Corporate Giving and Matching Gift Statistics [Updated 2023]
Matching gifts can make a huge difference for nonprofits of all sizes, but too few organizations know about them or even how to get started with corporate philanthropy. Explore the key matching gift statistics below to learn about the potential impact of this underutilized revenue source.
Key Matching Gift Statistics
Key Matching Gift Statistics
- 65% of Fortune 500 companies offer matching gift programs.
- Source: Double the Donation’s Review of Fortune 500 Companies’ Employee Giving Programs
- Over 26 million individuals work for companies with matching gift programs.
- Source: Real-time Analysis of employment figures for companies in Double the Donation’s matching gift database
- 11% of total corporate cash contributions to nonprofits are made through matching gift programs, for an estimated average of $2.86 billion donated each year.
- An additional $4 – $7 billion in matching gift funds is estimated to go unclaimed per year.
- Over the last three years, the percentage of Russell 1000 companies publicly disclosing that they offer employee matching gifts grew by 11.8%.
- A Forbes survey of 250 multi-billion-dollar companies indicated that 92% of surveyed companies offer at least one kind of gift matching program to their employees.
- Source: Forbes – Corporate Giving By The Numbers
- Double the Donation’s database covers more than 99% of companies with matching gift programs.
- Source – Database of Matching Gift and Volunteer Grant Companies
Potential Impact of Matching Gifts
- 84% of survey participants say they’re more likely to donate if a match is offered.
- Source: The Big-Give Research Initiative
- 1 in 3 donors indicate they’d give a larger gift if matching is applied to their donation.
- Source: The Big-Give Research Initiative
- Mentioning matching gifts in fundraising appeals results in a 71% increase in response rate and a 51% increase in average donation amount.
- Source: Tech Soup – Which Fundraising Strategies Work?
- A well-executed matching gift strategy can have more than 75% engagement, including interacting with your search tool, accessing matching gift forms or guidelines, and/or opening multiple emails. That’s 5x the average nonprofit’s engagement rate!
- Source: An Analysis of Double the Donation Usage
Promoting Matching Gifts
- Only 1.31% of individual contributions are matched at the average nonprofit organization, despite approximately 10% being eligible for corporate matches.
- Source: Double the Donation Database Analysis and Projections
- Without automation, there is a significant knowledge gap surrounding available matching gift programs and the donors who qualify for them.
- 78% of donors are unaware if their company offers a matching gift program and the program specifics.
- 16% of donors know their company has a program, but are unsure if they’re eligible or don’t know how to submit their matching git request.
- 8% of donors know their company has a program, know they’re eligible, and understand how to submit their matching gift request.
- 73% of donors will use a matching gift search field on a donation form when presented with the opportunity.
- Flexibility in where donors can give matters!
- 97% of donors want flexibility in where and how they give to causes they care about.
- 86% of donors want to be able to give their original donation directly to a nonprofit through the nonprofit’s website.
- 6% of donors want to give their original donation through a workplace giving platform and then have that gift passed along to the nonprofit.
- 8% of donors didn’t indicate a preferred donation channel.
- Source: Double the Donation survey of donors
- 100% of the Peer-to-Peer Top 30 incorporate matching gifts in their overall fundraising strategies to some extent.
- 93% of leading peer-to-peer nonprofits host a dedicated matching gift page on their websites and/or event pages
- 86% of the P2P Top 30 follow up with donors about matching gifts on their gift confirmation screens, post-donation email outreach, and more.
- Source: Top Nonprofits’ Matching Gift Research Report | A Digital Strategy Analysis of the Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Top 30
- Sending matching gift reminder emails within 24 hours of a donation results in a 53% open rate, which is 2.6 times higher than the average nonprofit email open rate.
- The average matching gift email has a 7% click-through rate, which is 2.4x the average nonprofit email click-through rate.
- Source: Double the Donation Database Analysis and Projections
- Among donors who have already been identified as match eligible, sending a second reminder email increases matches submitted by 48%!
- Source: Double the Donation Database Analysis and Projections
- Employing multiple approaches to identifying match-eligible donors results in 77% more identified match-eligible donations.
