Discover how alumni matching gifts can maximize donations for schools. Learn strategies for effectively boosting donor participation and raising more funds
Discover AI Summary
• To significantly boost fundraising, make matching gifts a seamless experience for your donors: integrate the option directly into your donation forms and follow up with timely reminder emails. This easy step can really increase donor participation by empowering them to multiply their impact.
• Matching gifts are an underutilized powerhouse, letting you effectively double or even triple donations without asking alumni for more money out of pocket. This is a game-changer for addressing shrinking donor pools and maximizing your fundraising campaigns.
• A big challenge is that most donors don't even know these programs exist; the post highlights how critical it is to educate your alumni about their employer's matching gift opportunities.
• Beyond the donation flow, strategically promote matching gifts on a dedicated page on your website and weave reminders into all your alumni communications. This keeps the opportunity visible and top-of-mind for your community.
• Remember to thank matching gift donors specially for both their initial gift and their employer's contribution; also, ensure your team is trained and equipped with efficient tracking systems to manage these valuable programs effectively.
Fundraising for educational institutions has always been a challenging landscape to navigate, but recent shifts have made it even harder to maintain momentum. The donor pipeline is shrinking, and major donors, many of whom are aging, are not being replaced. At the same time, younger generations of alumni remain disengaged, with many opting out of giving or not participating in the same ways as their predecessors.
As communication channels become increasingly crowded and competitive, educational institutions face the ongoing challenge of standing out in a noisy environment. However, one area of fundraising that remains underutilized, yet can play a significant role in differentiating appeals, is matching gifts.
By leveraging alumni matching gifts, educational institutions can significantly amplify the impact of each donor’s contribution, helping to close the gap between dwindling donor pools and the need for sustainable funding. In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to make the most of these programs’ potential. We’ll cover:
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Let’s begin!
With the right strategies, school fundraisers can create an environment where alumni feel engaged, valued, and empowered to give. Let’s first lay the groundwork for successful alumni engagement here.
The first step to raising more donations from alumni is building the foundation of a strong, connected network. It’s not enough to simply ask for donations once or twice a year; your alumni need to feel personally invested in your cause. In fact, alumni who are more engaged with their alma mater are 23 times more likely to give.
Creating meaningful connections is key, and there are many ways to do so. Community-building initiatives, mentorship programs, and volunteering opportunities not only foster these bonds but also open the door to new funding opportunities.
Once you've built a strong foundation, it's time to fine-tune your approach. Each interaction with your alumni, whether via email, social media, or through your website, should be optimized for maximum impact.
The key to success in fundraising is understanding your audience. Use A/B testing to optimize subject lines, email content, and calls to action. By tracking alumni behavior on your website, you can identify warm leads and tailor your outreach for maximum effectiveness.
With over 50% of web traffic coming from mobile devices, optimizing your donation forms for mobile users is crucial. A mobile-friendly donation form, with pre-filled fields and a progress indicator, can increase conversion rates by up to 200%.
A well-rounded fundraising strategy should include more than just a generic appeal. Consider running micro-impact funds, gamifying donations, or launching re-engagement campaigns. Matching gifts are a key component of these strategies, as they create an immediate incentive for donors to give more.
People give to causes they care about, and one of the most effective ways to connect with your alumni is through storytelling. Use the "Challenge → Impact → Hope" narrative arc to highlight the tangible outcomes of donations. For example, "15 students graduated debt-free because of your support" can show alumni exactly where their money is going.
One of the most underutilized tools in educational fundraising is matching gift programs. These corporate giving initiatives offer employees the opportunity to double their donations, multiplying the impact of their contributions.
Corporate matching gifts are employer-sponsored programs in which companies match the charitable contributions made by their employees. For example, if an alumnus donates $100 to your school, their employer may match that donation with another $100, effectively doubling the gift and allowing your institution to do more with the funds.
The specifics of matching gift programs can vary by company, but there are some common parameters to be aware of as you navigate these initiatives. These include:
The more you know about a matching gift program, the better you can target donors who work for the company.
Many prominent companies offer matching gifts specifically to or including educational institutions, providing a valuable opportunity for your alumni to maximize their donations.
