Giveffect teamed up with our partner, Double the Donation, on a webinar that brings together two important types of fundraising: Major Gifts & Matching Gifts.

In the co-hosted webinar, Giveffect’s Jack Harrison and Double the Donation’s Grace Green tackled:

  • Identifying Major and Match Eligible Donors
  • Connecting Donors to Your Mission
  • Effective Solicitation and Stewardship

Throughout the webinar, Jack and Grace shared through-starters and tips drawn from their experience working with nonprofits large and small to increase their fundraising. Modern fundraising includes leveraging technology.

Interested in learning more about Giveffect’s all-in-one nonprofit software solution? Schedule a demo to learn how Giveffect can help you reach your fundraising goals!

Webinar Overview:

What are major gifts?

  • Major Gifts may be different for every organization. There is no industry standard for how much money counts as a major gift. Major gifts typically help fund the projects and programs that make an impact.
  • According to Giving USA, of the 2021 philanthropic contributions totaling $484.85 billion, Individual Giving makes up 67%. Sources vary in the time it takes to cultivate major donor relationships. The median is that it can take anywhere from 2 months to 2 years.
  • This stresses the importance of donor relations and building meaningful, long-term connections with your donors.

How do you identify major donors?

  • You likely already have major donors within your nonprofit CRM or database.
  • Build a donor profile over time and capture preferences and interests.
  • Add donors to segments or groups to easily query for communications and outreach

Leverage your nonprofit technology:

  • Data Mapping for automatic donor tagging
  • Custom questions for your online forms to learn donor preferences, skills, and workplace
  • Custom and pre-built querying
  • Workflow Automation

What are matching gifts?

Matching gifts are a type of philanthropy in which companies financially match the charitable contributions of their employees.

Identifying Match-Eligible Donors

  • 78% of match-eligible donors have no idea whether their employer offers a matching gift program.
  • Identifying match-eligible donors starts with introducing matching gifts during the donation process.
  • Allow donors to check their eligibility against a matching gift database.
  • Allow donors a second chance to check their eligibility with matching gift-specific follow-up emails.
  • This is also a great opportunity to expand on what matching gifts are and why they are valuable to your organization.

Identifying Major & Match Eligible Donors

  • Ultimately, you’ll want to build a supporter profile and keep a record of where your donors work.
  • Knowing employment status may even allow you to pursue additional opportunities like corporate sponsorships or company-wide volunteer days.

Connecting Donors to Your Mission

Use Storytelling:

  • Throughout your website and communications, tell stories of how major and matching gifts have enabled outcomes at your organizations!
  • Supporters will connect with these stories and be ready to take action. Social proof is powerful.

Personalization & Storytelling at Scale

  • Personalize Email Campaigns using replacement variables
    Example: Suggested Donation
  • Acknowledge gift-matching in notices of fundraising progress
  • Advertise gift-matching on your online campaign page so that supporters know it is an option

Leverage the Right Medium

  • Know your donor base and engage in the ways that make the most sense for your supporter demographic.
  • Make note of a donor’s preferred method and timing for communications, so you can ensure that your ask is always well received

Effective Nonprofit Solicitation and Stewardship

Communicate Your Organization’s Goals & Show How Their Gift Helps:

  • Communicating your goals to donors is important to helping you secure buy-in.
  • When donors understand how major and matching gifts can help you reach and exceed your goals, they will be eager to get involved!
  • Quantify gifts in terms of mission and mission impact so donors understand the power of their gift!
  • Donors want to be able to visualize the impact of their gift. Whether it’s a matching gift or a major gift, make sure your supporters know what you’re able to accomplish with their continued support.

Incorporate Matching Gift Appeals Across Multiple Channels

Where:

  • Online donation form
  • Newsletters
  • Social media
  • Website
  • & More!

Make sure the appeals are accompanied by the next steps and more information!

Incorporate Matching Gifts In Your Online Giving

  • Capture employment information during the giving process. Donors feel most connected to your organization at the actual point of donation!
  • As a donor gives, they can quickly check to see if their employer has a matching gift program and be met with actionable next steps after they’ve submitted their donation.

Using Matching Gifts to Motivate Donors 

  • 84% of donors are more likely to donate if their gifts are matched.
  • 1 in 3 donors say they would give a larger gift if their donations were matched.
  • 71% more donors respond to fundraising appeals mentioning matching.

Thank Donors For Going The Extra Mile

  • If a donor successfully secures a matching gift for your organization or makes a significant gift, be sure to thank them for going the extra mile for your organization.
  • This allows for further engagement and stewardship without additional solicitation and the opportunity to showcase increased impact.

Learn more about how Giveffect can help your nonprofit find the right donors and reach your goals. Schedule a demo today!