Corporate Matching: Observing the Multiplier Effect

When the United Nations released its Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, it set its sights on 17 distinct goals with the potential to “Transform Our World.” The goals include several causes that many charities around the world actively seek to solve, such as No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-Being, etc.

With such ambitious goals, there could be a tendency among individuals to shrink away from participating when each contribution seems small in the grander scheme of things. Thanks to corporate matching, though, that doesn’t need to be the case. As a “Goodness multiplier,” the match spreads the benefit in several directions, encompassing the donor, the employer and the chosen cause. When pursuing the 17 noble goals set out by the UN, or any other cause for that matter, even small donations become more meaningful, impactful and inclusive. Specifically, companies can help by encouraging each of their employees (and customers!) to get personally involved and to match contributions to every non-profit they can.

It has long been acknowledged that one of the most powerful ways to get people more engaged in giving programs is to match individual donations with company dollars. So it’s easy to see why roughly 65% (and growing) of Fortune 1000 companies employ a strategy of donation matching. Even better, as employees become more engaged in their giving programs they also become more engaged in the workplace overall. Given that the potential impact is huge, how do you foster even greater engagement? Here are a few suggestions.

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