A great way for nonprofits to overcome this stigma (or to simply educate their donors about the existence of these programs) is to include information about matching gifts in a variety of channels, making sure to emphasize that making the request to their employer can essentially double the donation a nonprofit is receiving, and with just a few extra minutes of time.
Here is a list of some nonprofit organizations that are doing a great job marketing matching gift opportunities to their donors!
Colon Cancer Alliance (CCA)
The CCA is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to “knocking colon cancer out of the top three cancer killers, by championing prevention, funding cutting-edge research and providing the highest quality patient support services.”
On the CCA’s “Ways to Give” page, the organization includes links to donate online or by check, as well as links to workplace giving and matching gift opportunities. This is a great way to market this program to your donors because if the individual is on this page, then chances are great that they are invested enough in your cause already to make a donation.
The CCA also includes a section in its monthly newsletter about donating and corporate matching gifts. This is a great way to target even the individuals who haven’t donated recently (or at all) to get them to consider the possibility. When a constituent is passionate enough to sign up for a newsletter, it’s likely that they will take the next big step and donate. Including information about ways to give (and how to match donations) in a monthly email is a huge benefit to fundraising efforts.
Meals on Wheels of San Francisco (MOWSF)
MOWSF is a San Francisco-based nonprofit that exists to “alleviate the food insecurity and loneliness experienced by seniors who want to stay in their own home but cannot shop or prepare meals for themselves.”
MOWSF has an entire page on their website dedicated to educating their donors and volunteers about corporate giving programs. They also include a link that makes it as easy as possible for these individuals to see if their employer offers matching gifts or volunteer grants to MOWSF.
Piedmont Healthcare
Piedmont Healthcare is an integrated healthcare system of five hospitals across greater Atlanta and North Georgia.
It takes a more subdued approach to marketing corporate giving programs to its donors, including a link with some basic information on the donation page of the organization. It goes to show that it doesn’t have to always be a big and bold marketing strategy to educate individuals about the programs!
Science Museum of Virginia (SMV)
SMV is a Richmond-based nonprofit organization created to “inspire Virginians to enrich their lives through science.”
SMV follows a similar format as Piedmont, but the initial prompt for donors to see is bolder and a little higher on the Annual Fund donation page. This allows the individual to consider a donation to SMV, and check at the same time whether their employer also offers a matching gift donation to eligible nonprofits.
Many organizations also promote corporate philanthropic programs in ways other than on donation pages. Check out some other effective and simple ways to promote these programs.
These are just a few examples of national, state, and local-based nonprofit organizations that take advantage of corporate matching gift and volunteer grant programs. While they all market the programs to their constituents in a unique way, they get the point across, which is the most important action a nonprofit can take to start increasing fundraising totals from corporate giving programs like these.