Unlocking the Power of Dollar Matching: How One Charity Skyrocketed Donations by 3400%

30 Oct

Boosting donation revenue is an aspiration for every charity as it ensures vital research, services and programs can continue. But how can you motivate your supporters to take action and donate to your cause? The answer: by unlocking the power of Dollar Matching.

Also known as Gift Matching or Matched Giving, Dollar Matching is an incredible way to increase your donation revenue as it combines two key fundraising drivers - a sense of urgency and amplified impact. Donors are inspired to take action by a captivating call to action, while peer-to-peer fundraisers are motivated to share their pages and ask for support.

Dollar Matching breaks down giving barriers, sparks greater generosity and can skyrocket your donation revenue in a remarkably short period. At Grassrootz, we’ve seen firsthand how successful Dollar Matching campaigns can activate communities and drive incredible fundraising results.

But how exactly do you run a successful Dollar Matching campaign? You’re in the right place!

Below, you’ll learn everything you need to know to execute a high-impact campaign and inspire world-changing action.

A Dollar Match Day Success Story

To start, let’s first take a look at the incredible success the Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation Team achieved earlier this year when they wanted to maximise their fundraising revenue from multi-charity events.

After deciding to focus their efforts on Run Melbourne, the Peter Mac Fundraising Team created a 24-hour Dollar Match Day as part of their campaign which resulted in phenomenal donation growth.

In just 12 hours, $25,000 was matched, leading to a 3400% increase in donation revenue (compared to the day before) and a 35% increase in the average donation value. Several new fundraising pages were created and activated as well, leading to their overall Run Melbourne campaign growing 122% year-on-year!

Results like this are a testament to the power of Dollar Matching and help illustrate how successful it can be when incorporated into peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns.

Securing Your Dollar Match Partner

It’s no secret that securing a Dollar Match Partner is a key step in your campaign journey, although, it's not always an easy endeavour.

Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation’s Senior Corporate Relationship Manager, Lauren Kara-George, advises all charities to “reach out early!”. Corporates will often budget for charitable initiatives months in advance so the earlier you can reach out to present the opportunity, the more likely they will agree to come on board.

To help you present the opportunity to a potential corporate partner, we’ve created a document that highlights the numerous exposure sites they will receive within the Grassrootz Gift Matching journey.

Using Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation’s Dollar Match Day as an example, you can show your partner exactly how much brand exposure they will benefit from. However, if you’re still unable to secure a corporate, you could also try reaching out to a few of your Major Donors and pool their donations together to create the matched fund instead.

Setting up Dollar Matching on Grassrootz

Once you have your Dollar Match partner secured and the details of the campaign locked in, you’ll need to set up the Dollar Match functionality on Grassrootz. For step-by-step instructions on how to do this, read our Help Centre Article or watch our Tutorial Video.

The benefits of using Grassrootz Gift Matching include:

Automatic matching of each donation made to your campaign within your pre-defined conditions (all matched donations appear as offline donations in your reports)
You can define when the dollar match will start and how it will end. For example, you can choose to end the dollar match on a set date, after a certain amount has been matched, after a certain amount has been raised or after a set number of donations have been matched
You can choose to double, triple, quadruple or even quintuple each donation
You can include your Dollar Match Partner’s logo or an image that represents your campaign. This will appear on the donation form, thank you page and donor receipt email.
You can add a message that will appear as a comment on each matched donation that lets people know the reason behind the additional donation.

If you need any help setting up Gift Matching on Grassrootz, get in touch with our friendly Support Team.

Dollar Match Promotion Ideas

Effectively promoting your campaign is critical to its success which is why we recommend meeting with all relevant team members as early as possible to agree on a promotional plan.

Below are some ideas to help get you started…

SMS Messaging - Send engaging SMS messages with a link to donate
Email Marketing - Send strategic marketing emails to event participants, past donors and supporters
Organic Social Media Posts - Post multiple times throughout the campaign
Paid Social Advertising - Paid Facebook and Instagram advertising can be a budget-friendly way to reach a targeted audience
Collaborate with Influencers - Extend your campaign’s reach by working with a Charity Ambassador or Influencer
Other Partnerships - Investigate who else you could collaborate with to help spread the word