Every great fundraising challenge starts with one thing: a generous matching donor (or group of donors) who’s ready to step up and lead the charge.
From corporate donors to business owners in your local community—and everything in between—there are plenty of possibilities as long as you know where to start your search.
But not just any donor will do.
You need someone who’s excited to make an impact and who’s happy to help you rally the crowd.
So, how do you find that perfect match partner?
I’ll walk through each of these below.
But first, we need to discuss why you might want to host your own matching campaign in addition to or instead of going through corporate programs.
Looking for what kind of matching campaign to run or examples? Check out:
Why running your own matching campaign pays off
Partnering with corporate matching programs or Giving Tuesday initiatives is a great way to boost donations and visibility into your mission.
But when you host your own matching campaign on your website, your nonprofit can often keep more of what it raises.
Here’s why it matters:
- Lower fees. Donations processed through your existing platform typically cost less than third-party fundraising platforms or large-scale giving programs.
- More control. External campaigns can limit your access to valuable donor data—like email addresses, mailing info, or employer details. When donations come through your own site, you capture the data you need to grow lasting donor relationships and do further outreach later. Often, corporate philanthropy or corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs may limit what information you’re able to collect and retain.
- Better donor experience. You control the messaging, branding, and follow-up. That makes it easier to turn one-time donors into long-term supporters, especially if you’re able to convert them over to monthly giving program members over time.
Launching your own matching campaign is simple—even if you’re not tech-savvy—with 4aGoodCause. (You focus on the mission. We’ll handle the tools.)
How to find matching donors for your nonprofit
Start with your biggest fans
First things first—consider your loyal donors when looking for a matching donor.
These are the folks who:
- Give year after year, even when times are tough.
- Light up when they talk about your cause.
- Ask, “How else can I help?” (music to our ears, right?)
For example, if you have a longtime donor who always sponsors your annual gala or gives consistently to your year-end appeal, they might be a perfect candidate.
They already believe in what you’re doing, and they trust you to put their dollars to good use.
These donors often love the idea of turning their gift into a catalyst for even greater generosity.
💡Pro tip: Phrases like, “You could inspire others to give just like you do,” go a long way here.
Even if they’re not a major donor, they’re still a great first contact. Their passion for your mission makes them a natural advocate—someone who can help you connect with local businesses or rally a group of generous donors to pool funds for a matching campaign.
And that brings me to my next point.
Find donors who love to lead
Some donors have a natural talent for inspiring others.
They’re the cheerleaders, the challenge-acceptors, the “Let’s do this!” people in your community.
They might be:
- A board member who’s always the first to raise their hand.
- A local business owner who loves seeing their logo on your event banner (and on social media).
- That one loyal, energetic volunteer who does everything and then some.
While some of these donors are often comfortable with the spotlight or leading a charge—and enjoy their name on your donation page—others prefer to stay behind the scenes and do their good quietly.
Either way works!
Just be sure to ask how they’d like to be recognized (or not).
Look to your major donors for the “next ask”
Have a donor who recently made a major gift?
Or one whose multi-year pledge just wrapped up?
They might be wondering what’s next.
A donation matching challenge is a natural progression. You could use language like:
“You’ve made such an impact with your giving. Would you be interested in helping us inspire others to do the same?”
When you position it this way, you’re offering them leadership—not just another ask.
💡What if you could do big asks less often? There is a way! It’s called recurring monthly giving, and it generates 2.4X more revenue on average than one-time gifts. This Monthly Giving Toolkit simplifies the whole program. Learn more.
Think outside the box
While individuals are great, don’t forget about local businesses, community organizations, and foundations.
Matching challenges give them the chance to:
- Show off their community support.
- Engage their employees or group members in a good cause.
- Look good while doing good.
Think about your local coffee shop that donates gift cards for your silent auction every year. Or the family foundation that funds your programs but doesn’t love writing big checks without seeing community buy-in. Both could be perfect for a matching challenge.
For example, you could pitch it like this:
“We’re planning a donation challenge and thought of you! Would you consider a $1,000 match to help us with our fundraising efforts to raise $5,000 for our [insert initiative or mission]? We’d love to feature your support on our website and in our donor newsletter.”
(And yes, if your local coffee shop pitches in, you can still get a latte while you’re there.)
⭐️ You don’t need to work harder to raise more. The average monthly donor gives $756 per year with the 4aGoodCause platform. Learn how 4aGoodCause helps you build a loyal base of recurring donors who are passionate about your cause.
Consider corporate or employee matching programs
While reaching out to existing donors and businesses in your local community is an excellent approach, don’t overlook corporate giving and employee match programs.
They can amplify individual donations and open the door to larger funding pools.
If you’re a 4aGoodCause client, you can even customize your fundraising pages to allow co-branded campaigns with your corporate partners. (It’s easy, no tech skills are needed, and custom fundraising pages are unlimited.)
But it can be tricky to get your foot in the door with some of these larger partners and programs, especially if you’re a newer nonprofit organization or fall into the small to midsize category.
Here are a few options to think through:
- Employer matching gifts: Many companies will match donations their employees make dollar-for-dollar—even part-time employees or retirees—often doubling or even tripling the original gift. If you’re a 4aGoodCause client, our integration with Double the Donation matching gift software makes it easy to surface these opportunities during the donation process.
