Getting the Most from Matching Gifts in Your Annual Giving Program
In matching gifts programs, companies match employees’ gifts to nonprofit organizations like yours.
For example, the GE Foundation, founded the first matching gifts program in 1954 to encourage GE employees to support the needs of its employees former colleges and universities. Since then, companies and their foundations—including the GE Foundation—have broadened their guidelines to include many other types of community-serving nonprofit organizations, social services, the arts, or environmental organizations.
Historically, matching gifts from corporations represent approximately ten percent of the overall money companies donate to nonprofit organizations. With the recent economic decline many companies are closing or restricting their matching programs. Still close to five percent of Americans, and about three percent of Canadians, work for matching gift companies and can grow annual results by pursuing this low hanging fruit.
Statistics compiled by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) indicate that the average higher educational institution receives $30,000 more in matching gifts today than it did in the mid-1990s. Additionally, companies that at one time provided matching gifts solely to colleges and universities are now supporting a variety of causes. In 2003, 38 percent of the 965 companies surveyed by CASE matched gifts to “cultural organizations” as well as educational institutions. By comparison, in 1993, 23 percent of the companies in CASE’s survey matched gifts to cultural organizations.
In order to establish or improve the fundraising potential of your annual fund and broaden development efforts, you should enhance your matching gifts program by:
• Make matching gifts a priority;
• Include matching gifts as a consideration in all development areas;
• Know match eligibility before making appeals;
• Use matching gift incentives;
• Invest in your database;
• Get started now!
For more information on matching gift programming, please visit http://brianlacy.com/mg.html, email brian@brianlacy.com or call (860) 478-9291.
Sincerely,
Brian
Brian Lacy
Brian Lacy and Associates
www.brianlacy.com