As the year ends, it’s time to start thinking about tax write-offs. Giving to a trustworthy nonprofit is a time-honored way to do good while balancing your books before the new year. The most savvy companies strategically use year-end giving as a tax write-off and as a way to increase their brand recognition. How? By turning their donation into a matching gift.
How matching gifts work
Matching gifts come in lots of shapes and sizes, but they all share a few things in common. You tell customers that you’re matching their gifts to World Vision, for a certain period of time, and probably up to a certain amount. You keep track of how many customers make gifts eligible for a match, and make your donation at the end of the promotion. Specifics like the timeframe, the maximum amount you match, and other details are all up to you.
How matching gifts influence consumers
Since many customers are also thinking about giving to charities at the end of the year, December is a great time to showcase your company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. When you leverage your year-end donation as a matching gift, you can double your impact while strengthening your brand’s image in customers’ eyes. Plus, customers are looking for a good deal, even when they give, so your matching donation tells them that their gift will be twice as effective.
A 2016 report by the Big Give, Charities Trust, and RBS* found that:
- 84 percent of givers were more likely to give when there was a match—and over one-third said they only gave because of the match
- Matched gifts were typically 2.5X higher than non-matched
Ways your gift can make a difference
When you give a matching gift, your donation can be used to address a variety of needs around the world. It’s up to you whether you pick a specific sector like health or education, or let us distribute it to have the biggest impact for communities in need. These are just a few ways your gift can be used:
- Supporting our community development model, empowering families and communities to get what they need to thrive
- Teaching farmers better agricultural practices, like farmer managed natural regeneration to produce more food
- Expanding our industry-leading clean water work, reaching one new person every 10 seconds and three more schools every day with clean water
- Helping fellow entrepreneurs around the world access microloans and other economic resources to get their businesses off the ground
- Providing transportation for donated goods so they can reach people in even the most remote communities
The benefits of giving back
Regardless of how you give, you can tell customers you’re a proud supporter of World Vision. This will both strengthen how people view your brand and attract customers who share your drive to help those in need. Especially when customers are on the fence, aligning your company with a cause can have a powerful impact on business.
According to the 2015 Cone Communications CSR study*:
- 81 percent of consumers say they want to purchase responsible products, but don’t know where to find them
- 71 percent of consumers are willing to pay more for a socially and environmentally responsible product
- When given the choice between similarly priced items, 90 percent of shoppers are likely to switch to a cause-branded product
Keeping these benefits of cause marketing in mind, a matching gift is just one approach for charitable giving at year’s end. For other ways to partner with World Vision now and throughout the year, check out our article on eight effective cause marketing methods to grow your business.
However you choose to give at year’s end, thank you for partnering with World Vision. Your support is making a difference for kids and families in need. Together, let’s make sure 2019 is a year where they — and your business — can thrive.
*Stats taken from “A Great Match: How match-funding incentivises charitable giving in the UK and unites funders and donors in tackling social issues” and the 2015 Cone Communications CSR Study.
