Double the Money; How to Apply Matching Funds in Direct Appeals
There once was a generous donor named Cornelius Philanthropus (Connie for short), who wanted his gift to The Fictional Fund to be a match at the Gala.
“I want to light a fire under the board’s butt,” Connie said.
“How lovely,” said the director of development, Prudence Givemore. “We’ll consult our auctioneer, Max Power, on how to use the match at our impending event!”
Max Power was a very, very famous auctioneer, and pretty good at golf. Helping clients raise as much money as possible at events was his dewberry jam. Prudence called Max, and this is what he said about the match (sans AI):
“The 3 best ways to apply matching funds during a direct appeal for donations at your gala are: 1) As a match to THE TOTAL RAISED in the appeal. 2) AS A LEAD GIFT (big domino) to kick off the appeal. 3) At a specific APPEAL LEVEL. Once you consider these 3 options, you’ll know which is best for you!
1) THE TOTAL RAISED.
The most common way matching funds are applied during a live appeal for donations is to the total amount raised, or all donations up to a certain point. Such matches are typically large figures, and meant to serve as overall goals to inspire everyone in the room to give. For example, if an organization has a fundraising goal of 100k in the room, they may announce a 125k match to incentivize guests to give more. Call it a stretch goal.
The big question is… how much is your cunning donor (Connie) willing to match? Also, it’s important to be strategic in neither setting the bar too low, nor too high. An overall match of 25k for a donation appeal with a goal of 100k barely moves the needle, and may communicate a false finish line to donors. In that case, the match is likely to get met, while the job is far from done!
Setting the bar too high can be equally daunting. A 1m match for a paddle raise with a true goal of 100k can scare donors away. Suddenly their contributions are a drop in some billionaire’s bucket. The genuine significance of a 1k gift gets lost in comparison to the enormous sum of 1 million dollars. The right amount of matching funds to apply to the total raised is about 100-150% of the true goal.
2) AS A LEAD GIFT.
What if Connie had a rough time in the market last month, and only offers 25k to match? It’s nice, but far too low a figure to challenge a room of 250 well lubricated donors. Consider using it as the Big Domino. Pre-securing lead gifts can be a struggle, yet are crucial to the success of the overall appeal. If your matching gift is too small to apply to the total raised, use it as the lead gift.
A higher lead gift can help you reach your overall goal. And hopefully, someone as of yet unidentified will match that lead gift. If your paddle raise usually begins at 10k, but you have donors of greater capacity in the room at your event, up the ante!Leverage matching funds as a lead gift(s) to show higher levels of support, and predicate others to increase their pledges. The best way to receive higher spontaneous gifts, is to pre-secure the first one(s).
An added benefit of using a match as a lead gift, is that it can be carried down to the next level of giving. Should no one new donate at the top level of 25k, the match can spill over to next level of giving. As opposed to 1 gift of 25k, we can now ask for 2-3 gifts of 10k to achieve the match (and can even carry it further to the 5k level, if necessary). A lead gift match sparks donor participation at the highest levels of giving, and builds momentum that trickles down to the lower levels.
3) AT AN APPEAL LEVEL.
This is an amusing option. It involves gamifying a level of the paddle raise. Look at your spreadsheet of how many people gave at each level of the appeal last year. Identify a level that underperformed. For example, if 3 people gave at 10k, 5 gave at 5k, 12 gave at 2.5k, and only 6 gave at 1k… the latter is the level to match.
Paddle raise results are like a pyramid; 1-3 gifts at the top, with more and more participation as the levels descend, and finally dozens giving at $500, $250, etc.. If you see a break in the pyramid, focus on that giving level. If your donor (Come on Connie, light my fire) wants his 25k gift applied as a match at the gala, and last year the 1k level underperformed, announce a 25k match at the 1k level. Ask for 25 people to raise their paddles for 1k each in order to meet the match
In summary, the 3 ways to apply donations as a match are: to the TOTAL RAISED, as a LEAD GIFT, or at an APPEAL LEVEL. You can also combine 2, or even all 3 options, to maximize in room giving during your appeal. Matches are fungible. Utilize them to encourage and inspire more participation at your next event.”
This is the story of how Cornelius Philanthropus (Connie for short) and Prudence Givemore created a match to help The Fictional Fund raise more money than ever at their gala. And Max Power got rehired.
THE END!
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