Worker matching presents are one of the vital in style types of company philanthropy. Nonetheless, the supply is extensively untapped, largely as a consequence of a lack of know-how surrounding the packages. In case you’re trying to drive participation at your group (with a purpose to maximize funding and elevate donor engagement), it’s time to get matching presents trending amongst supporters.
However how are you going to go about doing so? Begin a buzz round matching presents at your nonprofit with these useful ideas:
- Share a weblog publish.
- Use hashtags on social media.
- Prioritize video content material.
- Discover synthetic intelligence and tech for content material creation.
- Host a real-time Q&A on-line.
- Take into account influencers and peer advocates.
- Take advantage of free promoting with Google Grants.
- Sustain with shifting developments.
Our hope is that, by incorporating our really helpful practices, matching presents will turn out to be a well known and absolutely utilized supply of help amongst you and your supporters.
Let’s soar in with our first trick.
1. Share a weblog publish.
Weblog articles are an efficient medium for advertising and marketing matching presents and different worker giving varieties to your
supporters. A well-written publish supplies a chance to share an in-depth clarification of the philanthropy packages, together with exhibiting donors that your group is concentrated on maximizing fundraising from each supply.
Unsure the place to get began? We’ve written the next article that your group can use to kick off your matching reward running a blog technique. From there, you possibly can ship a hyperlink to the newly revealed useful resource in your newsletters and different communications to make sure donors find out about this chance to extend their affect.
Company Worker Matching Present Applications: The Secret to Boosting Income
For nonprofit organizations, each greenback counts. Company worker matching presents provide the chance to show one greenback donated by a match-eligible worker into two, three, and even 4 {dollars}!
Do you know that greater than 26 million staff work for firms with matching reward packages? You is perhaps certainly one of them!
On this article, we’re going to discover precisely what to anticipate when working with matching presents and how one can profit from this unbelievable fundraising alternative.
What are company matching reward packages?
Worker matching reward packages are a sort of company philanthropy set as much as encourage staff to offer again to their communities. These firms encourage neighborhood outreach by making donations to the identical nonprofits that their staff have donated to.
These packages have turn out to be fairly widespread, however many donors haven’t heard of them or aren’t conscious of their very own match-eligibility. $4-7 billion in matching reward income is left on the desk every year, and we wish to work with our donors to assert as a lot of it as potential.
Whereas the specifics of those packages fluctuate from firm to firm, the weather that form these tips are usually the identical:
- Match ratio: This defines what sort of donation the corporate will make in relation to the worker’s preliminary contribution. A 1:1 ratio signifies that the corporate will donate the very same quantity, doubling the contribution to the worker’s chosen nonprofit.
- Minimal and most: The minimal refers back to the quantity an worker should donate to qualify for an identical reward. The utmost is the entire quantity that an organization will donate in matching contributions per worker yearly.
- Worker standing: Generally, the worker’s position on the firm can have an effect on the match that they qualify for. For instance, Hole Inc. presents a $1,000 most to part-time staff and a $10,000 most to Senior VP’s.
- Nonprofit eligibility: Some packages provide totally different matches primarily based on the mission of the group being donated to. Nevertheless, most firms provide “unrestricted” packages the place any registered nonprofit can obtain funds.
- Submission deadline: Each program identifies a deadline when the matching reward request have to be submitted by the worker. This deadline might be both a agency date (December thirty first is widespread) or a threshold primarily based on the date of the preliminary donation (90 days after donation is made).
Listed here are a number of examples:
- Johnson & Johnson — Triples donations with a 2:1 match as much as $20,000 for present staff, whereas additionally doubling donations (1:1 match) for retirees
- Financial institution of America — Matches donations 1:1 between $24 and $5,000 yearly per worker
- Dwelling Depot — Matches donations 1:1 as much as $3,000 yearly per worker
The affect of those packages might be substantial! In actual fact, Microsoft has been recognized to match over $48 million value of worker donations to varsities and 501(c)(3) nonprofits in a single 12 months.
