Donor retention guide: 7 strategies for fundraising success
- Fundraising ideas
- Nonprofits
- Donor Engagement
Matching gifts are valuable donations that often go underused by nonprofit organizations. To encourage your supporters to take advantage of this giving method and build long-term relationships with them, reach out to donors and encourage them to multiply their impact through their employer and thank those who do.
Let’s explore how to leverage matching gift letters to increase donor satisfaction and encourage future giving.
There are numerous types of matching gift letters that you can send to donors. Each has its own purpose and desired response from readers. These types include:
To maximize the chances a donor will respond to your appeals, work with your team to create versions of each type of matching gift letter that are aligned with your donors’ interests. That way, you'll capture your donors’ attention and keep matching gifts top of mind when it’s most important.
While you should customize your nonprofit’s matching gift letters with your own messaging as much as possible, there are several fundamental elements that you should include. Let’s discuss how to strengthen a matching gift letter.
Your matching gift cadence should include multiple messages, requiring a solid communication plan and delivery system.
Try these best practices for delivering your matching gift messages:
Ensuring your matching gift letters are distributed in a timely and orderly manner is crucial to delivering value to your supporters and making them feel acknowledged by your nonprofit.
Here are some fundamentals for crafting a high-quality matching gift letter that inspires more engagement with your organization:
Ultimately, your letter should distinctly sound like you wrote it. Keeping a professional, optimistic, and straightforward tone in your writing is ideal for building trust with your donors and encouraging further involvement with your matching gift program.
Use this sample matching gift letter to inspire your writing process.
Dear [donor’s name],
We are ecstatic that your donation of [donation amount] has been [doubled, tripled, etc.] through your employer’s matching gift program to a total of [matching gift donation amount]. This is an enormous step towards our fundraising goal of [fundraising goal], and we couldn’t have done it without you.
We can only achieve change with the help of our donors, and we’re incredibly grateful for your support.
All the hard work that our staff and volunteers have put in wouldn’t be half as successful without supporters like you. We’re trying to reach [financial or programming goal] and your donation helps us get there.
Please contact us with any questions or concerns about our programs or your donation. We hope to hear from you soon.
Thank you,
[organization’s/director’s name]
Matching gift acknowledgement letters can go a long way towards improving donor retention, especially when they’re sent out soon after a donation. To reach out to your donors in a timely manner and communicate with confidence, your nonprofit can benefit from using powerful fundraising software. The right software can keep track of your donations, contact information, and templates for matching gift letters.
Before you develop your communications strategy, research which software solution would be best for you so your operations run as smoothly as possible and your donors get the thanks that they deserve.
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