The Problem
Many Organizations have
challenges focusing on corporate matching gifts because of the necessary
resources to roll-out a program, the lack of current employer information in
their constituent file and the administration associated with corporate
paperwork and bureaucracy in order to process the matching gift. Corporate matching gifts represent an
opportunity for many of their donors to leverage support for their
organization. However, most
organizations take a far too reactive approach in going after this free
money. Though sending “Post-it® Notes”, providing lookups on
their site, doing an employer append and screening files all are great
strategies, it is reliant upon the donors themselves to fill out their internal
paperwork, get a copy of your 501(c)3 and receipts, sign and send to the
correct department for processing. As a
result, only a fraction of the eligible matching gifts are processed. Organizations must devote proactive resources
at minimum, which could have sizable payback (ROI).
The Solution
If Organization’s internal
resources are sparse to take advantage of these services, Sandmark Associates
introduces an outsourced service called WorkingDonors, which provides a “soup-to-nuts”
solution to administer and facilitate matching gifts on behalf of their
eligible donors. The benefit is that
current staff doesn’t have to redirect its job functions – Sandmark takes care
of all the above through its partnership with HEP Development. In short, WorkingDonors is a service which
engages donors of Nonprofits, Associations, Universities and Hospitals
(qualified 501(c)3’s) with employer information. If your donor’s employer has a matching gift
program, a custom outreach service is instituted by Sandmark to facilitate and administer
the processing of the matching gift on behalf of the Organization.
How it works
The client provides a
database of current donors. Sandmark,
through the use of HEP Development’s EmployerFind, appends the file with
current employer information. The
typical yield of employers with matching gift programs identified is 2% (20%
Employer appends and 10% of those employers have a program) of their house
file. Sandmark resources then will
outreach to the 2% list and provide the necessary paperwork to process the
matching gift. The benefit to the
Organization is that each matching gift is an incremental donation.
How to get started
We screen the constituent
file with EmployerFind. A CSV file is
generated and returned to the client for input into their CRM system. A query is generated based on the donors who
are matching gift eligible to determine a targeted list of constituents for
outreach. We then work with the client
on an initial script and outreach via phone call and/or email. We will work with the donor in every aspect
of facilitating the processing of their matching gift. A weekly report is generated, which shows the
progress of each constituent – both a summary and detailed report.
The fee
The cost structure is based
on a Base Fee plus a flat fee per constituent administered.