- Source: Double the Donation Database Analysis and Projections
- Email domain screening for match-eligible donations can result in a 1% increase in total revenue for nonprofits.
- Source: Double the Donation Database Analysis and Projections
- Leveraging a matching gift automation tool (like 360MatchPro) increases matching gift revenue for nonprofits by 61%.
- The addition of auto-submission functionality is projected to yield an 80% increase in matching gift revenue. As Double the Donation continues to develop new auto-submission integrations, matching gift revenue for eligible nonprofits is estimated to grow 200%+.
- Source: 2023 aggregate Double the Donation data
To start bringing in more matched donations, your nonprofit needs a reliable internal plan. Watch this video to learn the ropes and set your organization up for success:
Key Matching Gift Statistics
- 65% of Fortune 500 companies offer matching gift programs.
- Source: Double the Donation’s Review of Fortune 500 Companies’ Employee Giving Programs
- Over 26 million individuals work for companies with matching gift programs.
- Source: Real-time Analysis of employment figures for companies in Double the Donation’s matching gift database
- 11% of total corporate cash contributions to nonprofits are made through matching gift programs, for an estimated average of $2.86 billion donated each year.
- An additional $4 – $7 billion in matching gift funds is estimated to go unclaimed per year.
- Over the last three years, the percentage of Russell 1000 companies publicly disclosing that they offer employee matching gifts grew by 11.8%.
- A Forbes survey of 250 multi-billion-dollar companies indicated that 92% of surveyed companies offer at least one kind of gift matching program to their employees.
- Source: Forbes – Corporate Giving By The Numbers
- Double the Donation’s database covers more than 99% of companies with matching gift programs.
- Source – Database of Matching Gift and Volunteer Grant Companies
Potential Impact of Matching Gifts
- 84% of survey participants say they’re more likely to donate if a match is offered.
- Source: The Big-Give Research Initiative
- 1 in 3 donors indicate they’d give a larger gift if matching is applied to their donation.
- Source: The Big-Give Research Initiative
- Mentioning matching gifts in fundraising appeals results in a 71% increase in response rate and a 51% increase in average donation amount.
- Source: Tech Soup – Which Fundraising Strategies Work?
- A well-executed matching gift strategy can have more than 75% engagement, including interacting with your search tool, accessing matching gift forms or guidelines, and/or opening multiple emails. That’s 5x the average nonprofit’s engagement rate!
- Source: An Analysis of Double the Donation Usage
Promoting Matching Gifts
- Only 1.31% of individual contributions are matched at the average nonprofit organization, despite approximately 10% being eligible for corporate matches.
- Source: Double the Donation Database Analysis and Projections
- Without automation, there is a significant knowledge gap surrounding available matching gift programs and the donors who qualify for them.
- 78% of donors are unaware if their company offers a matching gift program and the program specifics.
- 16% of donors know their company has a program, but are unsure if they’re eligible or don’t know how to submit their matching git request.
- 8% of donors know their company has a program, know they’re eligible, and understand how to submit their matching gift request.
- 73% of donors will use a matching gift search field on a donation form when presented with the opportunity.
- Flexibility in where donors can give matters!
- 97% of donors want flexibility in where and how they give to causes they care about.
- 86% of donors want to be able to give their original donation directly to a nonprofit through the nonprofit’s website.
- 6% of donors want to give their original donation through a workplace giving platform and then have that gift passed along to the nonprofit.
- 8% of donors didn’t indicate a preferred donation channel.
- Source: Double the Donation survey of donors
- 100% of the Peer-to-Peer Top 30 incorporate matching gifts in their overall fundraising strategies to some extent.
- 93% of leading peer-to-peer nonprofits host a dedicated matching gift page on their websites and/or event pages
- 86% of the P2P Top 30 follow up with donors about matching gifts on their gift confirmation screens, post-donation email outreach, and more.
- Source: Top Nonprofits’ Matching Gift Research Report | A Digital Strategy Analysis of the Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Top 30
- Sending matching gift reminder emails within 24 hours of a donation results in a 53% open rate, which is 2.6 times higher than the average nonprofit email open rate.
- The average matching gift email has a 7% click-through rate, which is 2.4x the average nonprofit email click-through rate.
