Matching grants are a cornerstone of nonprofit fundraising. A matching grant can make all the difference in the success of your campaign. In this support article, we’ll break down how it works and how you can utilize matching grants to amplify your ColoradoGives.org campaign.
Read more FAQs about Matching Grants here.
What are matching grants?
Matching grants are large donations or grants you use as tools to help you fundraise. Your nonprofit asks a donor (for example, a board member, local business or community partner) to provide a donation or grant to your nonprofit. Then, your nonprofit leverages that money as an incentive to donate to your fundraising campaign by promising that donations will be matched up to the amount of the matching funds. The particulars can vary based on your agreement with the donor or grantor and your fundraising strategy.
Matching Grants on ColoradoGives.org
We’re all about helping your nonprofit fundraise better and smarter. And that’s why we’ve developed a tool that allows you to display your matching grant on your ColoradoGives.org page. Nonprofits on ColoradoGives.org can use the matching grants tool to orchestrate your match and drive donations. It’s important to know that the matching grants feature on ColoradoGives.org is for display and reporting purposes only.
Summary of features
- Total flexibility on start and end times — you can even start a grant in the past!
- Unlimited simultaneous matching grants
- Ability to queue matchings grants
- Automatically include matching grant amounts in the total raised on your fundraiser or organization page
- Include offline donations in your matching grant totals
- Various matching types to choose from
- Edit and close live grants
- Review upcoming and past matching grants
- Downloadable report of your previous matching grants
What Does the Matching Grants Tool Look Like
When you enter a matching grant on your ColoradoGives.org page, here’s what will happen:
- When the matching grant is live, donors will see a badge on the Donate button altering them that a match is available
- ColoradoGives.org will auto-calculate how much of the match has been fulfilled
- In your Donations Report, you will be able to see which donations were matched and in what amount
- A grant summary block will appear on your ColoradoGives.org page listing all live matching grants and showing the amount still available. (Clicking the badge on the Donate button will take users to the grant summary.)
Adding a Matching Grant to an Organization Page
You can access your organization page by logging in and selecting the desired organization from the dropdown menu under your name on the navigation bar.
Your matching grant tool is located on your dashboard under the section "Fundraising."
When you click “Matching Grants,” you’ll end up on your matching grants dashboard.
Creating a Matching Grant
Click the blue button on your matching grants dashboard that says “+ Create.”
Then, you’ll need to enter the details of your grant.
Adding Grantor Name and Amount
First enter the grantor's name. If the grantor would like to remain Anonymous, simply check off "Hide this name publicly" underneath the name of the sponsor.
You'll then want to add the amount of the match.
Include match value in page metrics
Underneath the value amount, "Include match value in page metrics" which will automatically be checked off. This signifies that the Total Raised dollar amount on your fundraising page will include your grant money.
Example: If you have a 1:1 match for $1,000 and keep "Include match value in page metrics" enabled then if a donor makes a $5 donation, your fundraising page metrics will automatically jump up by $10. If the same match were to disable "Include match value in page metrics," then when a $5 donation is made the metrics and thermometer would just display the $5 donation.
When deciding whether to keep this enabled or disabled, the most important thing to consider is how your grantor will be providing the grant.
- If you’re the grantor prefers to pay by check or off of the platform, it’s a good idea to keep this enabled.
- If the grantor is willing to pay online through ColoradoGives.org, it’s a good idea to disable this feature.
Colorado Gives Day Event - match value in page metrics
- Colorado Gives Day does NOT allow offline donations, including matching grants fulfilled outside of the site, to count towards the incentive fund or leaderboards, therefore we would recommend that you disabled matches appearing in page metrics.
Including Image and Title
You will also have the opportunity to add a photo and title to your matching grant. Adding an image and title provides a great opportunity to share more information on the match and the sponsor. To add an image, simply click into the image area.
Setting the Terms of the Matching Grant
The matching grants tool on ColoradoGives.org is versatile and can suit many different types of matching grants. In the next area, you’ll enter the details of your match.
Set When Your Grant Is Active
You can set the start and end date for your matching grant for any time, future, present, or even past. If you forgot to set up your match, no problem! We will automatically include eligible donations against the match if you set the start time in the past.
Also, you can run as many matches at one time as you would like. If you have a grant you want to become active as soon as another one ends, just check the box that says “Queue this grant to begin immediately after another grant completes.”
Set Your Match Type
The most common type of grant on Matching Grants on ColoradoGives.org is a 1:1 match, meaning that each donation is matched in full until the grant is fulfilled.
However, there are other options you can choose if you’d like to set up your matching grant a little differently.
Match a specific percentage of each donation
When you select this option, you’ll be asked to enter a percentage. This option will be automatically be set to 100% (1:1 match). However, this can be a handy tool if you’d like to stretch your grant further by matching only a portion of each donation, such as 50%, or if you’d like to be generous with the grant money and match at a 2:1 ratio (which is 200%).
