How to Motivate Donors with a Matching Donation Program

1. Illustrate your donors’ impact

In your campaign message, outline the good work you’ve done with the money you raised in a previous campaign. Then, create a message that emphasizes the good you could do with double that amount or even more. This is a time to get creative. Think along the lines of “What would I do if I won the lottery?” 

2. Try a limited-time offer

While you want to avoid gimmicks like “act now” and “limited time opportunity” in your messaging, setting a time limit on your matching campaign is often necessary and can be beneficial. A matching company isn’t going to offer a match on any donation that ever comes in. Typically, they will match donations made during a set time period up to a certain limit. Providing a deadline will give your donors a sense of urgency and encourage a donation sooner rather than later. 

3. Increase your ask amounts

Matching campaigns often result in larger donations from individuals because they want to seize the opportunity of the matching gift. If you plan on sending out segmented appeals based on previous giving levels, this is a great time to strategically increase the ask amounts on your tailored giving forms. 

Pro tip: This is another opportunity to illustrate a donor’s impact. Use your giving forms to outline what incremental gift values can help you accomplish. DonorPerfect’s online forms make it easy to include impact statements on your custom forms. 

4. Remind donors of corporate matching gifts

If a donor’s company offers a matching gift program, this is actually an opportunity for them to triple the impact of their gift. They will be donating their original gift amount and your organization will receive two matches: one from the matching gift sponsor you’ve secured for your campaign and one from the donor’s employee matching gift program. 

5. Give your donors a voice

The corporate sponsor you’ve found to match your campaign gifts is an important donor. During or before the campaign, provide them with a platform to share their why. What is important to them about your cause? Why are they willing to support you in such a big way? A donor sharing their motivation may go a long way in providing the impetus other donors need to give, too. 

Pro tip: Consider having all of your donors share their why with a social media campaign. Once they make a donation, they can post online, sharing what prompted them to give to your cause.