19 Matching Gift Statistics Every Nonprofit Should Know [Updated 2023]

Matching gifts can have a huge impact on your organization’s fundraising revenue. After all, corporate matching gifts can double (or even triple) a donor’s contribution. But while the decision to collect matching gifts may seem like a no-brainer, many organizations don’t pursue this form of corporate philanthropy.

It’s important to educate your staff and donors about the potential impact of matching gift programs. That’s why we’ve compiled these top 19 matching gift statistics, updated for 2023, that will help you see the bigger picture.

These statistics address existing matching gift programs and how they impact donor contributions. Familiarize yourself with these stats and start raising more for your organization.

Data Source

Double the Donation works with thousands of nonprofits and universities and has tens of millions of transactions flowing through its system each year. This is the largest aggregation of matching gift data and outreach, and also the source from which we’ve pulled these statistics.

Matching Gift Statistic #1: 

An estimated $4 – $7 billion in matching gift funds goes unclaimed per year.

This is a direct result of a lack of awareness among donors, but it also reflects nonprofits with limited resources, staff, or time, which prevents them from pursuing matching gift revenue. Many donors don’t know their donations are eligible for a match through their employer, and nonprofits don’t have an efficient method of determining their eligibility.

Matching Gift Statistic #2: 

65% of Fortune 500 companies offer matching gift programs.

More than half of Fortune 500 companies have a corporate philanthropy program, which means there are more programs out there than you might think! That’s why it’s important to focus your efforts on pursuing matching gift revenue. It’s essentially a second donation that your organization gets for the work of soliciting one.

Matching Gift Statistic #3: 

Over 26 million individuals work for companies with matching gift programs.

Beyond the Fortune 500 companies, there are tons of businesses all over that offer corporate matching gift programs. This means millions of people work for these companies and may not realize they’re eligible to have their charitable donations matched.

Matching Gift Statistic #4: 

78% of donors are unaware if their company offers a matching gift program and the program specifics.

Meanwhile, 16% of donors know their company has a program, but are unsure if they’re eligible or don’t know how to submit their matching gift request. Without automation, only 8% of donors know their company has a program, know they’re eligible, and know how to submit their matching gift request—and these are the donors who have the potential to successfully get their gift matched on their own.

In order to drive eligible matching gifts to completion, donors who don’t know what matching gifts or are confused by the submission process need an easy, accessible way to discover and use their company programs.

Matching Gift Statistic #5: 

An estimated $2 – $3 billion is donated through matching gift programs annually.

While a much higher number of donations goes unmatched each year, a lot of revenue still comes to organizations through matching gifts. This number can be made even higher if your organization decides to actively pursue this fundraising channel.

Matching Gift Statistic #6:

96% of employees prefer their company to match donations made directly to a nonprofit.

Although some companies require employees to donate through their CSR software vendor in order to be eligible for a corporate match, the vast majority of employees prefer to have multiple options for making their gifts. This might include giving through the nonprofit’s website, via a peer-to-peer fundraising platform, through direct mail, or within a workplace giving platform. The more choices, the better!

Matching Gift Statistic #7: 

1 in 3 donors indicate they’d give a larger gift if a match is applied to their donation.

It’s true! 1 in 3 donors say that if they found out their donation would go twice as far as a result of a corporate matching gift, they would donate a larger amount from the start. This means not only will your organization receive a larger donation, but that larger amount will then be doubled by a matching gift.

Matching Gift Statistic #8: 

Only 1.31% of individual contributions are matched at the average nonprofit organization.

Again, this is due to a lack of both awareness and marketing. Many individual donors don’t know the guidelines for submitting a match request to their employer. Others might be presented with the guidelines in a complicated manner, which means they won’t follow through with their match request, if they initiate one at all.

Matching Gift Statistic #9: 

84% of survey participants say they’re more likely to donate if a match is offered.

This is a huge reason to incorporate matching gifts into your fundraising strategy! More than three quarters of donors have indicated they would be more likely to donate to a nonprofit if they knew a match was available through their employer. This is a great reason to fire up your marketing outreach, or even invest in a matching gift automation platform.

Matching Gift Statistic #10: 

73% of donors will use a matching gift search field on a donation form.

If your organization chooses to invest in matching gift software, you’ll have the option to embed a company search tool on your donation forms. Donors can then search for their employers, and the tool will populate with information on their company’s matching gift program, if applicable. The best part? 73% of donors have been known to use this search field!

Matching Gift Statistic #11: 

The average matching gift email encouraging donors to submit a matching gift request has an open rate of 52%.

This is 2.6x the average nonprofit email open rate, which is a huge difference. This means matching gifts should absolutely be part of your marketing strategy. Be sure to incorporate an attention-grabbing subject line to get even more of your emails opened.

Matching Gift Statistic #12: 

The average matching gift email has a 7% click-through rate.

This is 2.4x the average nonprofit email click-through rate. Again, this is a key indicator that matching gifts have a large impact on your supporters, especially as you market to them. It also implies that more readers are willing to follow your email CTAs or links to find out more pertinent information about matching gifts.

Matching Gift Statistic #13:

51% of the Russell 1000 companies publicly disclose they offer matching gift programs (with additional ones being offered and not publicly disclosed yet).

And this figure continues to grow! In the last three years, the percentage of the Russell 1000 (or 1,000 largest public US companies) disclosing that they offer employee matching gifts grew by 11.8%.

In the same time frame, research has also shown a dramatic increase in the percentage of companies with no restrictions on the donations they would match versus those with more restricted programs (e.g. only matching donations to higher education.) For example, the percentage of Russell 1000 companies reportedly offering an unrestricted matching gift program grew 48% over the last three years, whereas those offering restricted programs decreased by 33% to only 13.6%.

Matching Gift Statistic #14: 

Double the Donation’s database covers more than 99% of companies with matching gift programs.

As the leading provider of matching gift software solutions, Double the Donation has the most expansive database of companies that match donations. This means a majority of companies with matching gift programs will be listed in Double the Donation’s database—and that your donors will be more likely to find their employer information. 

Learn more about Double the Donation!

Matching Gift Statistic #15: 

A well-executed matching gift strategy can have more than 75% engagement.

Higher engagement means more individuals are using your search tools, accessing matching gift forms or guidelines, and/or opening multiple emails from your organization. Meanwhile, the typical organization has less than 15% engagement. That’s a big difference!

Matching Gift Statistic #16:

Employing multiple approaches to identifying match-eligible donors results in 77% more identified match-eligible donations.

The more routes you take to secure matching gifts from donors, the more likely you’ll be to identify opportunities for matching gift revenue. Possible routes include leveraging matching gift automation platforms, marketing through email, social media, on your donation forms, and more.

Matching Gift Statistic #17: 

93-99% of individuals who work for Canadian companies with matching gift programs will find their employer in Double the Donation’s database.

Even if you’re not located in the United States, Double the Donation’s database covers a large amount of matching gift programs internationally. In Canada, for example, Double the Donation covers 93-99% of individuals who work for Canadian companies that offer corporate matching gifts.

Matching Gift Statistic #18:

Leveraging a matching gift automation platform can double or triple an organization’s matching gift revenue.

Based on Double the Donation’s data, using a matching gift automation platform, such as 360MatchPro by Double the Donation, can significantly boost your matching gift revenue.

Here’s how 360MatchPro works:

1. An individual donates to your nonprofit.
2. 360MatchPro’s platform scans the individual’s provided information (such as their email domain or employer details) and compares it to the matching gift company database.
3. If the individual is determined to be eligible for matching gifts, the platform will automatically trigger a customizable email explaining the steps to request a gift match. If their eligibility is unknown or they are likely ineligible, the email will outline ways they can double check their eligibility with their employer.

There are many benefits to using an automation platform like 360MatchPro by Double the Donation. These include:

• More opportunities to discover matching gifts
• More matches driven to completion
• More time to focus on top matching gift opportunities

Learn more about 360MatchPro by Double the Donation!

Matching Gift Statistic #19:

Auto-submission is projected to yield an 80% increase in matching gift revenue.

Double the Donation’s innovative auto-submission functionality further streamlines matching gift requests for eligible donors. Organizations that have this functionality enabled through 360MatchPro’s automation platform can expect to see significant increases in matching donations being driven to completion.

We know nonprofits raise more in matching gifts when they use automation. With auto-submission, we remove one of the last pain points for employee donors getting their gifts matched, resulting in even more raised for nonprofits. Auto-submission functionality recently was released from beta and is ready to change the matching gifts space for good.

And as Double the Donation continues to develop additional auto-submission integrations with breakthrough CSR platforms, we estimate matching gift revenue for eligible nonprofits could grow 200%+ based on overall matching gift potential and conversion/drop-off data.

Additional Matching Gift Resources

Looking to learn more about matching gifts? Check out the resources below:

• Corporate Giving and Matching Gift Statistics. Educate your organization even further with these detailed matching gift statistics from Double the Donation.
• Matching Gifts: Your Guide to Growing Your Revenue with Automation. How do automation and matching gifts work together? Find out in our comprehensive guide.
• Top 30 Matching Gift Companies: Find Your Match. How do you know if any of your donors work for the top matching gift companies? Take a look through our extensive list!