A matching fund can be an effective way to boost your campaign and delight your donors. For your big donors, whose large gifts you turn into a match, it’ll make them feel good about being part of something bigger and stretching their gift even further—the $1,000 will turn into an additional $1,000 through smaller gifts. With a match in place, smaller donors are more likely to give to your campaign since they can see—in real-time as their donation is doubled or even tripled—that their gift is going that much further. Who doesn’t love to see their money and their impact multiply?

Match campaigns are incredibly effective at raising funds and we have seen many ioby leaders achieve their goals with them, especially for large budgets. Here’s how it works:

1. You’ll identify an individual or business who is willing to pledge a large donation to your campaign.
2. Instead of giving directly to your campaign, you can nudge that donor to instead gift a match. If you’re crowdfunding for ioby, that money won’t appear all at once but instead will appear when others give to your campaign, instantly doubling their gift.
3. Work with the donor to identify the terms of the match. Will they only match a specific amount per donor, like the first $50 of each gift? Will they only match up to a specific amount, like the first $2,500 of your campaign? Clearly communicate your and your donor’s expectations. Write down what you agree on and send it to them via an email. That way there is no confusion about what is happening with their gift or the terms of their gift. This is a very generous gift you are receiving, so assume nothing and leave nothing to chance.