Donation matching (or matched giving), when used well as part of an overall funding strategy, is likely to increase the total value of donations your organisation receives. Research shows that matching increases the response rate from supporters asked to contribute (Adena and Huck, 2021). However, it is not as simple as finding any donor willing to match. To maximise success, do your research, take a scientific approach, and test your assumptions.
The case for matching
Donations are a significant source of funds for many not-for-profits. If you have at least one large donor, can you amplify their generosity by using their gift to encourage others to give? You would think the answer is obvious — donors want to do as much good as they can, so doubling their impact for the same cost should make them more willing to give. And fundraisers clearly believe it works, or they would not do so much of it. But people are complicated, the evidence tends to be anecdotal, and the research is inconclusive.
What the research says
In 2016, the UK donation matching platform The Big Give published research by Dr Catherine Walkershowing that the effectiveness of donation matching across eight earlier studies ranged from no effect on overall revenue to a 120% increase. This highlights just how varied the results can be.
A widely cited 2006 study by Dean Karlan and John List ("Does price matter in charitable giving?", American Economic Review) found that simply announcing a match increased revenue per solicitation by 19% and the probability of an individual donating by 22%. However, the size of the match ratio did not make much difference — offering $2:$1 or $3:$1 had no additional impact over $1:$1, and offering $4:$1 was actively harmful, perhaps because donors felt their part in the effort was being diminished.
Is it the match, or is it the donor?
One important question is whether the increase in donations is caused by the match itself, or simply by the presence of a large lead donor (the "quality signal" or "celebrity effect").
A 2006 study by Steffen Huck and Imran Rasul (University College London), conducted with the Bavarian State Opera and later published in the Journal of Public Economics, sought to separate these two effects. They found that the most effective approach was to forget matching altogether and simply announce the involvement of a large donor. When prospects were told someone would add to their donation, both donor rates and amounts went down. The opera house got more revenue in total, but only because the donations were matched — not because the matching motivated more giving.
A follow-up experiment by Karlan and List ("How can Bill and Melinda Gates increase other people's donations to fund public goods?") tested whether naming the lead donor mattered. A poverty-reduction charity sent two versions of a donation request: one citing an anonymous donor, and one naming the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Citing the Gates Foundation generated more and larger donations — likely because it signalled to other donors that the charity was well worth supporting.
The takeaway: test and learn
The evidence is mixed, and what works in one context may not work in another. We do not know whether these findings translate directly to Australian organisations, to your specific sector, or to your supporter base. What you should copy is not the particular tactic — it is the scientific method.
When you send out fundraising solicitations, split your audience into two groups and compare the results. For example, email half your list saying donations will be matched, and the other half saying you have been favoured by a large gift. See which performs better. Next time, use the winning approach for one group and try a new variation for the other. Always be testing.
A few things to keep in mind:
- It is not easy to find a donor willing to make a genuinely open-ended matching commitment. Most schemes carry an explicit or unwritten upper limit.
- Matching still requires you to successfully solicit donations from other donors. Without those, you could end up with double nothing.
- Once you announce a match, increasing the ratio (from $1:$1 to $2:$1 or $3:$1) does not appear to move the needle — so a simple 1:1 match may be all you need.
Ready to try matched giving on GiveNow? See How does matched giving work? for how to set it up.