- Corporate CSR programs: Some companies, like Whole Foods’ 5% Days or Lyft with their Round Up & Donate program, run corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives that support nonprofits—but these often require formal partnerships and don’t accept direct solicitations. But there is a possible solution, which I’ll touch on next.
- Benevity’s Nonprofit Portal: While not a matching program in itself, getting listed in Benevity’s portal connects you to match-eligible giving opportunities from major corporations like Google, Nike, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, and more. It’s a powerful way to increase your visibility with potential match donors across a wide range of industries. There is a submission process, but many CSR programs use this portal to vet and select nonprofit organizations.
📚 Learn more:
Give match donors time—and clarity
Like anything good in fundraising, these conversations are best when they’re not rushed.
Give any potential matching donors you reach out to time to think it over.
And when you make your matching gift request, be specific.
Make sure you work with your match donor to agree on:
- The matching amount total: For instance, they’ll match gifts up to $150 dollar for dollar
- If there’s a donation amount cap: For example, your match donor will match gifts up to $5,000.
- The timeline for matching funds: Perhaps your matching donor only matches gives from April 1 through April 30.
- The honor or recognition offered to them or their business. Or, do they prefer to match gifts anonymously? Make sure to get the details upfront.
For example, you might say:
“We’re hoping to raise $20,000 by June 30. If you’re willing to match donations up to $15,000, we’ll be able to rally our supporters to reach the goal—and double the impact in the process.”
And don’t forget to make it fun!
Donation challenges bring out people’s competitive spirit. (Who doesn’t love seeing that fundraising thermometer rise?)
In fact, doing so increases the average donation amount by 51%, according to our friends at Double the Donation.
How you message the match campaign matters
Messaging matters as you reach out to large donors in hopes they will participate as a matching gift partner.
Donors with the ability to make smaller gifts see donation matching challenges and matching gift programs as a way to make their donations go farther—but many large donors feel the same way.
As you start to identify those who may be open to being the matchmaker during your campaign, think about how you will talk about what their money will do.
Even small matches can provide your campaign with a few things:
- Validation that your giving day is credible and supported by key individuals or businesses in your community.
- Momentum and inspiration for people to get involved early.
- Wider reach for your campaign messaging, as your matching donors will likely be spreading the word on your behalf and co-promoting the event.
Showcase how their match of any size will allow you to do more, be more, for the community.
Ultimately, your matching donors are interested in long-term benefits.
Make sure to answer questions like:
- How will this major gift impact your organization in the long run?
- What could you do with the match that you may not likely be able to do without it?
At a minimum, start to educate donors about options in matching gifts—whether as individuals who can make personal matches or, by asking them to talk to their organizations about possible matching gift opportunities with employee donations.
Updating your communication, starting to talk to major donors about the possibility of matching gifts, and entertaining the idea of hosting your own giving day are all great ways to work toward solidifying larger donations for your nonprofit.
⭐️ Matching gifts and monthly giving go hand in hand. Use 4aGoodCause to convert match donors into long-term supporters—no tech skills needed. It’s everything you need to grow a monthly donor base that sticks around.
Example email template for match donation requests
To help you get started with your match-donor outreach, I’ve created the following email template below.
Feel free to steal this example and make it your own.
Subject: Help Us Double the Impact—Together
Body:
Hi [First Name],
I hope you’re doing well! I wanted to reach out with an opportunity for [Business Name] to make a big impact in our community—and inspire others to do the same.
This [month/season], we’re launching a donation matching challenge to support [your mission/initiative, e.g., “our youth mentoring program”]. We’re looking for a local business partner to help us kick it off by matching gifts up to [$X,000].
Would you consider being our lead match donor?
Your support would:
✅ Encourage more people to give
✅ Double the impact of every donation
✅ Showcase [Business Name] as a champion for local causes
We’d love to recognize your generosity on our campaign page, across social media, and in our donor newsletter—unless you’d prefer to stay behind the scenes!
Let me know if you’d be open to a quick chat. I’m happy to answer any questions and share more details.
Thanks for all you do for our community!
Warmly,
[Your Name]
[Title]
[Organization Name]
[Phone] | [Email] | [Website URL]
Multiply your fundraising efforts with 4aGoodCause
Finding the right match donor is just the beginning—4aGoodCause (4aGC) helps you streamline the entire matching gift process from start to finish.
With built-in tools for corporate matching gift programs, customizable donation forms, and integrations with platforms like Double the Donation, 4aGC makes it easy to identify matching gift eligibility, auto-submit match requests, and boost matching gift revenue without the heavy lift.
Whether your match comes from a local donor, an educational institution, or big companies that offer generous matching gift ratios, we will help you easily build and run the campaign—no fancy tech skills needed.
And no matter your organization’s focus—health and human services, community education and outreach, nature conservancy or animal welfare—I’m here to use my 25+ years of experience to help you raise more with less effort with the right tools.
Ready to turn your next matching campaign into your most successful fundraising revenue driver yet?
Let’s make it happen.
Schedule a demo and discover just how simple, secure, and seamless your next campaign can be with the 4aGoodCause fundraising platform.