Wish to assist [your organization’s name]?
Rising income with matching presents isn’t too tough, however we’d like our donors’ assist. Final 12 months we obtained [insert number] matching presents, which helped us increase [insert dollar amount]. We’ve set a objective of elevating [insert dollar amount] from these packages.
If we meet our objective, we’ll have the ability to higher [insert organization’s mission and how the organization would use the additional funding].
You’ll be able to assist us attain these targets by trying to find your individual match-eligibility. Instantly assess your eligibility and achieve entry to detailed details about your employer’s company giving program by looking our database of firms with matching reward packages [link to your dedicated matching gifts page or Double the Donation hosted URL].
We’ll give you as a lot of the next as potential:
- Up-to-date, company-specific program tips on your employer
- Hyperlinks to the proper on-line matching reward request varieties or downloadable PDFs
- Our contact info (Tax ID, deal with, fundraising contact), which you will want on your matching reward request
If your organization isn’t listed, ensure that to test together with your firm’s HR division. We respect you taking a couple of minutes to double the affect of your donation!
In the meantime, when you select to write down a weblog publish from scratch, we advocate:
- Offering an outline of worker matching reward and/or volunteer grant packages
- Sharing examples of firms that supply worker giving packages
- Explaining the constructive affect these extra funds may have in your group’s work
- Requesting that donors and volunteers seek for their employer’s matching reward info utilizing your matching reward search device from Double the Donationa
2. Use hashtags on social media.
Your group probably depends on social media as a core tenet of your digital advertising and marketing technique. However do you may have a plan in place to maximise your attain and engagement on key networking platforms?
Analysis signifies that incorporating hashtags in your posts goes a good distance by way of visibility, viewers engagement, and extra. A hashtag, which is actually an octothorpe image adopted by a key phrase or phrase, is a social media device used to prepare posts primarily based on content material subject. And together with a number of in your postings can drive engagement by as much as 100% in comparison with posts with out hashtags.
In your subsequent social media publish about matching presents on your group, take into account using a number of associated hashtags and see how your viewers responds. Listed here are a number of examples you should use:
- #match
- #matchinggifts
- #doubleyourdonation
- #donationmatch
- #amplifyingimpact
- #[nonprofit name]matchinggifts
- #getyourgiftmatched
- #nonprofitmatching
- #matchingdonations
- #corporatematching
- #doyoumatch
- #doublethelove
- #corporatephilanthropy
- #employeegiving
- #makeyourmatch
It’s additionally essential to notice that the best way you employ hashtags can and may fluctuate relying on the social platforms you employ. For instance, research present that Tweets with 1-2 hashtags see greater than twice as a lot engagement as these with out hashtags. However Tweets with greater than two hashtags really see a drop in engagement.
In the meantime, the most-interacted-with Instagram posts sometimes embrace 11+ hashtags!
3. Prioritize video content material.
In line with content material advertising and marketing analysis for nonprofits, video content material is among the most important parts of an optimized engagement plan. In actual fact, 66% of people discover short-form movies to be probably the most participating sort of fabric revealed on social media.
To not point out, of a company’s viewers…
- Over 75% discover movies helpful when figuring out whether or not to offer;
- 57% then go on to donate;
- 39% purposefully analysis the nonprofit inside 24 hours of watching a video.
Within the age of YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, Snapchat, and extra, video-sharing is turning into an more and more integral a part of nonprofit advertising and marketing. And in the case of matching presents, producing video content material can play a crucial position in informing and galvanizing motion amongst donors.
For instance, try this exemplary matching reward video that demonstrates the convenience with which a donor can full the method to amplify their affect on behalf of a trigger they care about:
As soon as they’d the video created, the group opted to share the content material on each its web site and social media channels to additional its attain.
Check out the Fb publish right here:
Wish to make your individual video? Right here’s a pattern script you should use to get began:
“Rising income with matching presents isn’t too tough, however we’d like our donors’ assist. Final 12 months we collected $[total revenue] value of matching presents. This 12 months, we’d prefer to obtain much more. We’ve set a objective to boost over $[revenue goal] from these packages by the tip of the 12 months. If we meet our objective, we’ll have the ability to [summary of your nonprofit mission and/or specific project or programming].
