Non-profit Leaders: It’s not too late to make that Ask & secure a Year-End Match!
📸: Da Ping Luo (Me & Sandra in the fundraising flow!)
Let’s get a conversation going between you & a community member who has the interest/capacity to make a $5k+ gift ASAP.
My colleague, Sandra Davis (President/Founder of Donorly) & I geek out on Matches together all the time 🤓 👯.
Here’s some advice from us on making the Ask for a Year-End Match:
Identify who in your community may have the interest/capacity to make a $5k+ gift
And get creative: this could be more than 1 person. Do you have a couple (or several) community members (and/or board members) who may want to collaborate on a Match?
Make a specific Ask amount
Kel’s all about a “good stretch” and Sandra says, “set your org up for success”: identify an amount that you feel confident that your org can “match” with gifts from the rest of your community.
Share the intention behind the Match
We recommend: first time gifts, upgrades to annual gifts, or another special project that’s meaningful to your org.
Discuss all the guidelines
Is the community member comfortable with your org sharing their name along with the Ask? (We strongly recommend this: personalization is always best!) And keep the math SIMPLE: maybe a 1:1 Match (and a special one-day only 2:1 Match for Giving Tuesday). Clarify with the community member what would happen if your org doesn’t meet the challenge: would they still be willing to make the full contribution?
Share the details of how your org will publicize the Match
We recommend a multi-pronged approach: email, website, social media, letter appeal, and PHONE CALLS (Kel’s favorite! ☎️).
Prep the community member on how/when you’ll update them on the progress
Once they’ve agreed to the Match, keep them invested by sharing “wins”: reaching milestones, number of new/increased donations, specific feedback from community members who felt inspired to give because of the Match, etc.🎉 Who knows: Your Year End campaign may go so well that you meet the initial Match & then you circle back to this community member to see if they’ll increase their gift! 🎉
Good luck securing that (last-minute!) Match!
Check back for tips on how to engage your ENTIRE community around your Year-End Match, along with how to build your connection to your community members in the new year.
🎙️: What about Year End Giving gets YOU to geek out? 🤓