In the world of higher education and nonprofits it can get super daunting to understand who can get their gift matched. Luckily, once we know the information, donors and organizations can easily stretch their dollar, most of the time doubling or even tripling their donations! However, if you’re only promoting one type of matched giving to your supporters, you could be missing out on a lot of additional contributions.
The good thing about Matching Gifts is that typically the work on both your donors and your part is relatively simple compared to the pay off! A true win-win. The key is getting the information out there as clear as possible for your donors! So with that let us get into some of the major people that can match.
Currently Employed at a Corporation
The first and most obvious is your 'currently employed' donors. It helps even more if they work in a corporate environment. Corporations build in charitable programs where they will match their employees’ donations. The most common match is 1:1 but some companies Soros Fund Management for example match up to 3:1. Essentially, all your donors have to do is enter their employer and bam, their donation gets doubled.
Retired Employees
The same thing goes for retired employees. The matching gift industry tends to rely on the recently hired or recently graduated but a huge untapped market is the newly retired. Many companies match gifts of those who have previously worked for their companies, many traditional matching gift forms will enclose the specific information, however pushing the word out gets people thinking.
Sometimes supporters want to contribute to your nonprofit in a way that isn’t just monetary. Volunteering is another option. Not only can the donors support your nonprofit with their time, but they can contribute their skills.
Depending on your nonprofit, employees can use their talents to promote a nonprofit’s cause, serve the community, and so much more.
Additionally, if employees don’t have the financial means to make a gift to their favorite nonprofit, volunteer matching gives them a way to contribute and still have their gift matched.
The key ingredient to all of this is getting the word out. If your donors aren't already aware of the opportunties they will not be likely to follow through the necessary steps. And considering how busy and fast-paced our society is people will not be digging for that information.