A Great Match How match-funding incentivises charitable giving in the UK and unites funders and donors in tackling social issues By Dr. Catherine Walker, The Researchery Commissioned by the Big Give, Charities Trust and RBS Contents Executive summary 1 About match-funding and the aims 5 of the research Part 1: Match-funding charitable 6 appeals Part 2a: Match-funding employee 18 engagement Part 2b: Match-funding with 28 commercial products Conclusions 37 About us 39 Appendix: Methodology and 41 detailed findings Special thanks to Alex Day, Director of the Big Give; Richard Dutton, Corporate Partnerships and the team at Charities Trust; and Laura Chow, Senior Community Programmes Manager at RBS for their time and expertise, in allowing access to their data and selected clients, and for helping to shape the research. Thanks also to all participants of the survey and interviews carried out in the course of this research, and to everyone who contributed their thoughts, experiences and knowledge to the endeavour. All reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the publication at the time of going to print; however neither the funders nor the researcher shall be held responsible for any errors or inaccuracies. Published May 2016 CONTENTS | APPENDIX A Great Match Executive summary In the slow recovery period following the global financial crisis, and in the throes of accompanying austerity measures, there is an increasing pressure for funders of charitable endeavour to try to make money go further. One such leveraging tool is match-funding. This is the first in-depth exploration of match-funding in Match-funding can provide a well- the UK. While match-funding has been analysed in some depth in the US context needed boost to charities who, in and globally, the UK market has previously been under-explored. the current climate, are struggling to Evidence is drawn from a literature review, analysis of one of the UK’s largest bring money in. It’s like giving them online matching facilitators for charitable appeals (the Big Give), a survey of a new superpower, a new weapon, a donors, and interviews with practitioners and experts in the fields of matching new challenge to get their teeth into. charitable appeals, matching employee engagement and cause marketing (as a It can reinvigorate their fundraising. special case of matching). Bridget McGing, Deputy Director, The findings of the research point towards match-funding being a successful and Pears Foundation popular way of incentivising greater giving – both more people giving and people giving more – in relation to matching charitable appeals, matching employee engagement and cause marketing (this report gives you the facts and figures I think it chimes very much with around this). the feeling people have at the moment of wanting their charitable But there are some important caveats for funders, potential funders and facilitators around this: donations to go as far as possible and to do as much good as possible. • Matching must be done well in order to work most efficiently (this report And of course once you start defines what that means) getting into five-, six-, seven-figure donations that’s even more the case. • Matching is not appropriate in all situations (this report tells you when it is and when it isn’t) Dr Beth Breeze, Director, Centre for Philanthropy, • Matching needs to continue to evolve and be innovative in order to be an University of Kent effective incentive (this report gives examples of innovation) For companies, matching can be a powerful tool to nudge employees’ engagement With the shrinking of public sector with charities in certain directions in line with the company’s CSR strategy, and we find that more companies appear to be moving away from matching payroll funding, there’s a recognition that donations in favour of ‘more active’ employee engagement with charity, such as funders need to collaborate more fundraising (this report gives you the facts underlying this trend). because there’s less money around, and therefore they need to be able For companies engaged in cause-related marketing, a growing and evolving to demonstrate more of an impact, concept needs to be handled carefully in a more cynical UK marketplace where and match-funding is one way that donors are quick to dismiss clumsy attempts at product partnerships as charity- washing (this report tells you how to avoid this pitfall). allows them to do that. David Warner, With a more demanding younger generation coming into both the workforce Director, London Funders and the charitable giving arena there are greater expectations of the ways in which engaging with charities should be made easier. Companies and charities are expected to encourage and reward charitable