We often talk about fundraising strategies and tactics that Oneicity uses. . . but today we’re talking something we DON’T do:
Matchbacks.
In fact, that’s almost considered a bad word around our office. It’s something we don’t recommend whenever we’re talking with nonprofit organizations. Instead, we warn them against it:
“Beware the matchback!” (Best said in a spooky, foreboding voice, of course.)
This may be slightly controversial, because there are fundraisers who DO matchbacks. But it runs counter to pretty much everything that Oneicity believes in.
So, What is a Matchback?
A matchback is processing a gift in a way that artificially assigns “credit” for a donor’s gift.
If a $150 gift is sent in by a donor who received the May newsletter with the newsletter reply envelope or response device four days after the newsletter’s drop date, obviously that $150 should go to the total amount that newsletter raised. That makes sense, right?
But, what if a donor who received the May newsletter made an online gift for $150 four days after the newsletter’s drop date?
What happens then?
In a “matchback world”, it’s entirely likely that the online gift would get credited to the newsletter in some way. The argument goes that the newsletter is the most prominent communication that a donor could encounter that would motivate a gift. Even though the donor didn’t “tell” you that’s why they gave by sending in the response device, we can all assume that’s what motivated them to open their browser, find your website, and give.
That sounds reasonable, right?
Then What’s the Problem?
The issue with automatically giving credit to the newsletter for that gift is that we don’t actually know that the newsletter is why the donor gave. We’re assuming a lot based on very little information.
Online gifts being made on your website around the time of the newsletter’s drop date are likely from other sources, too.
Sure, some were motivated by the online call to action in your newsletter (you do include an online push in your newsletter, right?).
But all the donations on your website didn’t come from that one impact.
Some could be a “spur of the moment” online gift. Others because they saw an article or an ad online about your organization and were motivated to partner. Still other gifts could be because that donor was throwing out the trash, saw an old letter from your organization, and remembered they had wanted to give (yes, we’ve heard about that happening).
The point is: unless it’s an online gift given on a certain page or an offline gift sent in with a response device or reply envelope, we don’t know what actually motivated that donor to give.
Was some of that online activity because of the newsletter? Yes!
But we don’t know what that exact percentage is.
Now you’re messing with data. And once you start messing with data, it’s a slippery slope.
Why are Matchbacks Used?
In our experience, one of the reasons we often see fundraising agencies or individuals use matchbacks comes down to a fairly common motivator:
Fear.
Fundraising agencies are held accountable for the results of their efforts— and we should be. That’s why you hire us. And, we want to have good results. It’s human nature to want your efforts to be fruitful.
So, it’s scary to think about gifts being given that we worked hard to motivate, but won’t show up on the newsletter or appeal. Then, you, as our client might say, “You’re nice people, but you’re not doing a good enough job on these print pieces and we need to find another agency.”
No fundraiser or agency does their best work when they’re afraid. Including us.
When fear is your agency’s primary motivator, lines of income become more important than ministry or impact.
What Does Oneicity do Instead?
Our approach is simple: any dollar raised to help your ministry is good. It doesn’t matter how the donor gives.
Website, reply envelope, carrier pigeon, it doesn’t matter. You need every possible dollar to make the world a better place.
The not-so-fun truth is that you’re never going to know exactly what motivates each online gift (or, really, every gift, period). And that’s okay with us. We’re accountable for our work, but our team and our clients know that donors don’t “stay in their lane” and the bottom line is just as important as an individual channel.
We’d rather be confident in results and live in uncertainty than accidentally inflate one job over the other.
Oneicity believes that a rising tide raises all boats.
It’s not one direct mail piece that motivates a donor to give. Or one phone call from a donor officer. Or one email. Or one social media post.
It’s the combination of all of them.
Integrated fundraising means that the appeals, newsletters, emails, events, and donor officer visits work with each other, not against each other.
So, yes. Beware of using matchbacks. You won’t see them in Oneicity reporting, but they’re out there.
Photo by Jessica Tan on Unsplash
