Boost Your Fundraising with Matching Gifts

(blog by Alison Rush and Justine Darmanian)

Matching gifts and grants are a fantastic way to boost your fundraising! Last year, the PMC received over $2.2 million in matching funds, which is almost 5% of our $47 million gift to Dana-Farber. Not too shabby!

More and more companies are matching their employees’ donations. When reaching out to your donors, always be sure to ask whether their employer matches charitable contributions. Some people may not even know their company does this, so a friendly reminder goes a long way. We’ve made this even easier by letting you check which companies match using our online matching gift database. Most companies match at a 1:1 ratio but there are some, like Johnson & Johnson, which match at a 2:1 ratio. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has an impressive 3:1 matching ratio!

Matches are done either online or by paper forms. Once we’re able to confirm that we’ve received the original donation, we credit riders with the match up front so they don’t have to wait for the check to come in from the company. That way, they always have an up-to-date record of how much they’ve raised. If matches are done through a company that doesn’t require our verification, feel free to have the donor send us their confirmation email and we can credit that to your account. Contact your Human Resources department to find out which process your company uses.

If your company doesn’t match, there are still other potential fundraising options. Many employers have grant programs that are either volunteer based or you simply need to apply for. For example, Verizon, Microsoft and Voya, to name a few, have grant programs that will give a certain amount to a non-profit of the employee’s choosing if they have volunteered for a specified number of hours.