engagement, and matching could play a pivotal role in this. CONTENTS | APPENDIX 1 For me, matching engagement is The report gives recommendations for best practice in all areas: about (a) supporting charities and • Get ‘the ask’ right being able to say we’re supporting charities, (b) about supporting • Make it as easy as possible employees, and (c) about how you can use that support for employees to • Be innovative build a broader ethos of community • Make it a genuine partnership with all parties investment throughout the company. Peter Bull, • Beware over-use and over-reliance on matching Community Investment Consultant For an employee to know that their company is going to match their Contents donation I think it’s a great incentive to give; it’s a no brainer! • Part 1 looks at how funders can use matching to encourage greater giving to charitable appeals Rhiannon Hunter, Workplace Giving Development Manager, • Part 2 focusses on how companies can use matching to encourage Marie Curie employee engagement through workplace giving and volunteering, and customer engagement through cause marketing When faced with the choice between buying a regular product and one associated with a specific cause, the majority of consumers will pick the one associated with a cause, especially if the products are similar in terms of price and quality.’ FrogDog Marketing & Consultancy The Ins and Outs of Cause Marketing’. Online post 09.29.2015 www.frogdog.com 2 CONTENTS | APPENDIX A Great Match More people give and some people give more when match-funded A re he Ge r that 84% Over one third (36.5%) reet a that reet et that the ere re e t e t a the ae t a atche e aea ecae charity appeal because of the matching offered. of the match funding. 84% 36.5% Nearly half (47.5%) reet et that the ht hae e t a aea aa t that the matching made them more likely to give. 47.5% ata aa he Ge r ataae he that The differences are driven largely by gift size with a hher rrt er ae at etee he aerae atche t ae thrh he Ge e atche care t a hher ete he the aerae atche t rrt hher ae at etee £500-£5,000) given when matched. atche t are 2.5 times higher on average). £500-£5,000 £5-£20 £ £ £333 £132 Matche atche ar a atche th a atche ater £ £ £ £ aea h that the atche aea rae three times more tha the atche tta e donations raised; and five times more when total Matche atche match-funds are taken into account. 3X Matche atche When surveyed, one in three (35.7%) donors said that Nearly half (45.5%) thee reet a that the ae a arer t ecae atch a ae t the ae t fifty percent more ecae the their donation. matching. 35.7% 45.5% 50% 34% gave up to one quarter more. One fifth (13%) doubled their own gift in response to the matching. 34% 13% CONTENTS | APPENDIX 3 Matching employee donations incentivises more employees to engage and to engage more ess matching or More matching or payroll giving employee undraising vidence rom employees in a survey o donors he same survey ound that hen it comes to disaster conducted y A Australia in shos that, hen appeals, matching donations as regarded y asked hat are the key reasons you donate to charities through orkplaceess ayroll matching iving or More matching or payroll giving employee undraising 42% 81% vidence rom employees in a survey o donors61% he same survey ound that hen it comes to disaster conducted y A Australia in shos that, hen appeals,o people matching as a donations as regardedith ictim y mpathy asked hat are the key reasons you donate to charities key driver or eing the main through orkplace ayroll iving giving motivator over three-fifths (61%) o donors responded My company matches my donations 42% 81% 61% o people as a ith ictim mpathy key driver or eing the main Althoughhe literature shos thatmore cynical, UK consumersgiving domotivator respond over three-fifths90% (61%) o donors responded47% My n o gloal consumers say they are illing to company matches my donations pay etra or products and services rom companies to matching via cause marketingthat are committed to positive social and environmental impactan increase rom percent in he literature shos that and percent in gloal consumers say that uy a rand at they ould90% sitch to a similar least47% monthly that n o gloal consumers say they are illing to causerelated product given supports a cause pay55% etra or products and services50% rom companies45% the opportunity that are committed to positive social and environmental impactan increase rom percent in 2014 and percent in 2012 2011 gloal consumers say that uy a rand at they ould sitch to a similar least monthly that causerelated product given supports a cause 55% 50% 45% illingnessthe toopportunity pay etra or sustainale products ur survey o he ig ive donors ound that 2014 2012 2011 51% 25% 15% 59% 7.7%