Free Money? Too Good to Be True. Or Is It?

Four to seven billion dollars.

That’s how much “free” employer matching gift funds go unclaimed every year.

And to Colleen Carroll, Community and Events Lead at Double the Donation, that revenue represents one of the biggest missed opportunities in the nonprofit sector.

“What we see holding donors back is they simply forget,” Colleen explains. “And it adds up. That’s money that could be in the hands of missions and organizations they could do a lot with, but instead it’s just sitting there.” 

Free isn’t something we hear often. But Colleen insists it’s the exact right framing: matching gifts don’t require any new donors, persuading anyone to give more, or running any time-intensive new campaigns. All it requires is raising a little awareness and a bit of strategic prompting.

We spoke with Colleen to learn how Double the Donation helps with that.

What Double the Donation Actually Does

Here’s the problem: companies like Home Depot, Verizon, Microsoft, and hundreds more are ready to match employee donations, but most employers don’t have the infrastructure to make sure they get used, and most employees never submit the forms.

• Sometimes donors don’t know.
• Sometimes they do but forget.
• And other times they don’t know how the process works and don’t have the time to figure it out. 

Some corporate matches get used, of course—somewhere between $2-$3 billion a year—but we’re still leaving over double that amount on the table. So, if your nonprofit already has a supporter base, there’s a good chance some of your donors have an employer match they’re not using.

Double the Donation makes getting that “free” money easy with:

• A widget that embeds into your donation form, guiding givers through the process at the exact right moment
• A searchable database of thousands of employer match programs
• Automated reminders to donors who may be match-eligible
• Tools to collect employer information during the donation process (so you can easily pair them with their matching programs down the line)
• Ways to ensure donors get the right information at the right time

“Your donors are busy,” Carroll says. “They love you, they care about you, but you only have a short window of attention. So, you want to make it really easy for them to engage with these programs.”

A quick note saying “Go ask HR” or “Check your employee handbook” isn’t enough, though. Most people don’t have the time to do that.

But if you have the ability to say, “Hey, you work at Home Depot; here’s their matching gift program and the form you need to fill out,” right in the moment they’re already donating? That’s a powerful tool.

Won’t It Annoy Donors?

It’s natural to be afraid of irritating your supporters. There’s a balance to strike between making asks, expressing gratitude, and sharing impact. And getting it wrong? That’s dangerous.

But in Carroll’s experience, that’s not the case at all.

“What I see time and time again is people actually get excited when you let them know about matching programs. They’ve already done this big thing and taken out a credit card. They believe in your mission, and reminding them their dollars can go even further is actually a benefit.” 

After all, you’re not asking them to take out their wallet again. All you’re doing is letting them know how to turn $1 into $2. 

Why This? Why Now?

There are plenty of things you could focus on: winning more grants, finding new donors, re-engaging existing donors, pursuing legacy gifts, and more. 

So, why should you invest time pursuing matching gifts when you’re already stretched thin?  Diversification is always a good reason. And the corporate matching space is definitely growing. But it’s not necessarily a good idea for every nonprofit.

For a matching-gifts push to be worthwhile, you probably need a reasonably sized donor base to begin with. Some of your supporters will certainly work for companies with matching programs, and doing a bit of research and plucking them out of your CRM is a relatively low lift.

If you’re growing, you could also begin collecting employer information from donors now, so you can match them with corporate matches down the road.

But if that doesn’t sound like your organization, there may be better opportunities to pursue.

A Final Word

Colleen believes Double the Donation is at its best when it helps nonprofits remove friction, save time, and unlock opportunities hiding in plain sight.

“Sometimes, it’s like, yeah, I would give anything to have a few more hours in my day,” she says. And in the right circumstances, corporate matching programs can give fundraisers just that.

For organizations looking for a strategy that doesn’t require reinventing the wheel, matching gifts offers something rare: a chance to earn more by engaging supporters who already care the most.

As Colleen puts it? “There’s just nothing like free money.”