Corporate Employee Matching Gift Programs
Billions of dollars of corporate employee matching donations go unclaimed each year. That means huge amounts of funding that could be used to combat societal issues are left on the table.
EFG has compiled the research and resources on this page to help you improve the performance of your employee matching gift program.
Industry Statistics
- An estimated $2 – $3 billion in corporate matching gifts is claimed annually. (Double The Donation)
- An estimated $4 – $7 billion in corporate matching gifts go unspent annually. (Double The Donation)
- Average employee participation in corporate matching gift programs is 10%. (Double The Donation)
- 24.7% of employees participated in matching gift programs among the 162 companies that responded to a question on that topic in the Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose’s Giving In Numbers 2020 survey. (CECP Giving in Numbers 2020 Survey)
- The median dollar value of matching gifts decreased by 18% between 2017 and 2019, among respondents to the CECP’s Giving In Numbers 2020 survey. Companies that had a policy of offering to match employee donations all year-round were the only category of matching-gift program that increased its median cash contributions. (CECP Giving In Numbers Survey October 29, 2020)
- 78% of match-eligible donors don’t know if their company offers matching gifts. (Double The Donation)
- 65% of Fortune 500 companies have matching gift programs. (Double The Donation)
- Over 18 million people work for companies with matching gift programs. (Double The Donation)
- The majority of companies (66%) have an open matching gift program, meaning employees can give to most nonprofit organizations. (America’s Charities)
- GE created the first employee matching gift program in 1954. (General Electric)
- Seventy-three percent of Americans reported in 2020 that they give to charity. (Gallup)
- Positive Correlation Between Matching Gift Programs And Happiest Employees: Building on a recent study from Comparably identifying major companies with the happiest employees, EFG discovered that 70 percent of the top 10 companies have an employee matching gift programs.
Resources
Over time this area will offer a rich collection of best practice articles, case studies and open source materials that companies can leverage to spark increased participation.
Here are a few preliminary resources to start deepening your knowledge.
Corporate Matching Gift Programs: Understanding the Basics Source: Double The Donation
Ideas to Increase Employee Engagement In A Matching Gift Program Source: Givinga
Match Loss As A Strategy To Increase Employee Participation Source: Better Giving Studio
Helpful Guide To Issues For Employers To Consider Source: America’s Charities
Why Do Companies Match Donations? Source: Millie
Turn Matching Upside Down: Consider Employee Donation Accounts. Source: WeSpire
Tech Workers’ Billion Dollar Opportunity To Do More Good. Source: David Zangwill
Does Your Organization Have A Matching Gift Program?
Use the Double The Donation matching gift search engine to determine if your company has a matching gift program and learn how to use it.