Here’s a list of notable companies that match donations to higher education institutions like yours:
These companies represent just a few of the thousands that match employee donations to schools and other educational institutions. By encouraging alumni to check if their employer participates in a matching gift program, you can tap into additional resources to drive fundraising success.
Top tip: It's important to maintain an up-to-date list of companies offering matching gifts and provide an easy way for alumni to identify these opportunities. Consider integrating matching gift company databases directly into your donation forms and communications, so donors can quickly see if their employer is eligible for a match.
Matching gifts are a powerful way to amplify alumni donations without asking for more money from your donors. Here’s how they can significantly boost your fundraising efforts:
By promoting matching gifts within your overall fundraising strategy, you can significantly increase both the amount and engagement of alumni donations.
Despite the clear benefits of matching gifts, many organizations are still missing out on this opportunity. A major reason for this is a lack of education and promotion. Only 7% of donors are aware that matching gift programs exist, and even fewer know how to apply for them.
To fully leverage matching gifts and maximize their potential, fundraisers need to implement strategic tactics. These efforts will help ensure that alumni are aware of matching opportunities, motivated to participate, and supported throughout the process.
The first step in boosting matching gift participation is educating your donors about the programs. Many alumni may not be aware that their employers offer matching gifts, or they might not know how to access this benefit. To bridge this gap, make sure to clearly communicate the value of matching gifts in all your fundraising materials.
Include matching gift information in your alumni communications, such as email newsletters, donation receipts, and event invitations. Remind alumni that their donations can go further without additional spending, which can incentivize them to engage.
Your school’s website is one of the most important tools for promoting matching gifts. We recommend creating a dedicated landing page that explains how matching gifts work, provides a list of participating companies, and includes easy-to-follow instructions for how donors can claim a match.
To ensure maximum participation, integrate matching gift opportunities directly into your donation page. When donors contribute online, include a prominent option for them to check if their employer offers matching gifts.
This ensures that matching gifts are top-of-mind as donors finalize their contributions.
Send reminder emails shortly after donations are made to encourage alumni to take advantage of matching gift opportunities. These emails should include clear instructions and links to facilitate the process.
Follow-up emails should be sent periodically, especially if a donor has expressed interest in matching gifts but hasn't yet completed the submission.
Donor appreciation is a key factor in retaining donors and encouraging future contributions. Make sure to thank your donors promptly, and include a special thank-you for their matching gift contributions.
Not only should you thank them for their original gift, but also for the additional impact their employer’s match has made. Personalized acknowledgment of the matching gift will reinforce the donor’s positive experience and show them that their generosity, both as an individual and through their employer, has a significant effect.
To ensure that your matching gift efforts are successful, your team needs to be well-prepared. Provide your staff with the necessary training and resources to effectively communicate with donors about matching gifts. Make sure everyone on the team understands the details of how matching gifts work and can guide donors through the process.
Further, implementing a matching gift tracking system can help streamline the process, ensuring that no matching gifts are overlooked. Consider using software like Double the Donation, which automates the process of identifying and tracking matching gifts, making it easier for your team to manage.
Matching gifts present a golden opportunity for fundraising organizations to significantly boost their alumni donations. This not only increases the amount raised but also strengthens relationships with alumni and corporate partners, fostering a deeper sense of engagement and commitment to the cause.
However, simply having a matching gift program in place isn't enough. To maximize the impact, you must take proactive steps to educate alumni, promote matching gifts at every touchpoint, and ensure the process is as seamless as possible. By integrating matching gift options into the donation flow, sending timely reminders, and expressing sincere gratitude for matching gifts, nonprofits and educational institutions alike can cultivate a more engaged and loyal donor base.
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See how modern advancement teams bring alumni engagement and fundraising together.
The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) was founded in 1877 and is home to ~2,500 students and a global community of over 33,000 alumni across 57 countries. Their 40 member advancement team hosts notable events and initiatives such as Giving Days, Life after RISD, Family Weekends, etc.
