GE Foundation Reports "Huge Gains" in Matching Gift Participants, Recipients

GE founded the world's first corporate matching gift program in 1954, essentially inventing a new kind of philanthropy from scratch. Since then, GE's concept has spread throughout the private sector to the point where it represents tens of millions of dollars in "free money" for nonprofits. In 2004, the 50th anniversary of its matching gift program, the GE Foundation extensively revamped the program in order to streamline recipient eligibility and fund distribution. The result has been a dramatic increase in the number of participating employees, gifts registered, and eligible organizations. Is your nonprofit among them?

"It's such a personal way for employees to give to support their communities," says Kathleen Mayglothling, Program Manager at the GE Foundation. "The program has a strong history supporting employees and their philanthropy." The annual individual maximum for every employee/retiree is $50,000. With GE employing some 350,000 eligible workers in the United States, that represents a deep source of potential revenue for eligible nonprofits.

In 2004, the GE Foundation streamlined the process for nominating charities and awarding matching gifts. As a result, says Mayglothling, the number of participating employees has increased by about 250%, while the number of participating charities has risen by nearly 600% and the amount of gifts more than doubled, from around $18 million a year to over $38 million in 2010. "Seeing those huge gains in participants and organizations really was a nice validation of the decision to revise the program and process," says Mayglothling.

Employees can nominate charities from the IRS database of recognized nonprofits. The list of approved charities is then made available on an intranet site and gifts can be registered. Prior to making a payment, the GE Foundation then reviews the charities and gifts more thoroughly against its selection criteria and program guidelines. Donors can select recipient charities from the site or by calling a toll-free number. Payments are made quarterly. Mayglothling says that this new approach also saves significant staff time, allowing them to grow GE's other corporate giving programs too.

Mayglothling encourages nonprofits to reach out to employees to raise awareness about their mission and services, so that employees can nominate them to receive matching gifts. She also encourages companies to emulate GE's success by inaugurating matching gift programs of their own, even if it's just a small program at first. "It's such a great way, and an easy way, to support your employees and the communities where they live and work," she says. "People will be thrilled."

Here's the breakdown for 2010:

• Number of gifts registered: 109,948
• Number of charities: 13,360
• Number of donors: 30,194
• Number of checks cut: 18,726
• GE Foundation Payment Total: $38 million

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MatchMyGift® Comes in Handy at Neighborhood Party

HEP Development's exciting new MatchMyGift® app for smart phones offers development officers, trustees, and volunteers the opportunity to identify match eligibility right at the point of solicitation. As it turns out, MatchMyGift® can also be pretty useful for creating solicitation and education opportunities where there were none before.

William F. Skaggs, Director of Annual Giving at Western Kentucky University shares his story. "Last Fall, the people in our neighborhood held a potluck dinner," says Skaggs. "A young couple that had just moved into the neighborhood came over and we got to talking. They mentioned that they were both WKU grads. I explained what I did for a living, but I told them not to worry, I wouldn't ask them for a donation right there," Skaggs recalls with a chuckle. "The wife mentioned that she worked for State Farm Insurance, which I knew had a matching gift program. The husband mentioned that he worked for Trane, but I wasn't sure if they matched. So I said, 'hold on a second, let me take a quick look.'"

Skaggs pulled out his iPhone, clicked on the MatchMyGift® icon, and typed in the company name. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Skaggs was able to show the man the listing for Trane's match program. He explained to the couple how they could use matching gifts to multiply the impact of their gifts to a broad range of philanthropies whose causes they support. "I think it's important to provide people with information that will help them, and not necessarily WKU only," he says.

Skaggs says that he was pleased with the way MatchMyGift® enabled him to educate two potential donors about matching gifts in such a low-pressure way, right in the course of a normal conversation. "Otherwise," he says, "it's an opportunity that might have been missed."

With the MatchMyGift® app, you can be sure you have the most accurate and comprehensive corporate matching data at your fingertips. That's because MatchMyGift® is powered by HEP Development's comprehensive GiftPlus® database, which is updated daily with new and revised information about corporate matching gift programs. To find out more about MatchMyGift®, visit HEP's website.

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Over 850 New Matching Gift Companies Added to Database

Economy got you down? Here's some news that should brighten your day. Between 2008 and September 1, 2011, HEP Development has added 870 net new matching gift companies to its GiftPlus® database of corporate matching gift programs -- that's an average of over 215 net new companies added each year! GiftPlus® is the most comprehensive database of matching gift companies available -- with over 16,000 matching companies and subsidiaries in the United States and Canada listed.

While many matching gift programs have scaled back or closed down as a result of the economic downturn, the fact that there has been a net gain -- and a substantial one at that -- during tough times is good news for nonprofits hoping to boost their fundraising revenue with the "free money" that matching gifts represent. Let HEP Development help your nonprofit plug into that revenue stream.

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News Bits

• Announcing HEP Cell Phone Find -- HEP Development can now append cellphone numbers to your file as well as tell you whether current phone numbers on file are cellphone numbers. HEP's file of opt-in cellphone numbers is the most complete in the industry. With HEP's Cell Phone Find™, you can efficiently boost your phonathon and text-to-give fundraising campaigns. Contact us for more information!
• Ahern: Matching Gifts are "Secret Ingredient" -- Tom Ahern, a renowned fundraising expert and author of four books on effective donor communications, writes that mentioning matching gifts is one of the "secret ingredients" that make for successful donor newsletters. In "Deciding what goes into your donor newsletter," Ahern says "If you want response, you need to make offers. It's simple cause and effect. What kinds of offers? Information. Tours. Matching gifts. Special fund drives." He adds, "A good donor newsletter . . . renews in [donors] the certainty that they are accomplishing something worthwhile by continuing their support." What better way to give donors that sense of accomplishment than by showing them how to give "free money" to their favorite charities?
• Track Marketing Efforts with E-Match Donor Link™ -- In addition to the total number of searches completed on your nonprofit, E-Match Donor Link™ reports now also show the companies that were searched for. You can use this information to calibrate the performance of your matching gift marketing efforts as well as to identify the companies that have an interest in your nonprofit. Current E-Match Donor Link subscribers need only send HEP Development an e-mail to request a user code and password to start receiving E-Match Donor Link™ reports.

  Here's a sample of what the report looks like:

  752	Exelon Corporation	7
  753	Exelon Energy (Warrenville, IL)	1
  754	Exelon Generation (Power Generation) (Kennett Square, PA)	2
  755	Exelon Nuclear	2
  756	Extreme	1
  757	ExxonMobil Volunteer Involvement Program (VIP)	85
  758	FCX	1
  759	FICON Corporation	3

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September 2011