You’ll be able to assist us attain these targets by trying to find your individual match eligibility. Instantly assess your eligibility and achieve entry to detailed details about your employer’s company giving program. All it’s a must to do is search our database of firms with matching reward packages. Click on the hyperlink within the caption [to your organization’s dedicated matching gift page] to study extra.”
4. Discover synthetic intelligence and know-how for content material creation.
A big roadblock dealing with all kinds of nonprofits is an absence of effort and time devoted to their advertising and marketing methods—particularly in the case of matching presents. In actual fact, Nonprofits Supply finds that over 80% of nonprofits report issue constructing robust office giving methods as a consequence of restricted employees and sources.
One distinctive and progressive answer? Synthetic intelligence and good know-how.
AI-powered instruments are at present sweeping the nation, significantly in regard to manufacturers streamlining content material creation whereas placing extra time again into the fingers of employees members. To offer some examples of how this may affect matching presents, we examined a number of synthetic intelligence instruments to see what they might provide you with.
Right here’s a pattern social media caption written by one AI chatbot device, ChatGPT (from the emojis to the hashtags and every little thing in between):
“Do you know that matching presents can double and even triple your affect as a donor? 💰💸 Not solely does this profit your favourite nonprofit, however it additionally reveals your employer’s dedication to supporting causes that matter to their staff. 🤝 Study extra concerning the energy of matching presents and how one can become involved to make a distinction as we speak!
#MatchingGifts #DoubleYourImpact #NonprofitImpact”
To not point out, our very personal 360MatchPro can assist streamline donor communications whereas sustaining focused and customized efforts. With this device, you possibly can simply acquire and observe donor employment information, determine match-eligible donations, and set off automated electronic mail follow-ups that drive extra matching presents to completion. And it could all happen with out your fundraising group having to carry a finger!
5. Host a real-time Q&A on-line.
From the angle of a donor who has by no means requested an identical reward, all the course of can appear a bit overwhelming. What your group can do, because the nonprofit they’re supporting, is make an effort to reply any questions your supporters could have.
And what higher method to take action than with a real-time Q&A session? In line with latest live-streaming analysis, real-time content material generates 27% extra watch time per viewer than on-demand video. Customers like interacting with their favourite organizations, and doing in order a nonprofit can assist facilitate deeper relationships with donors. In actual fact, 79% of entrepreneurs point out {that a} extra genuine interplay with their viewers is a high profit of live-streamed video.
Whilst you’ll probably intention to reply quite a lot of questions in any pre-recorded content material you share, it may be arduous to foretell what precisely your donors will wish to know. So allow them to let you know in actual time. We advocate:
- Sharing the date and time beforehand so supporters can plan accordingly;
- Accepting matching reward Q&A submissions forward of time via electronic mail or a web based kind in your website;
- Encouraging dwell viewers to ask questions in real-time utilizing the streaming website’s chat or remark features;
- Getting ready your group with quite a lot of in-depth sources on company matching reward packages (trace: try our webinars, weblog posts, and free eBooks right here);
- Posting your live-stream recording to your web site and/or social media pages, so those that missed the real-time engagement can nonetheless savor the insights shared.
At the moment, most social media platforms provide some type of live-streaming possibility—together with YouTube, Fb, Instagram, TikTok, and even Twitter. So choose your favourite platform (ideally one which already sees quite a lot of person engagement together with your nonprofit) and go dwell!
6. Take into account influencers and peer advocates.
Influencer advertising and marketing and peer-to-peer fundraising are primarily based on a shared precept: social proof. Social proof revolves across the psychological discovering that individuals are extra prone to assume the actions of others when making their selections.
Fortunately, you should use this concept in your subsequent matching presents marketing campaign!
