Marketing Matching Gifts Ahead of Giving Tuesday

More than likely, your organization is already gearing up for a successful Giving Tuesday campaign this year. But do you have a plan for making the most of corporate matching gifts? If not, you’re likely going to miss out on available matching revenue and donor engagement opportunities.

In this guide, we’re going to provide a brief overview of the vitality of matching gifts come Giving Tuesday, as well as share tried-and-true tips for preparing your network with matching gift marketing strategies. Let’s begin!

The Importance of Matching Gifts for Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday is oftentimes referred to as the jumping-off point for the overall holiday giving season⁠, and many organizations expect to see substantial growth in donation traffic on this particular day. Donors are increasingly inspired to give and tend to feel particularly charitable, which often results in more donations being processed on Giving Tuesday than on any other day.

Thus, the potential for matching gifts is great. After all, you know you’ll have a ton of donors on your website and interacting with your online giving experiences. You’ll want to make sure they’re aware of matching gift opportunities⁠—because, unfortunately, many are not.

In fact, matching gift statistics report that although 26 million people work for companies with matching gift programs, 78% of them have no idea their employer matches gifts. This lack of awareness is one of the leading reasons behind the matching gift funding gap, which results in over $4 – $7 billion in available match funding being left on the table on an annual basis.

One of the best chances to begin tapping into that unclaimed revenue? Giving Tuesday this year⁠—and now is the time to get started with your marketing efforts!

4 Ways to Market Matching Gifts Prior to Giving Tuesday 2022

Keep in mind that as you do so, you’ll want to emphasize the ease with which donors can complete their ends of the matching process as well as the growing impact of doubling donations.

For the greatest results, we recommend launching a strategy using a combination of these four channels:

1. Social media

Does your organization have a solid social media presence? Perhaps on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more. Those platforms can be some of your most impactful opportunities for providing information about matching gifts and spreading awareness far and wide.

Be sure to incorporate eye-catching imagery (perhaps double or matching-related to fit the theme) with which to grab your audience’s attention. From there, provide a brief overview of matching gift programs and their benefits and link to additional resources for donors to find out more.

2. Email blasts

Another critical component of an effective digital communications strategy, your organization’s email marketing should certainly encompass information about matching gifts. This can include emails going out leading up to, on, and even after Giving Tuesday.

Plus, consider including a short blurb about matching gift opportunities in your staff’s email signatures to ensure they’re mentioned in every email you send, as well as sending dedicated and in-depth matching gift emails, including matching gifts in your digital newsletters, and more.

3. Website

Your organization’s website is one of its most essential marketing and communications assets, and it’s the foundation of your online fundraising strategy. Ensure you equip your site with ample information on matching gifts leading up to Giving Tuesday.

On your website, consider crafting a dedicated matching gift page (if you don’t already have one), ensuring it's easily locatable from your navigation menu, and adding corporate matching to your “ways to give” page. Then, utilize these online resources to direct traffic from your social media posts, email blasts, and more for your audience to deepen their knowledge.

4. Donation forms

You’ll also want to incorporate matching gift promotions directly within the donation process whenever you can. This should include requesting employment information from donors as they complete their gifts on Giving Tuesday, so be sure to get your donation forms prepped and ready beforehand. Luckily, we make this as simple as possible with a technical integration between iDonate and leading matching gift provider Double the Donation. By using the tools together, you can add an embeddable widget directly into your giving forms that prompts donors to enter their employer information and tracks the data points for future use.

Once you know which companies your donors work for, you can easily identify qualifying gifts and provide individuals with links to request forms and eligibility criteria. The more you can simplify the process for donors, the more likely they will be to follow through with their matches.

Find out more about matching gift strategies and tools from Double the Donation at https://doublethedonation.com/. You’ll be prepped and ready for Giving Tuesday success in no time. Then, the benefits of matching gifts can continue long into the future.

Best of luck and happy fundraising!