Collecting on Matching Gifts

Kristin LaBolt

Does anyone have any suggestions about follow up or other ways  to better collect on unpaid matching gifts?  I just wrote off several old MG pledges that were never paid. Just wondering if there was a succesful way to follow up with these companies.  

Thanks!!

Kristin LaBolt

Hanover College 

JoAnn Strommen

That can be a tough one.  Receiving the matches from some companies can take a long, long time. There are differences in how MG companies operate.


First, do you know that your org was put in for a match? We have had a few "promised" matches where the donor never did submit to their employer for the match. Apparently told solicitor there would be a match to increase his total. Also, some companies have a dollar limit to what they match per person or some criteria and the employee had submitted for more matches than they had funds for during that time period, so we did not receive our $.


If you are certain you should be receiving the match and have the time, you could contact the MG foundation/company and just inquire about 'schedule for anticiated payment.'  In case where our donor said there would be match but didn't submit, I did send them an email reminding them politely that for us to receive the match they had to initiate it with this company.


Best wishes on collecting...

Kristin LaBolt

Thank you for your feedback!

We have the general rule that we do not add the MG to the original gift unless we have received either a form from the donor to send in or have gone online to confirm the gift.   Most of the pledges that i wrote off were old, from before I was in this position....so maybe they were automatically adding the MG pledge back then. I am not sure. The problem that I run into most is the MG company uses a third party to process their matching gifts, so it is nearly impossilbe to actually speak to someone.