Match Funding: A new funding superpower
Ever wanted to be able to hand a new superpower to your fundraising or funder clients? Now you can! A new report brands match funding: ‘a new superpower’ and ‘a new weapon’.
Match funding is the process of incentivising donations (or other funding) by offering to match them. Matching can be a 100% match (i.e. the money is doubled) or a partial match (e.g. 25% or 50%) or even a match in excess of the original (e.g. 150% or 200%). This can work for charities wishing to attract new and bigger donations for a particular campaign; or a funders wishing to encourage more funders to spread the risk and make their money go further; or a company wishing to encourage more giving through the payroll or staff fundraising.
Match funding has been around for a while, yet still relatively few funders use it in the UK. This might seem surprising, as it seems a complete ‘no brainer’ that people will give more if their money is going to be matched and therefore go further. But on closer inspection, the research to this point has been almost exclusively focussed on the US, and has been inconclusive. This largely seems to come down to how the matching is done.
In general, people don’t seem to respond very strongly to matches of less than 100% or to having to jump through a complicated set of hoops in order to get their gift matched. In fact the new research, which is the first comprehensive evaluation of match funding in the UK, outlines 5 simple rules to making matching as effective as possible:
· Get ‘the ask’ right
· Keep it simple
· Be innovative
· Make it a partnership
· Beware over-use
Getting the ask right involves good communication and framing the fundraising request in an attractive way, avoiding the match funding sounding like a bribe or blackmail.
Keeping it simple is a fundraiser’s rule 1. With match funding it’s easy to get complicated, so try to make it as easy as possible for all involved (funders, charities, donors). That said, an element of competition (e.g. matching is only available for a limited duration, or a certain threshold of donations must be reached before matching applies) may add to the incentivising effect of matching, as long as it’s easily understandable.
Innovation helps to keep it fresh. There’s no ‘one size fits all’ model of match funding and it should be tailored to the specific situation and the funders involved. Be creative, but remember to keep it simple. ITV’s Text Santa, Street Giving and LocalGiving’s #GiveMe5 campaigns show how simple and effective matching can be.
Not all charities are match-ready, especially smaller charities. Funders need to recognise this and be prepared either to help charities to take part in matching campaigns or to veto their involvement.
Match funding is not the answer in every funding situation. Sometimes it’s just not necessary to match to have the desired effect; and using it in every situation would quickly produce fatigue amongst both funders and donors.
Done well, however, match funding can produce ‘magical results’: The Big Give (www.thebiggive.org.uk), have been using match funding for their annual Christmas appeal since 2008, and have raised over £71 million for more than 2,529 charity projects. The research found that The Big Give donors gave gifts which were 2.5 times larger when matched than when not matched.
In fact, the research found that in general, more people give and some people give more when their donations are matched. One funder who has previously used match-funding to add a new dimension to their funding package said:
“Match funding can provide a well-needed boost top charities who, in the current climate, are struggling to bring money in. It’s like giving them a new superpower, a new weapon, a new challenge to get their teeth into. It can reinvigorate their fundraising.” Bridget McGing, Deputy Director, Pears Foundation
The research showcases 6 case studies, highlighting how match funding can be used in different contexts, and when it shouldn't be used: DfID’s UK Aid Match, HEFCE’s Higher Education Matched Funding scheme, The Big Give Christmas Challenge, Stars Foundation’s Fund the Frontline campaign, RBS and HASHGivingTuesday, and Innocent Foundation’s partnership with AgeUK: The Big Knit.
The report – A Great Match: How match funding incentivises charitable giving in the UK and unites funders and donors in tackling social issues - can be downloaded from: https://www.thebiggive.org.uk/match-funding/