How Three Groups Raised Money Through Matching Gifts

Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation

Behind the matching campaign: In 2009, an anonymous donor put up $500,000 to encourage giving during the recession. The drive’s goals were to recruit additional board members, secure $500,000 from trustees, break even on the charity’s budget that year, and raise $1-million from new donors or from supporters who made larger gifts than usual.

How it worked: The organization did meet those requirements, but it took just over a year, about four months longer than the donor and charity had hoped.

Lessons: Peter Wilderotter, the foundation’s president, says extending the timeline beyond December didn’t cause a kerfuffle because the donor and the organization communicated openly throughout the campaign. “Had we gone to them on December 31 and said, ‘This is where we are,’ we would have had a problem,” says Mr. Wilderotter.

Partners in Health

Goal of its matching campaign: Took the idea of matching gifts to small-dollar donors.

How it worked: The 2010 campaign relied on fundraising software from Blue State Digital, the company that helped the 2008 Obama campaign tap into small-dollar donations, to give loyal donors with modest means a chance to match small contributions from others whose giving wasn’t as reliable. The loyal donors could write messages to would-be contributors describing why they support Partners in Health.

How much it raised: $178,000 from 1,200 people.

Lessons: Charles Howes, the charity’s manager of annual giving, says that the fundraising software doesn’t process donations from the loyal donors until the charity receives a gift from someone who hasn’t given regularly. He says it’s unclear whether the nonprofit would get all the pledged money from the first group of donors if it didn’t raise enough from the second group. “Our goal was for that not to happen,” he says. “We sent extra e-mails to make sure we fulfilled the matching amount.”

Water for People

How its match offer worked: Stephen and Sandy Rosenthal, a couple who have long supported the charity, put up $500,000 a year beginning in 2008 to inspire others to give. In 2011, two other big donors put up another $500,000, bringing the total available to match gifts to $1-million. The money did not require Water for People to raise a full million dollars to get the gifts.

How much it raised: In 2009, the drive brought in $806,423, $46,691 of which came from new donors. In 2010, those figures were $834,273 and $36,566; in 2011, they increased to $1,073,022 and $49,037.

Lessons: While the charity considers the campaign a big success, the group worries that it’s not attracting enough new donors. Water for People will try something new next year because it worries the campaign could become stale.