Updated 5/24/26.
Did you know that 65% of Fortune 500 companies offer matching gift programs?
Participation in gift matching programs has great potential for nonprofits or higher education institutions, as it could double their fundraising efforts.
What is Gift Lift™?
Tension’s Gift Lift™ gift matching program helps nonprofits facilitate gift matching opportunities from their donors’ employers in a way that is seamless, simple and effective.
How Gift Lift™ Works
Working with a trusted partner, Tension appends employer data to a database of your existing donors. Tension compares this file to a list of employers that match employee gifts. It then gives you a list of donors who work at those companies.
This process has three distinct data elements:
1. Email
- E-Match – Tension identifies and appends donor email addresses to your donor list
2. Employment Information
- Employer Find identifies and appends your donors’ employer information.
- The system uses LinkedIn as a source for updated employment information.
Matching Gift Information
- AutoMatch screens a non-profit’s donor database against an employer matching gift database.
- Screening tools match employer names with a proprietary database of matching gift companies. They provide details on each matching gift program, including eligibility.
- They also help you get the individual’s matching gift form from their employer. This may be a link or a PDF file.
Tension can then produce, print, and mail a personalized direct mail appeal. The mailing will include matching gift forms from the donor’s employer. It will also include a convenient return envelope. It’s a win-win for you and your donors.
Three Characteristics of a Successful Gift Matching Campaign
To benefit from available fundraising dollars, your gift-matching program must be set up for success. Below are three main characteristics of a successful direct mail gift-matching program:
- Organizational Commitment: When a client wants better matching gift results, they will invest more resources to reach this goal. Most non-profits run a passive or reactive program. They do not seek matching gift opportunities. As a result, they often stay stuck and miss matching gift dollars.
- Access to Quality Data: Quality data can lead to quality matching gift results. The Gift Lift program is based upon the following four levels of regular data integrity:
- Level 1: Address and Phone Numbers – This ensures that a contact can be reliably reached.
- Level 2: Email address confirmation gives another level of connection opportunity.
- Level 3: This level verifies that employment information is up to date.
- Level 4: This final check confirms if the contact’s employer offers a gift-matching program.
- Easily Repeatable Process to Educate and Communicate with Donors: Data quality directly affects campaign results. The more accurate the data is, the stronger the communication with donors will be. Best practice suggests that any data gathered is usable for three to six months for two reasons.
- People change jobs frequently. They might leave a company that offers a gift-matching program.
- Companies may stop gift-matching programs. They may also change the match percentage.
Other Tips and Suggestions
Plan Ahead
In order to stay on schedule, planning is crucial. Setting up a new Gift Lift campaign takes time. The data must be collected and a strategy set in place to help measure the success of a campaign. Knowing this definition of success is a key step in the planning process. It’s important to keep in mind that the Gift Lift program can add 5-10 days to the mailing process.
Follow Up
A follow-up campaign after the gift-matching campaign can increase your overall return on investment, and may defray the initial cost of your investment in Gift Lift. Be sure to launch the follow-up campaign within the three-to-six-month data viability window.
Fundraising Envelopes for Different Occasions
The Gift Lift™ program works great for nonprofits and universities. Garnering alumni donation is a major fundraising goal for universities and maintaining a relationship with past, current and future donors is important for nonprofits. Below are just a few occasions that Tension can help with:
- Church Offerings
- School Fundraising
- Nonprofit Fundraising
- Pledge Envelopes
Contact Tension
Tension understands the importance of the trust you’ve developed with your donors over time. Your top donors may not even know their employers offer employer matching gift programs. Gift Lift™ offers an easy way for your top donors to participate. Contact us today to learn more about this program and how you can get started.
