Incentivize giving with a donation matching campaign

Grow your impact with donation matching

At Charitable Impact, we believe that everyone has a cause they care about, and a change they would like to see in the world. Despite this, the amount of money moving into the charitable sector is decreasing annually. Fewer Canadians are engaging with giving, and they tend to be giving less. According to Imagine Canada, if we follow this path, Canada will be facing a $23 billion deficit in the charitable sector by 2026.

It’s an important time to look at new ways to engage donors, educate them on the importance of giving, and be transparent about the impact they are creating. One proven way to incentivize donors is to set up a donation matching campaign. It’s a simple concept that can go a long way to amplify your impact.

So, how does a donation matching campaign work?

A successful donation matching campaign requires matching of individual donations up to a certain amount. These matches could come directly from your organization, or from a generous sponsor. It creates an incentive for donors to give, but we will get to that below.

As an example, this month Friends of the Humane Society are launching an international donation matching campaign on Charitable Impact. Sakura’s Hope Foundation has contributed a total of $100,000 in order to match donations dollar-for-dollar for the duration of the campaign.

Whether you give through Charitable Impact, or directly to Friends of the Humane Society, donations received throughout the campaign will be automatically doubled until donations collectively reach $200,000. This effort is also cultivating the power of a tangible impact: Funds raised will go directly to the rescue of 100 dogs from a dog farm in Korea, and the subsequent closing of the farm.

Does matching gifts really make a difference?

In short — yes! Donation matching really does affect how people give.

Research shows that matching campaigns go a long way to incentivize donors not only to give, but to give a greater amount. According to the Government of Canada’s report on Using Behavioural Insights to Encourage Charitable Donations, a one-to-one match resulted in by far the most amount of donations.

We also took a look at the behaviour of Charitable Impact users and discovered that when donations are matched, the amount given by Charitable Impact users increases by approximately 16%.

What about donor confidence?

Lack of donor confidence is can hold people back from giving, and research shows that Canadians would likely give more if they felt more confident. When donations are matched, donors are more likely to feel they are creating real change and that their contribution is going further to create an impact.

Organizations can also grow donor confidence by clearly defining their work, and by providing transparency on the projects donors are supporting. For example, the Friends of the Humane Society campaign with Charitable Impact has a clear mission to save 100 dogs with the funds raised. As a donor, you can immediately understand the impact you will be creating when you give to the cause.

With a campaign match, confidence is bolstered and impact is doubled. As a result, donors are more likely to feel great about giving. After all, when you give to the causes you care about and step up to support what you believe in, you should feel great!

Could donation matching help you?

If you are looking for a new way to incentivize donors to give to your cause, then running a donation matching campaign may be a great option. Whether you are a charity, or an individual donor, matching donations will help you bring people together to support your cause, and create a greater impact. Plus, when we create positive giving experiences for donors they are likely to give more in the future.

If you’d like to support any of the 85,000+ charities in Canada, then we are here to support you. Charitable Impact is an online giving platform that helps you create the change you’d like to see in the world. When you sign up for a free Impact Account, you can easily give to any registered charity in Canada all from one place!