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Looking to help give your donors more bang for their buck this GivingTuesday? One super easy way to do is employer matching gift programs.

What is an employer matching gift program?

An employer matching gift program is when an organization financially matches its employees’ donations to a nonprofit. Most organizations match at a 1:1 ratio, but some may double or even triple the donation. This translate to you getting double (or triple!) the donation without having to double or triple your fundraising efforts.

What’s the catch?

There’s no catch. But there is one big hurdle: awareness. Many donors don’t know that employer matching gift programs exist, or if their employer offers any kind of donation match.

So, how can you increase awareness of employer matching programs and help supporters take advantage of them? Here are a few ways to get started.

1. Find employer matching gift programs

When you’re planning your GivingTuesday campaign, it’s essential to capitalize on any potential matching programs that are available. To do this, start first by searching specific companies on a site like Charity Navigator to see if they have a matching program.

Here’s why: Whether you’re a national nonprofit or working more locally, there’s likely to be a major employer in your area that offers an employer matching gift program. Now you can create a targeted campaign that speaks to that specific audience and potentially maximize your donations without doing any extra work.

2. Include information about employer matching gifts in all your communications

The easiest way to get the word out about employer matching gift programs is to boost awareness at moments when you’re already communicating with your donors. Things like additional copy in a newsletter, email, or social media post can go a long way.

And of course when you’re collecting donations for GivingTuesday, add a section on your donation and thank you page that prompts your donors to ask if their employer has a gift matching program and details the process of how they can take advantage of it. To quickly inform donors about their company’s matching gift eligibility, you can utilize a matching gift database, though it does come at a cost.

3. Send a short email campaign to supporters about employer matching gifts

One potential downside of including instructions on the confirmation page is that people may not read it; everyone is so used to confirmation pages that they may just skim over it.

To help combat this and spread awareness, you can add language in all your GivingTuesday emails to remind donors to check about an employer matching gift program before they donate. You can also create a short series that explains how to tap into employer matching gifts—and even go a step further by providing the Charity Navigator search tool we previously mentioned.

4. Share information about employer matching gifts on social media

When you’re building out your GivingTuesday social media calendar, schedule a few posts that talk about employer matching gift programs. This is an easy way to remind people about these programs or let them know if they aren’t aware of them already.

Social media also gives you a lot of options in terms of format; you can do infographics, quote posts, or even short videos to share the information in different ways. It’s also a great way to get feedback in real-time that you can then use to address concerns or frequently asked questions in your other communications.

Looking for more information?

Employer matching gifts can be a great way to increase your fundraising while preserving resources and time in the fundraising process, so it should be fully integrated into your strategy, especially on GivingTuesday. For more information or assistance with your GivingTuesday campaign, check out our 12 Weeks of GivingTuesday resources or contact us at info@thelukenscompany.com.