What is a Match?
Matching funds are dollars that you secure outside of NH Gives that are used to incentivize online donors during the NH Gives prize period. Each organization does individual outreach to funders, donors, board members, local businesses etc., explaining their participating in NH Gives and how matching dollars can drive online donations.
Matching funds are entered into the organizations profile as Matching Grants.
Tips for Securing a Match
From a Business
From Board Members, Staff, Volunteers & Donors
Promote Your Match!
Donors love it when their donation goes further. Knowing that their donation can be doubled is a huge incentive to give and often an incentive to give more. Throughout the history of NH Gives, organizations that had matching funds raised, on average, 4 times more than organizations that did not have matching funds.
So, make sure you get the word out!
As soon as you have secured your match you can begin telling donors about it in all your communications. Get them excited to donate during NH Gives when their donation will get matched. Don't forget to give a shout out to the matching donor - unless they've requested to be anonymous! It's a great opportunity to provide them with increased visibility and strengthen your relationship for future partnerships.
Strategies & Best Practices
Engage More Donors
Use a cumulative threshold match and set the goal for a higher number of donors than last year. Emphasize that a donation can be as small as $5 and let your supporters know that by encouraging their network to give they can help you unlock matching funds.
Pro-tip: Recruit P2P Fundraisers to help you get more donors.
Make it Last...or Not
If you want your match to last a little longer, you can set a cap on the amount to be matched. Set a dollar amount or a percentage. For example, match each donation up to $50. This could keep a single big donor from wiping out your match.
Alternatively, you could set the cap to 200% to double the match amount. A $10 donation would be matched as $20.
Stretch Multiple Matches
You can set your matches to run simultaneously - resulting in a quick climb - or you can now queue a match to launch when the previous one is expended!
Prize Strategies
Schedule your matches around the various prize windows. Set your sites on a particular hourly prize and have your match start when that hour starts. Then promote it like crazy to let people know that not only will their donation be matched, it could help you win a prize.