Spring is a season of renewal, and it’s also a fantastic time to revitalize your fundraising efforts after year-end giving. One of the most effective ways to maximize donations and create excitement around your spring campaign is by leveraging matching gifts.

Matching gift programs allow donors to double, or even triple, their contributions, creating a powerful incentive for supporters to give. In this post, we’ll explore four actionable ways to kickstart your spring campaign with matching gifts and ensure you make the most of these opportunities for increased support. These include:

1. Educating your team about matching gifts.

2. Adding a matching gift tool to your donation pages.

3. Considering fundraising matches for P2P campaigns.

4. Locating a one-off matching gift partner.

Ready to dive in with our top strategies? Let’s begin with the essentials.

1. Educate your team about matching gifts.

The first step in successfully driving matching gifts is ensuring your team understands how these programs work and how to promote them effectively. Nonprofit staff, board members, and even volunteers should be equipped with the knowledge to educate and encourage donors to utilize matching gift opportunities.

Here’s how you can get your whole team on board:

• Hold a Training Session: Take the time to host or attend a training session or webinar where you can explain the basics of matching gifts. Provide staff with detailed instructions on how to help donors find matching gift information and submit their match requests.

• Share Matching Gift Materials: Create or identify easy-to-follow guides, handouts, or infographics that your team can use when speaking with donors. Ensure these resources explain the steps involved in finding and submitting matching gifts, along with any deadlines to be aware of.

• Incorporate Matching Gifts into Regular Communications: Make matching gifts a part of your ongoing conversations with donors. Encourage staff to mention matching gifts in phone calls, emails, or during in-person meetings.

When everyone on your team is equipped with knowledge of the programs, you create an army of advocates who can encourage and support donors through the matching gift process, increasing the likelihood that gifts will ultimately be matched.

P.S. Double the Donation offers a wide range of free and low-cost educational materials your team can leverage⁠—from ongoing webinars to our on-demand Matching Gift Academy!

2. Add a matching gift tool to your donation pages.

To make it easy for donors to take advantage of matching gifts, consider integrating a matching gift search tool on your online donation pages⁠—including for any dedicated spring campaigns you’re hosting. After all, a matching gift tool provides an instant, automated way for donors to search for their employer’s matching gift program and start the process.

Incorporating a matching gift database tool on your donation forms allows you to:

• Increase Convenience for Donors: Donors can instantly check if their employer offers matching gifts, ensuring they don’t need to reach out manually. This convenience encourages donors to take action and submit their requests while it’s at top of mind.

• Streamline the Process: A database tool helps eliminate confusion, too. Donors can quickly identify whether they’re eligible for a match, and the system often provides detailed instructions on how to submit their request to the employer.

• Drive Matches Submitted: Studies show that when a matching gift tool is available, matching gift submission rates increase significantly. This can translate to more revenue for your nonprofit with minimal effort.

Overall, adding a matching gift search tool is a low-cost, high-impact strategy that can significantly increase your campaign’s effectiveness by making it easy for donors to double their gifts.

3. Consider fundraising matches for P2P campaigns.

Peer-to-peer (or P2P) fundraising has become an increasingly popular method for nonprofits to engage their community and expand their reach. When you combine P2P campaigns with matching gifts, you unlock the potential to double the impact of every dollar raised.

If your P2P fundraisers are working for companies that offer fundraising matches, their collected donations can be matched, maximizing the total amount raised.

Here’s how you can implement fundraising matches for P2P campaigns:

• Identify Eligible Fundraisers: Reach out to your network and ask your P2P fundraisers to check with their employers about matching gifts. Provide them with a simple tool (like the above-mentioned database search widget from Double the Donation) to ensure they can easily find out if their employer offers a fundraising match.

• Promote Matching Opportunities: Encourage P2P fundraisers to share matching gift information with their networks and provide clear instructions on how to submit match requests, allowing gifts to be matched at the individual level as well.

• Track Progress: Use your fundraising platform to track how much money is being raised, including the amount that employers will match. Highlight these totals on your campaign page to show donors the increased impact of their gifts.

By incorporating matching gifts into your P2P fundraising efforts, you can significantly boost the success of your campaigns and incentivize donors to give more.

4. Locate a one-off matching gift partner.

A one-off matching gift campaign involves partnering with a business willing to match employee donations to your cause, generally during a specific time frame. This approach creates a sense of urgency and exclusivity and encourages donors to act quickly, knowing that their gifts will have double the impact⁠. This is especially true if they don’t usually have a matching program available.

Here’s how you can get started:

• Find the Right Partner: Look for companies that align with your mission and are willing to match donations for a limited time. It’s helpful if the sponsor is already familiar with your cause or has an existing connection (such as your donors!).

• Create a Time-Limited Offer: Determine the timeframe for the matching campaign. A week or monthlong period often works best, as it’s long enough to build momentum but short enough to create urgency.

• Promote the Match: Use all your communication channels—email, social media, and your website—to promote the matching opportunity. Make sure the deadline and details of the match are clearly communicated to inspire action, and encourage your corporate partner to market the program as well!

All in all, a one-off matching gift campaign is an effective way to quickly raise funds, energize your donor base, and generate more visibility for your cause, all while providing a clear incentive for donors to act now.

Incorporating matching gifts into your spring campaign can significantly amplify the impact of every donation you receive. By educating your fundraising team, partnering with the right companies, and using the best tools for your efforts, you can easily increase fundraising and engage your community.

With these four strategies, you’ll be well on your way to creating a successful, high-impact spring campaign that leverages the power of matching gifts to help you reach your fundraising goals.

Start today, and watch your donations grow this season!