Manage Matching Gift Programs
Matching gift programs help you to maximize your impact as an organization, increase the impact of your employees, and drive more donor participation.
Employees can request full or partial matching gifts for their eligible donations made in Philanthropy Cloud (on-platform) and outside of Philanthropy Cloud (off-platform), at the time of their donation or afterwards, and per the program specifications. They can monitor their program balances in their profile, and easily see when matching funds are requested.
Manage the matching gift programs for your workplace or organization in Matching Gifts.
Specifically, you can:
Create matching gift programs
Customize matching gift rules
Schedule matching gift program activation
View matching gift program details
Change draft and scheduled matching gift programs
Copy matching gift programs
Delete draft and scheduled matching gift programs
Manage matching gift requests
Note: You can change draft and scheduled matching gift programs at any time. For active programs, you can change the matching gift rules at any time. To change other active program settings, contact Philanthropy Cloud Support.
Create a Matching Gift Program
Create matching gift programs to boost employee participation and impact. Customize your matching gift program settings and automate matching requirements. Set matching caps for users per program and per donation. Program settings apply to all employees unless individual user profile settings are changed. All users are eligible for matching gifts by default, and donations are matched at 100%. You can manage users in User Management.
To create a matching gift program:
Select Matching Gifts.
Select Create Program.
Customize the matching gift program in the Program Settings section.
Enter the Program Name.
Specify the program’s Start Date, End Date, and Time Zone. Programs can be of any duration greater than 1 day. Dates can’t overlap with other program dates.
Note: If the start date is in the future, you can make changes to the program until it launches and becomes active.
Specify the program’s Match Request Deadline for matching an employee donation. This is the date by which a match request must be submitted relative to its original donation date.
- Enter the number of Days and select whether the Deadline is after the donation date or after the program end date. For example, you could specify a deadline 30 days after the donation date or 60 days after program end date.
Enter the Program Budget. To set a budget with no limit, select No Limit.
Enter the Employee Balance. This balance applies to all employees by default. You can override individual employee balances and remove overrides in User Management.
- To set a balance with no limit, select No Limit. Note: This option is only available for programs with unlimited program budgets.
Enter the Minimum Donation and Maximum Donation requirements for a matching gift.
For example, you can specify that donations are eligible for a matching gift when they are at least $50 USD, or when they are between $50 USD and $100 USD.
Donors can request a partial matching gift amount if their donation is larger than than the specified Maximum Donation. For example, a donor can request a $100 USD match for their $200 USD donation.
Provide a link to your organization’s matching gift benefit details that users can access for information about which organizations are eligible for matching gifts. Enter the Matching Gift Benefit Details URL. It must start with http:// or https://.
To customize matching gift rules for a newly created program, you must first save or schedule the program. Then edit the program to change and save the rules. For new programs, the default rule is initially set to manually review requests.
To save the program as a draft, select Save. Draft programs can be edited, deleted, and scheduled at any time.
To schedule the program and launch it as of the start date, select Schedule. The program becomes active when it launches.
Note: A scheduled program with a future start date can be changed at any time until it launches. A scheduled program with a start date of today or a past date launches immediately.
Note: You can change draft and scheduled matching gift programs at any time. For active programs, you can change the matching gift rules at any time. To change other active program settings, contact Philanthropy Cloud Support.
Customize Matching Gift Rules
Customize matching gift rules to automatically approve, deny, and review matching gift requests. Specify nonprofit organizations, NTEE codes (US), CRA codes (CA), and causes to evaluate. This enables you to quickly approve specific nonprofits, for example, or to automatically deny a particular set of codes.
Set the default rule for when no other rules are specified, when requests do not match a rule, or when requests match multiple or conflicting rules. For new programs, the default rule is initially set to manually review requests.
You can change the matching gift rules at any time for draft, scheduled, and active programs. Modified rules are re-applied to previous match requests for active programs. Rules are read-only for completed programs. You can also copy a matching gift program, then customize the rules for the new program.
