Matching Gift Emails
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      1. Knowledge Base | Double the Donation
      2. Emails
      3. Matching Gift Emails

      Our Recommendations in the Matching Gifts Automated Outreach

      This article walks through Double the Donation's recommended approach for the matching gifts automated outreach and highlights a case study on email conversion rates.

       

      Within your Double the Donation Matching automated outreach, we give you a variety of options that include customizing emails using your organization's logo, header image, wording, and email template variables. You also can enable a certain number of emails, as well. We often get asked about our recommended approach, so you can view our recommended approach when dealing with automated outreach below:

       

      Enabling Email Streams

      Match Eligible

      We recommend enabling the match-eligible email stream and sending at least 2 out of 3 emails within this email stream to these donors. This is because the majority of your donors in the match-eligible stream will be able to get their donation matched, so this is the #1 email stream you should be directly emailing regarding matching gifts. 

      Identification in Progress

      We recommend enabling the identification in progress email stream and sending at least 1 out of 2 emails within this email stream to these donors. There will be a large population of donors in this email stream that could potentially be matching gift eligible, they just haven't identified where they work. 

      For more information on understanding automated email streams, view this article. 

      Sending Time of Emails

      Match Eligible

      3 emails can be sent to these donors. Our recommended sending time is the following: 
       
      1. Initial email: 0 hours

      Screenshot 8-8-2022 at 05.37 PM

       
      1. Follow-up email: 72 hours

       
      1. Final email: 720 hours
       
       
      We recommend enabling AT LEAST 2 out of 3 emails in the Match Eligible stream.
       
      In a study of Doube the Donation clients, it was found that activating the second email in the Match Eligible stream resulted in a 48% increase in matches initiated by donors (compared to sending 0 emails).

      Identification in Progress

      2 emails can be sent to these donors. Our recommended sending time is the following:
       
      • Initial email: 0 hours

      Screenshot 8-8-2022 at 05.37 PM

       
      • Follow-up email: 192 hours
      Screenshot 8-8-2022 at 05.38 PM
       

      We recommend enabling AT LEAST 1 out of 2 emails in the Identification in Progress stream.

       

      In a study of Double the Donation clients, it was found that activating the second email in the Identification in Progress stream resulted in at least a 40% increase in matches initiated by donors (compared to sending 0 emails).

      Customizing Emails

       

      You can edit the following: 

      1. The sending time

      2. The subject of the email

      3. The body of the emails

      4. Include email template variables within the body of the emails

       

      We recommend including the following items in all of the emails: 

      1. Your organization's logo

      2. Header image

      3. The following variables in the match-eligible email stream: 

        1. {{form_available_link}}

        2. {{indicate_match_submitted_link}}

        3. {{matched_company_info}}

        4. {{matched_company_name}}

        5. {{indicate_ineligible_link}}

      4. The following variables in the identification in progress email stream: 

        1. {{plugin_link}}

        2. {{indicate_match_submitted_link}}

        3. {{indicate_ineligible_link}}

       

      For more information on what the email template variables mean, view this article. 

       

      We've configured the email streams to be turned on right away. Often organizations may edit the introduction of the email and the signature but keep all the variables within the original email template as they are very important. 

      Case Study: Email Conversion Rates

      Many organizations are sensitive to sending too many emails to their donors. We understand! The best practices outlined in this article have been proven to increase matching gift revenue -- just take a look at the email conversion rates discovered through a recent study of Double the Donation accounts. This data was generated from a sample of 628 active accounts. These accounts had plenty of recent donations, various degrees of email appearance and sending customization, and other indicators of generally healthy accounts. We hope the statistics presented below help your organization make an informed, revenue-generating decision.
       

      Match Eligible automated outreach stream

      In the table below, you can see the impact of sending 1 email, 2 emails, and 3 emails in the Match Eligible email stream (excluding donations that never received any emails at all). In each row, see how accounts with different numbers of emails sent performed, and compare the rows to each other using the last column in the table.
       
      # of Match Eligible emails enabled Total % of eligible donations submitted for matching Impact of the final email vs accounts with 1 fewer email sent
      1 email 31% of eligible gifts submitted for matching N/A
      2 emails 45% of eligible gifts submitted for matching

      45% more matching gift requests submitted than accounts with 1 email

      18% of remaining match-eligible donors submitted their matches after receiving the 2nd email
      3 emails 49% of eligible gifts submitted for matching

      58% more matching gift requests submitted than accounts with 2 emails

      5% of remaining match-eligible donors submitted their matches after receiving the 3rd email
       
      Keep in mind that not every match-eligible donation that is submitted by a donor is captured by the matching module statistics. Many donors use the helpful information in the matching module automated emails to submit their matching gift request but never interact with the emails in such a way that the matching module can capture that information. So the funds received by an organization will typically be higher than these statistics predict!
       

      Identification in Progress automated outreach stream

      In the table below, you can see the impact of sending 1 email and 2 emails in the Identification in Progress email stream. In each row, see how accounts with different numbers of emails sent performed, and compare the rows to each other using the last column in the table.
       
      # of Identification in Progress emails enabled % more requests submitted than accounts with 0 emails
      1 email 40% more matching gift requests submitted than accounts with 0 emails
      2 emails 67% more matching gift requests submitted than accounts with 0 emails

       

      Takeaway: Each additional email enabled by the organization increased matching gift revenue!

      FAQ

      Q: Should I enable my emails before or after my donation platform, CRM, or data import file has been integrated with Double the Donation Matching?

      A: You should enable your emails before you integrate your donation platform, CRM, or data import file with the matching module. The reason is that this will prevent any donation records from missing an automated email. 

       

      Q: I've integrated my platform with Double the Donation Matching, but my emails weren't turned on. Can I enable my emails now and have the automated emails be sent to donation records retroactively? 

      A: No, the automated email streams will start going out the date/time you turn it on. The matching moduledoesn't retroactively send emails. Therefore, if any emails did not receive an automated email outreach, we recommend sending manual emails to those donors. 

       

      For more information on sending manual emails, view this article. 

      Training Videos: Automated Outreach