- Source: Double the Donation Database Analysis and Projections
- Among donors who have already been identified as match eligible, sending a second reminder email increases matches submitted by 48%!
- Source: Double the Donation Database Analysis and Projections
- Employing multiple approaches to identifying match-eligible donors results in 77% more identified match-eligible donations.
- Source: Double the Donation Database Analysis and Projections
- Email domain screening for match-eligible donations can result in a 1% increase in total revenue for nonprofits.
- Source: Double the Donation Database Analysis and Projections
- Leveraging a matching gift automation tool (like 360MatchPro) increases matching gift revenue for nonprofits by 61%.
- The addition of auto-submission functionality is projected to yield an 80% increase in matching gift revenue. As Double the Donation continues to develop new auto-submission integrations, matching gift revenue for eligible nonprofits is estimated to grow 200%+.
- Source: 2023 aggregate Double the Donation data
To start bringing in more matched donations, your nonprofit needs a reliable internal plan. Watch this video to learn the ropes and set your organization up for success:
Matching Gift Statistics: Employee Participation Rates
Matching gift participation rates vary widely by company. This is a result of how prominently a company promotes matching gifts and how easy it is for employees to participate.
For example, 96% of employees at companies with matching gift programs have a strong or very strong preference for their company to match donations made directly to a nonprofit (such as through the nonprofit’s website, peer-to-peer fundraising platform, or mail) rather than only matching donations through a workplace giving software platforms. The more options an employee has to give and to get their gift matched, the more likely they are to utilize available company matching opportunities.
The graphs to the left illustrate the matching gift program employee participation rates for a few leaders in various sectors.
Some companies, like American Express and Microsoft, heavily promote their corporate philanthropy programs, while others don’t. In fact, recent analysis indicates that only 19% of companies include more than one paragraph regarding matching gift programs in their easily accessible employee handbook materials or website.
This means it’s incredibly important for your organization to do its part in raising awareness of matching gifts. We recommend that nonprofits promote matching gifts in three locations:
Takeaway: If you effectively promote employee matching gifts to your donors, you can overcome low participation rates.
Matching Gift Statistics: Typical Program Guidelines
Matching Gift Statistics: Top Companies
Highlights From Top Companies
- The top 10 matching gift companies will match on average up to $47,500 per employee per year
- Source: Double the Donation’s Analysis of Top Matching Gift Programs
- 51% of the Russell 1000 companies publicly disclose they offer matching gift programs (with additional ones being offered and not publicly disclosed yet).
- 85% of the top matching gift companies also offer volunteer grant programs.
- Source: Double the Donation’s Analysis of Top Matching Gift Programs
Most Widely Used Matching Gift Program
- Microsoft is the largest contributor of matching gift and volunteer grant funds.
- 65% of Microsoft’s employees participate in the annual giving campaign.
- Inclusive of the corporate match, Microsoft employees have donated more than $1 billion to nonprofits.
- Since Microsoft began its volunteer match program in 2005, U.S.-based employees have volunteered more than 2 million hours of their time to causes they’re passionate about.
- In one year Microsoft matched $53.2 million in employee monetary donations.
- This represents an 11% increase over previous year match levelsDonations went to nearly 19,000 unique nonprofit organizations.
- Microsoft donated an additional $7.7 million as a result of the 456,000 volunteer hours logged through the company’s employee volunteer program
World’s First Matching Gift Program
Key Corporate Giving Statistics
Volunteer Grant and Volunteering Statistics
Additional Matching Gift & Corporate Philanthropy Resources
Promoting Matching Gifts
Your donors are unlikely to know about matching gifts unless your nonprofit promotes these giving programs to them.
Check out our resources to learn how you can effectively market matching gift programs to donors via multiple channels.
Matching Gift Companies
Many companies offer a matching gift program (65% of Fortune 500 companies do!), but some outshine the rest.
Double the Donation has compiled a list of the top 10 companies with the best matching gift programs in the United States.
Impact of Corporate Giving
Matching gift programs are just one of the many types of corporate philanthropy initiatives that companies have.
If you’re interested in learning about the importance of corporate philanthropy, read the following article!