Over the last several months, Almabase has been helping RISD solve some long-standing issues to provide a smooth alumni engagement platform for staff and alumni alike. In this blog, we’ll be revisiting a wonderful conversation we had with RISD’s Director of Advancement Data and Services, Rob Odoardi on how Almabase solved some of their biggest issues.
Like many educational institutions, RISD’s alumni engagement systems did not truly reflect the unity of its community.With each team, including advancement, career services, and academic departments, working independently .This meant that data was fragmented and existed on multiple systems, leading to duplicate records with no single unified viewpoint for alumni data. Alumni often received the same forms and emails multiple times, and their experiences with events and fundraisers were often discouraging due to clunky processes.
To alleviate these problems, teams spent hours fixing spreadsheets and reconciling duplicate entries. What should have been time spent building relationships became an exercise in maintenance.
RISD needed a platform that could consolidate information, streamline collaboration, and give every team a clear picture of alumni interactions in real time.
When the advancement data services team began evaluating options, they were essentially looking for less friction. The goal was to unify engagement data and have it flow seamlessly without disrupting daily work or requiring heavy technical support.
Almabase’s integrated approach stood out immediately. The platform combined digital engagement, event management, and fundraising modules within a single environment. More importantly, it allowed institutions to deploy and operate the system without coding knowledge or complex integrations. For a team that valued creativity over configuration, the ability to plug in and start using it quickly was key.
The decision came down to one simple idea: technology should empower teams to engage more, not spend more time managing tools.
Almabase enabled RISD to bring all alumni engagement activity under one roof. Every event registration, donation, or interaction now flows into a unified data layer, automatically syncing with the school’s advancement CRM. This means that when an alum attends a reunion or participates in a mentorship program, the information updates across all systems instantly.
The platform’s no-code setup allowed RISD’s staff to create campaigns, segment audiences, and design events through simple drag-and-drop interfaces. Tasks that once required IT support became self-service. The result was faster execution, fewer delays, and a renewed focus on what mattered most: engaging alumni.
This essentially boiled down to achieving:
Transitioning to new technology often raises concerns about complexity and adoption. RISD’s experience was quite the opposite. With Almabase’s dedicated onboarding support, implementation followed a structured and low-stress process.
One of RISD’s first fundraisers in partnership with Almabase was their ‘RISD Giving Day 2025’ which was a major success.
Together with Almabase, they were able to:
Life after RISD is an initiative to provide future graduates with necessary tools, knowledge, networks, experiences, advice, guidance, and habits that will shorten students’ time to launch into their chosen fields.
Through Almabase’s Digital Engagement module, RISD was able to create a hub that allowed them to launch:
The initiative is seeing great reception, with the class of 2025 in particular being the most engaged users.
These are just a couple of instances to highlight the simple yet fundamental improvements that Almabase brings to the table. We continue to work with RISD on many other initiatives, events, and essential features that their alumni and donors may appreciate.
RISD’s transformation can be summarized in three outcomes: efficiency, clarity, and connection.
Manual data transfer and reconciliation were eliminated. Information from events, communications, and donations now syncs automatically, saving staff countless hours each month. Those hours are redirected toward creative initiatives and relationship building.
Unified data has given leadership visibility into engagement across departments. Reports that once took days can now be generated in minutes, allowing faster strategic decisions and better forecasting of fundraising potential.
With barriers removed, teams can now design targeted and personalized outreach campaigns. Alumni receive consistent communication, while RISD gains a clearer picture of how individuals interact with the institution over time.
This is more than a technology success. It is an operational transformation that supports RISD’s mission of nurturing lifelong connections within its creative community.
RISD’s journey reflects a broader shift in educational advancement. Institutions depend on accurate and easily accessible data to cultivate donors, engage alumni, and build communities that last. Their journey with Almabase highlights some key learning points:
We had a lovely time catching up with Rob and RISD’s journey with us. If you would like to listen to the full conversation, we’ve provided a recording you can watch as well as a link to it below! 🤗
→ How Rhode Island School of Design Built an Integrated Alumni Experience
How RISD Simplified Alumni Engagement with Almabase’s Integrated Platform
Catch the recap of our conversation with RISD's Rob Odoardi where we discuss how Almabase helped them reimagine their alumni engagement platform.
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