MATCHING GIFTS

Double your donations with gifts from companies that match employee donations!

These days it’s quite common for companies have a matching gift program in place.  This means that your donors may be able to have their donation matched by their employer – effectively doubling their contribution towards your fundraising goal. For a list of companies, A-Z, we know match, please click here. If you or someone you know works at any of the listed companies, be sure to ask for a matching gift donation! If you are a member of or know of any organization that matches gifts and is not yet on this list, please let us know.

Applying for a matching gift could not be easier.  Just follow these five simple steps:

1.  The donor should check with their Human Resources department to determine if their organization will match a donation made to Best Buddies International (501c3 Tax ID 52-161-4576).

2.  The donor makes his/her donation either online or with a personal check via mail along with a filled out Offline Gift Form to:

PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW MAILING ADDRESS FOR ALL RIDE DONATIONS:

BEST BUDDIES CHALLENGE
c/o ALAN SAKELL
2 SEAPORT LANE, SUITE 300
BOSTON, MA 02210-2028

3.  The donor should also fill out the matching gift form from their company and mail it to Best Buddies at the address above.

4.  Once Best Buddies receives the filled out matching gift form, we will complete the bottom half to confirm the donation was received from the donor, and mail/fax it back to the company.

5.  The company will then process the matching gift and send their matching gift check to Best Buddies. Congrats, you just doubled the donation!

Please Note: There are a couple things to remember when asking your donors to inquire about matching their donations.

Most companies vary in how and when they process checks – monthly, quarterly, bi-annually or annually.

Because of this, it is important to remember that matching gifts do not count toward your fundraising commitment until the matching check is received and processed by Best Buddies. So be sure to handle the matching gift process early and don’t forget to ask when the check will actually be written and mailed into Best Buddies. If the company’s HR department knows you are on a fundraising deadline perhaps they will be able to cut the check more quickly.

We recommend thinking of Matching Gifts as that extra “Icing on the Cake.” That is to say, matching gifts are wonderful to have and a great addition to what you raise with letters, emails and fundraising events. However, we encourage you to not depend on this money making it into your account before the fundraising commitment deadline since we cannot count matching gifts towards your donation total until we receive the actual check.

Matching gifts are a fantastic way to maximize your fundraising efforts. Don’t hesitate to remind your donors about this option!