Rules are evaluated and applied from the most granular to the least granular, in the following order:
Nonprofits
NTEE codes (US) or CRA codes (CA)
Causes
Rule results are indicated in the matching gift program report. When matching gift requests are evaluated against the rules, the CollectionAmount column of the report is pre-filled with the appropriate value. Download a matching gift program report to view and manage matching gift requests.
To customize matching gift rules:
Select Matching Gifts.
Find the program and navigate to its Actions menu.
For a draft or scheduled program, select Edit Program. For an active program, select View Details.
Set the Default Rule to automatically approve, automatically deny, or manually review requests. The default rule is used when no other rules are specified, when a request does not match a rule, or when a request matches multiple or conflicting rules. For new programs, the default rule is initially set to manually review requests.
Specify Nonprofits, NTEE Codes (US), CRA Codes (CA), and Causes to automatically approve, automatically deny, and manually review. Rules are evaluated and applied in the order of: nonprofits, codes, causes.
Select Save Rules. Important: Save any new or changed rules before saving or scheduling the program.
Select Save or Schedule to save or schedule the program as required.
Note: To customize rules for a newly created or copied program, you must first save or schedule the program. Then edit the program to change and save the rules.
Note: For information about NTEE codes, please refer to IRS Activity Codes. For information about CRA codes, please refer to Program areas and field codes.
Schedule a Matching Gift Program
You can schedule a new or draft matching gift program to launch as of its specified start date. A matching gift program becomes active when it launches.
When a scheduled program’s start date is a future date, you can make changes to the program at any time until it launches. A scheduled program with a start date of today or a past date launches immediately. Once a matching gift program is active, you can change its matching gift rules at any time. To change other active program settings, contact Philanthropy Cloud Support.
To schedule a matching gift program:
Select Matching Gifts.
To schedule a new matching gift program:
Select Create Program to create a matching gift program.
Customize the program settings.
Select Schedule to schedule the program to launch as of its start date. The program becomes active when it launches.
To schedule an existing draft program:
Find the program and navigate to its Actions menu.
Select Edit Program.
Select Schedule to schedule the program to launch as of its start date. The program becomes active when it launches.
Note: A scheduled program with a future start date can be changed at any time until it launches. A scheduled program with a start date of today or a past date launches immediately. Once a matching gift program is active, you can change its matching gift rules at any time. To change other active program settings, contact Philanthropy Cloud Support.
View Matching Gift Program Details
The Matching Gift Programs page is your hub for viewing, creating, and managing your matching gift programs.
From here, you can view program details at a glance for all of your active, completed, draft, and scheduled programs. You can easily see whether an active program is accepting donations and match requests, and when a scheduled program is starting.
To view details for a matching gift program:
Select Matching Gifts.
Find the program and navigate to its Actions menu.
For a draft or scheduled program, select Edit Program. You can also make changes to the program until it launches.
For an active or completed program, select View Details.
To view and manage matching gift requests and their details for an active or completed program, select Download Report.
Note: You can change the matching gift rules at any time for draft, scheduled, and active matching gift programs. To change other active program settings, contact Philanthropy Cloud Support.
Change a Matching Gift Program
You can change the matching gift program settings and rules at any time for draft and scheduled programs. You can also copy a matching gift program, then customize the program settings and rules for the new program.
For active programs, you can change the matching gift rules at any time. Modified rules are re-applied to previous match requests for active programs. To change other active program settings, contact Philanthropy Cloud Support.
To change a matching gift program:
Select Matching Gifts.
Find the program and navigate to its Actions menu.
Select Edit Program.
For a draft or scheduled program, change the program settings as required. To change the program settings for an active program, contact Philanthropy Cloud Support.
To customize matching gift rules, change the rules as required. Then select Save Rules.
Select Save.
Important: Save any new or changed matching gift rules before saving the program.
Copy a Matching Gift Program
You can copy matching gift program settings and rules from an existing program to a new program. Then customize the program settings and rules for the new program.
To copy a matching gift program:
Select Matching Gifts.
Find the program and navigate to its Actions menu.
Select Copy Program.
Enter the Program Name, Start Date, and End Date for the new program.
Select Copy.
Customize the program settings for the new program.
To customize matching gift rules for a copied program, you must first save or schedule the program. Then edit the program to change and save the rules.
To save the program as a draft, select Save. Draft programs can be edited, deleted, and scheduled at any time.
To schedule the program and launch it as of the start date, select Schedule. The program becomes active when it launches.
Note: A scheduled program with a future start date can be changed at any time until it launches. A scheduled program with a start date of today or a past date launches immediately. Once a matching gift program is active, you can change its matching gift rules at any time. To change other active program settings, contact Philanthropy Cloud Support.
Delete a Matching Gift Program
You can delete a draft or scheduled matching gift program. To delete an active matching gift program, contact Philanthropy Cloud Support.
To delete a matching gift program:
Select Matching Gifts.
Find the program and navigate to its Actions menu.
Select Delete Program.
Manage Matching Gift Requests
View and manage matching gift requests for your active and completed matching gift programs. Download reports per program to review matching gift requests and their key details, then work with your processor to complete your matching donations. Report data is updated every 30 minutes.
To indicate to your processor which donations you’re matching, you can add the CollectionAmount and CollectionDate values to the downloaded .CSV file. CollectionAmount values are pre-filled as appropriate based on the matching gift program rules. You can then send a truncated file to the processor containing the DonationTransactionNumber, CollectionAmount, and CollectionDate information per their specifications. Since these are the last three columns in the report, you can easily remove other report columns as required.
You can customize matching gift rules at any time for active matching gift programs. Modified rules are re-applied to previous match requests for active programs. Rules are read-only for completed programs.
Be sure to track any approvals and modifications you make after exporting the report of matching gift requests. Also be sure to track program budgets and employee balances against the limits specified for the program.
Exported report data includes:
Match Request ID - The unique ID for the matching gift request.
Organization Name, Organization EIN, Organization Disambiguated Name, and Organization Address - The recipient nonprofit organization information. For donations with multiple recipients, match requests display in the report per recipient.
Donation ID - The unique ID for the donation.
Subscription ID - For recurring donations, the unique ID for the subscription.
Payment Method - The payment method of the donation.
Donation Date, Donation Amount, and Donation Currency - The donation amount in the preferred currency of the donor.
Match Request Date - The date of the matching gift request.
Match Amount Requested and Match Amount Currency - The amount of the matching gift request in the preferred currency of the organization.
Employee Name, Employee Number, Employee Work Email, and Employee Person ID - The employee information.
Automated Approval Status - The automated approval status of the matching gift request based on the program rules. Statuses are “Approved”, “Denied”, “Manual Review”, or “Processing”. The CollectionAmount column is pre-filled with a value as appropriate.
Status Set By - Indicates a value of “Automated Rules” when program rules determine Automated Approval Status for the matching gift request.
DonationTransactionNumber - The unique ID for the matching gift request. This value is the same as the Match Request ID value. It’s listed again in this field for easy communication with your processor.
CollectionAmount - The amount of the organization’s matching gift in the preferred currency of the organization. CollectionAmount values are pre-filled as appropriate based on the program rules. If this field is blank when you export and download the report, fill in this value before you send matching gift information to your processor.
When a request is automatically approved, CollectionAmount is pre-filled with the amount requested. When a request is automatically denied, CollectionAmount is pre-filled with $0. When a request requires manual review, or when rule changes are processing, CollectionAmount is blank. The Automated Approval Status column indicates the outcome of the rule.
CollectionDate - The date when the organization is going to match the request. This field is blank when you export and download the report. Fill in this value before you send matching gift information to your processor.
Note: Matching gift requests and logged donations are not reflected in the Giving Reports or Impact Dashboard.
To download a matching gift program report:
Select Matching Gifts.
Find the program and navigate to its Actions menu.
Select Download Report.
Select Export to begin exporting the report. If you’ve already exported the report within the last 30 minutes, you do not need to export it again. Report data is updated every 30 minutes.
Important: Keep the Export Matching Gift Report window open until the export process completes. You can download the report from this window upon export.
Select Download to download the exported report.