How a Match Turns Giving Tuesday from Noise into Action 

Giving Tuesday has a problem. Everyone’s asking on the same day, for the same reason: because it’s Giving Tuesday. Your donor’s inbox will be full of messages from nonprofits. All with the same urgency.  

You need something that cuts through that sameness. A match does exactly that. 

Here’s why. A match is the closest thing fundraising has to a bargain, and bargains get people to act now instead of later. When you double a donor’s gift, you’re telling them their money is worth twice as much today as it will be tomorrow. That’s a much better reason to act on Giving Tuesday than “because it’s Giving Tuesday.” 

Where the match comes from 

You don’t need a foundation grant, a corporate partner or one big donor to make this work. Ask a handful of your most loyal donors, board members, or major donors to give to a matching fund – a pool of donations you can use as your match.  

You might be surprised at how many of your committed donors say yes. Especially when you frame it as a chance to inspire other donors rather than as a big financial ask. You only need enough to cover a realistic pool of gifts, not your whole campaign goal. 

Keep the offer simple 

The multiplier has to feel like a real bargain. A dollar becoming two dollars works. A dollar becoming a dollar fifty doesn’t work as well.  

Whatever number you use, do the math for them and tell them explicitly what their gift will become. For example, say your $50 will become $100. If you leave it up to your donors to figure it out themselves you will lose some of them.  

Build the day around the match, not the date 

Giving Tuesday itself shouldn’t be the reason you’re asking. The match is the reason. Lead with it in every message: what the match does, how much is left, when it runs out. Let the calendar date do less work and the offer do more. 

Build anticipation in the days before, so the match isn’t a surprise that donors are asked to react to in the moment.  

By the time Giving Tuesday arrives, the match should already feel familiar, so the day itself is about the urgency of meeting the goal.  

What this actually gets you 

Match offers reliably increase response rates, sometimes as much as 50%. And that’s true whether it’s your only offer of the year or one of many. In my experience they don’t wear out with repeated use.  

On a day that’s already fighting for attention against every other nonprofit’s ask, a match is a great way to stand out.  

‘What comes after Giving Tuesday?’ 

A Giving Tuesday match gets someone to give today. What you do with that donor next is where the real value gets built.  

Our free ebook, 4 Little-Known Strategies the World’s Top Charities Use to Smash Their Fundraising Targets, lays out how the biggest, most successful nonprofits turn a single gift into a donor who sticks around, upgrades, and eventually becomes one of your best supporters. Download your free copy here. 

Related Blog Posts:  

• Match Appeals: How Many Is Too Many?
• Matched Giving: The Fundraising Power-Up You’ll Love
• Matching Funds: Getting the Fund Is Easier Than You Might Think