EMPLOYEE MATCHING GIFT

Would you like two scoops of ice cream for the price of one? How would you like it if your favorite sports team won back-to-back titles by only winning one game? Imagine how much you could accomplish with an exact clone of yourself.

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Turns out, most ice cream shops aren’t going to go for your two-for-one offer, and cloning technology isn’t quite there yet. But when it comes to fundraising, there is a way to get more for less. They’re called matching gifts, and there is no easier way to increase donations to your nonprofit.

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What is a Matching Gift? 

Matching gifts are charitable corporate donations that match employee gifts to eligible nonprofits. About 91% of companies match their employee’s exact donation amount $1:$1, while about 5% of companies match at a higher rate. Thousands of companies worldwide and 65% of Fortune 500 companies offer matching gift programs, so there are plenty of opportunities for your nonprofit to take advantage of!

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Matching gifts are submitted through company-specific online portals, for about 80% of companies, or via paper forms, for the remaining 20% of companies. Human Resources departments typically handle these programs.

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Matching Gift Benefits

Research has demonstrated that $4-7 billion goes unclaimed because employees fail to take full advantage of corporate giving programs. 

 

Most corporate giving programs have deadlines for submitting matching gift requests. The most common dates are:

• End of the Calendar Year – When the page turns to January, a donation loses matching gift eligibility.

• A Certain Number of Months After the Date of the Donation – Anything between three and twelve months is normal.

• End of January or February in the Year After the Donation was Made 

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