Step one in leveraging social proof for matching presents entails finding quite a lot of people who you’d like to advertise matching presents to your viewers. When donors see different supporters taking part in matching reward initiatives, it may be the inspiration they should become involved themselves.
These so-called “influencers” is perhaps somebody carefully related together with your nonprofit trigger, equivalent to:
- Main donors to your group
- Effectively-known board members
- Devoted volunteers
- Effectively-connected P2P fundraisers
- Your nonprofit’s government director, president, or CEO
Or, you would possibly even have the ability to get a well-liked influencer (or micro-influencer) on board! For the perfect outcomes, search for people who share the same target market to your nonprofit. Plus, current connections to your group or its mission can go a good distance towards making that connection.
No matter who you select to become involved, encourage these people to share details about gift-matching alternatives—equivalent to your new matching reward movies—on their private social media pages. Present them with pre-made pictures, advised captions, video scripts or outlines, and extra, empowering champions to advocate for matching presents and encourage others to become involved.
From there, your nonprofit can sometimes re-post the content material to your individual pages (relying on the platform or platforms used), furthering the attain of the posts.
7. Take advantage of free promoting with Google Grants.
One other advertising and marketing technique that you just received’t wish to overlook is paid search engine promoting. And don’t be alarmed by the phrase “paid,” both. Google presents nonprofits entry to a beneficiant in-kind grant within the type of free advert house (the equal of as much as $10,000 per 30 days), often known as the Google Advert Grant.
Now, why do you have to promote matching presents to your viewers with the Google Grant? Initially, it’s a free advertising and marketing alternative. After all you wish to profit from it! To not point out, analysis signifies that search commercials (equivalent to Google Adverts) have the very best ROI for nonprofit paid promoting—with a median worth of $4.78 for each greenback.
Whenever you take part within the Google Advert Grant, you basically select a web page (or pages) and the key phrases you’d prefer to promote for. Then, when a donor or prospect searches the phrase (e.g., matching presents for Cat Rescue Membership), they’ll be met together with your related sponsored content material (i.e., your donation kind, devoted match web page, methods to offer web page, weblog article) on the high of the outcomes web page.
The Google Grant is an effective way to extend visibility and develop the attain of your group’s fundraising efforts. And when completed effectively, it could drive extra match-eligible donors via the giving—and matching—processes.
Prepared to use for the Google Grant? Take a look at this step-by-step information from the consultants at Getting Consideration.
8. Sustain with shifting developments.
On the subject of getting donation-matching (or absolutely anything else) “trending” at your group, it’s essential that you’ve got a strong understanding of present developments. In any case, developments can change pretty rapidly, together with the introduction and growth of recent know-how, altering client—and supporter—preferences, and extra.
And with a purpose to get matching presents trending successfully, there are a number of key varieties of developments to contemplate as you craft your technique. These embrace…
- Advertising and marketing and engagement developments — Issues like new social media platforms rising, communications greatest practices (e.g., optimum variety of hashtags per publish), and many others.
- Office giving developments — Issues like which firms provide matching reward packages (to date, it retains trending upward!), new know-how enabling progressive matching processes (i.e., auto-submission), and extra
It in the end boils right down to this: simply because one thing is a key pattern as we speak doesn’t imply it can essentially be the identical 5 years from now. So preserve a watch out, make a remark of any important shifts you see, and reconvene together with your advertising and marketing group frequently.
And when you’re a Double the Donation person, we’ll all the time preserve you updated with the most recent developments that our group is seeing! Verify again with our weblog, attend upcoming webinars, or discover our on-line Matching Present Academy to remain on the forefront of matching reward innovation.
Subsequent Steps
You’ve heard the ideas. Now, get began by implementing these tried-and-true practices in your individual group’s technique.
Simply keep in mind: the extra acquainted your viewers is with the thought of matching presents, the extra probably they’re to partake of their employers’ programming. And the extra funding you’ll in the end obtain from company philanthropy alternatives obtainable to your trigger.
Wish to study extra? Discover extra sources and uncover how one can double your group’s fundraising affect with matching presents:
