Automating Matching Gifts FAQ: How Fundraising Software Scales Workplace Giving Revenue

For growing nonprofits and universities, the sheer complexity of corporate philanthropy often becomes a bottleneck that limits revenue potential. While a significant portion of your donor base is likely eligible for matching gift programs, every company enforces unique guidelines, from distinct match ratios and minimums to specific submission deadlines. Manually navigating these varying requirements to provide donors with the accurate insights they need to get started is simply not scalable for teams managing thousands of records.

In this technical guide, we will explore how integrating fundraising software can automate these complex workflows. We will discuss how to streamline data synchronization, trigger automated donor stewardship emails, and leverage analytics to identify high-value workplace giving opportunities without increasing staff workload.

1. How can my nonprofit integrate Double the Donation’s matching gift plugin?

Double the Donation’s matching gift plugin helps your supporters check if they’re match-eligible and guides them through their employer’s matching gift submission process. This tool is designed to make it easier for your donors to search for workplace giving opportunities directly through your website, improving user experience and reducing staff workload.

Double the Donation integrates with CRMs and donation platforms, and integration is designed to be a low-code or no-code process to ensure your development team doesn’t need to build a custom solution from scratch. Depending on your current tech stack, the integration generally happens in one of two ways:

• Direct embed (website pages): For your dedicated matching gift page or navigation bar, you can simply copy and paste a small snippet of HTML code provided by Double the Donation. This renders the search tool immediately, allowing donors to search for their employer’s guidelines without leaving your site.
• Native integration (donation forms & CRMs): Double the Donation has pre-built integrations with many major fundraising platforms. Simply navigate to your donation platform’s settings, enter your Double the Donation API key, and activate the connection.

Once this connection is live, the two systems “talk” to each other automatically. When a donor makes a gift on your donation form, the platform instantly sends that data (including the gift amount, donor email, and employer name) into Double the Donation’s system through a seamless and highly secure connection.

This seamless data flow allows the software to immediately assess the donor’s eligibility and trigger the appropriate automated email follow-up without your staff ever having to export a CSV or manually enter data.

2. How does Double the Donation’s matching gift tool automate donor outreach?

Double the Donation’s matching gift tool automatically identifies match-eligible donors and sends personalized email reminders. Donors receive links to complete submissions easily after they make a gift to your nonprofit. This automation reduces manual follow-ups, improves match conversion, and ensures consistent communication across campaigns.

3. How can my nonprofit track matching gift performance?

Tracking matching gift performance goes beyond simply counting the checks that arrive in the mail. To truly scale revenue, your organization needs to monitor the entire donor lifecycle, from the moment a gift is identified as match-eligible to the moment the corporate funds are dispersed.

The primary goal of tracking is to identify where donors are getting stuck so you can provide the “extra nudge” they need to complete the process. For nonprofits, this means monitoring three key stages of the funnel:

• Identification rate: How many of your total donors are being flagged as match-eligible? If this number is low, you may need to improve how you capture employer data.
• Engagement rate: Of those identified, how many are clicking on your emails or searching for their company guidelines?
• Submission rate: This is the most critical metric. It tells you how many eligible donors actually finished their application.

Tools like Double the Donation help you keep track of donor progress as they engage with your outreach. The platform tracks the real-time status of every individual donation, allowing you to see exactly how much potential revenue is sitting in your pipeline. The fundraising tool also automatically triggers the appropriate follow-up emails to donors who have stalled, ensuring no opportunity slips through the cracks.

4. How can my nonprofit integrate Double the Donation’s matching gifts plugin with my CRM or donation platform?

A complete integration works on two levels: the front-end donor experience (what the donor sees on your donation form) and the back-end data management (what happens in your CRM).

On your donation form, the integration typically appears as a streamlined, intuitive autocomplete search field embedded directly into your giving flow. As a donor types their employer’s name, the tool instantly suggests the correct company from Double the Donation’s database. This specific design is crucial because it allows your nonprofit to capture accurate employment data without adding friction or slowing down the checkout process. The donor simply selects their company and completes their gift as usual.

In your CRM, the integration works seamlessly in the background once the donation is submitted. Records from your donation platform flow directly into Double the Donation through a highly secure API connection.

From there, the system triggers a series of automated follow-up communications designed to drive eligible matches to completion. Because the system captures the specific employer on the donation form, it can segment donors into dedicated streams (sending specific forms to eligible donors and different stewardship messages to ineligible ones), ensuring every supporter receives the most relevant information possible.

 

 

5. How can my nonprofit import donor data to identify match eligibility?

For nonprofits, the gold standard for data management is automated integration. Instead of manually exporting lists or uploading files between systems, the most effective strategy is to connect Double the Donation directly to your existing CRM or donation platform.

Once connected, the data import happens in real-time:

• As soon as a donation occurs, the record is automatically imported into the matching gift platform.
• The system instantly analyzes the record for eligibility and triggers the appropriate outreach.

This set it and forget it workflow ensures your team never misses a match due to a forgotten monthly upload or a formatting error.

6. What other workplace giving programs could my donors qualify for?

While it’s easy to view matching gifts in isolation, the reality is that most major corporations bundle their philanthropy into comprehensive corporate social responsibility (CSR) packages. If a donor works for a company that offers one type of program, they likely have access to a suite of others, including:

• Volunteer grants (Dollars for Doers): Corporate donations awarded to nonprofits based on the number of hours an employee volunteers.
• Payroll giving: Automatic, recurring donations deducted directly from an employee’s paycheck, which are often matched by the employer.
• Automatic grant stipends: Funds allocated to employees annually to donate to a nonprofit of their choice, regardless of their personal giving history.

To see maximum revenue benefits, your organization must move beyond looking for just one opportunity. When you capture an employer name (whether through a donation form or a volunteer signup), you should screen that supporter for all available programs simultaneously.

Using a comprehensive corporate giving database like Double the Donation allows you to educate your donors on their full eligibility profile. By letting a supporter know that their company will match their donation and monetize their volunteer hours, you maximize the lifetime value of that relationship and ensure no corporate dollars are left on the table.

7. What internal processes improve matching gift workflows?

To improve matching gift workflows, your nonprofit can:

• Coordinate development, marketing, and finance teams to track eligible donations.
• Reconcile match submissions regularly.
• Review insights from fundraising tools for trends.

Consistent monitoring, regular team check-ins, and automated reminders maintain accuracy and ensure matching gift deadlines are met.

8. How can my nonprofit identify high-value corporate giving opportunities?

Use Double the Donation insights to prioritize companies with large employee bases or high match ratios. Target outreach for maximum ROI. Incorporate case studies and impact metrics to engage donors. This high-value targeting can help your nonprofit increase match capture and corporate engagement.

9. How can my nonprofit educate donors about matching gift programs?

Provide step-by-step instructions on eligibility verification, submission, and deadlines. Use email campaigns, website pages, and social media. Include examples of companies and impact stories. With a fundraising tool like Double the Donation, you can streamline eligibility checks and encourage donor participation.

Leveraging Fundraising Tools to Maximize Matching Gift Revenue

Integrating the right technology transforms matching gifts from a passive administrative task into a proactive revenue engine. By automating the discovery and follow-up process, your team gains the freedom to focus on building deeper relationships rather than managing data entry.

As you optimize these digital workflows, remember that this data often reveals opportunities for corporate volunteering and payroll giving as well. We invite you to evaluate your current CRM integration settings to ensure data is flowing correctly to support these automated journeys.

To learn more about matching gifts and other forms of workplace giving, explore more resources from Double the Donation and implement best practices, streamline processes, and capture more matching gifts today.