Have you ever heard someone say “If you donate $10, I’ll match it and donate another $10.” Or “ . . . I’ll match it and donate $20”? For ioby campaigns, match dollars are additional dollars that are contributed at or above a donation amount.  

Match dollars are a great way to leverage more donations. For example, the Youth Leaders Board project, on average, raised $77 per day over the course of their campaign. But in two days of having match dollars available, they raised $787 per day. Donors love to see their money doubled!

When the match fund is set up for your campaign, we add a banner to your page and a separate landing page to describe the match in more detail. The match donor can be recognized, if they would like, in both places. Additionally, they get the satisfaction of knowing their money will help you get more donations.

First, make a list of the people, organizations or other potential sources of funds that might be able to provide match for your campaign. Match works best when it’s $1,000 or more (though a match of less may be appropriate for smaller campaigns. ioby will create customized matches for donations of $500 or larger). In most cases, you will want to ask for more than you expect to allow space for the potential match donor to come down from your ask. 

So what should you say when you ask? Emphasize your story, the impact of your work, and how they can play a special role in the success of your campaign by providing match. Here’s a sample script:

"Hi Sheila! Good to see you. I’m so glad that we could meet up today. As you may recall, we’re running a crowdfunding campaign on ioby to raise money for our community garden project. Last year we taught 100 kids how to plant and harvest vegetables for themselves and we want to triple the number this year.

Our campaign is off to a good start and we’re working to get some more strategies in place to help us hit our milestones of 50%, 75%, and ultimately 100% raised. Right now we are raising match dollars—one of the most effective ways to increase donations. Our campaign can be set up with a match fund that allows donations to be matched in real-time. Donors love to see their money doubled or tripled! 

Would you be willing to donate $X in match funds? It would be a great way to help us leverage more donations to help more kids learn about growing their own food.

If they say yes, continue with the following.

Thanks so much! We’re so thankful for your generosity! Would you like to be recognized on our campaign page as the donor?

I will send you detailed instructions later, but basically you’ll mail the match dollars to ioby and then they’ll set up a match fund specifically for our campaign. Thanks again!”

Yes. Sometimes you may receive a grant you’d like to use for match. You can ask your funder to mail the check to ioby, following the directions in the next section, or if you’ve already deposited the grant check, you can make a donation to your own campaign.

1. You find a donor willing to give you $500 or more in match. 

2. Contact your ioby Strategist to let them know you have a match donor.

3. Send your donor these directions for sending the match check to us:

Write a check out to ioby with the match fund amount and “Match fund for [insert the name of your campaign]” on the memo line.

Send the check to ioby at:

ioby
PO Box 4668 #74253
New York, NY, 10163-4668

If you would like to receive a tax receipt for your check donation, please include a note with the check requesting a receipt and list your name, email address and phone number.

4. Work with your ioby Strategist to set up your campaign page to notify your donors about your match opportunity, draft strategic match language to use in your communications as you ask for donations, and choose a time frame to have the match available to create urgency.

5. Watch the momentum of your campaign build!