Match a maximum dollar amount per donation
This tool will allow you to “cap” the amount that can be matched. This helps ensure that your $1,000 grant will not be fulfilled too quickly with a few large donations. So, if you have a $1,000 match available, and have set your “cap” to $100, you can prevent a few big donations from wiping out your grant.
Cumulative threshold match
Cumulative threshold matches allow you to create different styles of matches if you are looking for something different than a standard 1:1 match.
- Apply total match when cumulative donations equal the match value
This is an all or nothing match. For example, a grantor agrees to give $10,000 only if you can raise $10,000. For all or nothing matches we do not include the match amount in your fundraiser or organization page amounts until the total value is met. If the total value is not met before the end time then nothing is matched. This can be a risky strategy that pays off in dividends to motivate your supporters to donate!
- Apply total match when a certain quantity of donations is received
This option creates a match that is based on the number of donations you receive. For example, you can set up a match that will only be fulfilled once you receive 20 donations. Please note, this is not based on unique donors. So if a donor donates twice, that is considered two donations towards your match.
This is great option to utilize if you are participating in a giving day that has power hour prizes.
- Apply total match when a certain number of unique donors is reached
This option creates a match that is based on the number of unique donors you receive. For online donations, unique donors are considered unique through the email address. For example, if two different individuals by the name of Bob Smith donate to your cause, we will count both of these donors individually because they will utilize a different email address. For offline donations, unique donors are considered unique through the email address or the name.
This is also a great option to utilize if you are participating in a giving day that has power hour prizes.
Set Match Conditions
There are a couple of match conditions you can include on your match.
Set a minimum per donation amount before match is applied
This option allows you to create a minimum donation amount before a donation is applied towards a match. For example if you would like to motivate donors to donate at higher amounts, you may want to set up your match so that only donations over $50 will go towards the match.
Please note that the lowest donation amount available for donors on the platform is $5.
Include offline donations in the match
This option will be automatically enabled. Any offline donations in you enter in ColoradoGives.org will count towards your match.
Include organization fundraisers in the match
If you are adding a matching grant from your organization page, you will see this option. This option is also automatically enabled for organizations. This means that all fundraisers created for your organization will be included in your match. If you would like only your organization page to be included in your match, unselect this option.
Apply match once per donor
This option provides you the ability to have the match count once per donor. This is a great option if you are looking to bring in new donors or reach a donor-number goal.
Setting Up Match Notifications
Now that you have entered all of your match parameters, you’ll want to enter the contact information for the grantor or person at your nonprofit who should be notified when the grant is fulfilled so they can make the donation online.
Creating the Match
Once you have completed entering your match information, it's time to create it by selecting "Create Match."
Editing a Matching Grant
If any point you need to edit your matching grant while it's live or if it's upcoming, simply head back your Matching Grants area and select the pencil icon on the right side of the corresponding match.
Additionally if you need to close your matching grant pre-maturely, simply select the stop icon.
Reviewing Your Match History
You can always access your match history through the Matching Grants area.
If you would like to download a full report of your past matches, simply select "Download full report" on the top right corner of your Past Matches section.
You can always download a singular report on a past match by selecting the download icon to the right of the corresponding match. 
If you would like to hide a match amount from page totals, select the crossed out eyeball icon. 
Adding a Matching Grant to a Fundraiser
Individual fundraising pages are campaign specific pages connected to your organization page. When you use the matching grants tool to add a match to your fundraiser, only donations to your fundraiser will count toward the match.
To add a matching grant to your fundraiser, go to the fundraising page to which you’d like to add the match. Then click the dollar sign icon ("Donations") on your page’s dashboard, and click “Matching Grants.”
Once you’ve navigated to the matching grants dashboard, follow the same steps as you would on your organization page.
Adding a Matching Grant to an Event or Team
Event and Team fundraising pages is a peer-to-peer fundraising specific page connected to your organization page. When you use the matching grants tool to add a match to your Event or Team fundraiser, only donations to the primary event/team page and the peer-to-peer fundraisers connected to it will count toward the match.
*Please note that Event and/or Team leaderboards will not take matching grants into account. If you are creating a match on an event or team fundraising page and would like to the leaderboards to include your match, you may want to consider opting out of adding the matching grant to your metrics and instead adding the match as one offline donation. That will ensure the leaderboard is able to account for your matching grant.
To add a matching grant to your campaign, go to the fundraising page to which you’d like to add the match. On the left-hand side dashboard, select "Reports" > “Matching Grants”
Once you’ve navigated to the matching grants dashboard, follow the same steps as you would on your organization page.
Matching Grant for Giving Day
If your matching grant is for a giving day, we recommend encouraging your grantor to fulfill the match online. Matching grants that are automatically added to your metrics do not count toward giving day leaderboard or prizes.
Need Help with Matching Grants?
ColoradoGives.org's friendly support staff is available to answer any questions you have about the matching grants tool! Please reach out with any further questions here.