Unlock hidden corporate revenue from your donor list. Learn how employer data, matching gifts, and smarter follow ups turn event attendees into corporate opportunities.
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If you’ve ever been told, “Go get corporate sponsors,” and your brain immediately replied, “Cool. From where? The corporate sponsor store?”, you’re not alone.
In this 501(c) Drop, Leya Simmons (CEO and co founder of BetterUnite) was joined by Ann Rossell Tuyogon from Double the Donation to talk about a smarter path to corporate revenue. Not a colder path. Not a harder path. A smarter one.
The big idea: your event attendees already contain the warmest corporate network you could ask for. Most nonprofits just fail to collect the one data point that unlocks it.
Ann’s answer was blunt (in the best way): nonprofits are overlooking the mutual network sitting inside their attendees because they aren’t collecting employer information.
That one gap blocks multiple revenue streams, including:
Ann also pointed out why this matters to corporations right now. Companies increasingly care about:
Which is exactly why workplace giving programs exist and why having employee participation in your cause is a powerful argument when approaching a company.
Ann’s “gateway strategy” is simple and effective:
But you can’t do this if you don’t know where people work.
So the immediate action step is unglamorous but wildly profitable:
A key mindset shift Ann offered: stop treating employer outreach as something that competes with major gifts, renewals, or other development priorities.
Employer based giving is often a value add that stacks on top of what you’re already doing.
Matching gifts are the perfect example:
And donors like it. A lot.
Ann recommended keeping it simple so you don’t overwhelm supporters.
Most critical
High value “nice to have”
If “Who do you work for?” feels intrusive, the fix is context.
Ann’s best practices:
Translation: don’t just collect data. Give a next step.
Ann shared a few tactics that keep things mission first (not “mining” people for corporate contacts):
Instead of vague shout outs, make it visual and specific:
When donors see other donors using matching gifts, it makes the process feel doable and normal.
Right after someone gives during a live appeal is peak momentum.
Don’t let the confirmation page stop at “thank you.”
Add:
Ann walked through how the integration works in practice:
Then Leya showed the Grant Finder inside BetterUnite, powered by Double the Donation, which can also uncover corporate aligned opportunities, including some that may pair well with event sponsorship and in kind support.
Ann shared that Double the Donation handles donor data seriously (SOC 2 compliant), and typically only uses the basics needed for the workflow:
The goal is to connect donors to their company’s giving steps, not to contact employers on the donor’s behalf.
Ann’s view: the technical setup can be fast.
Typical steps:
Timeline to get live: often less than a week for the tool setup.
The bigger “timeline” is adoption and results. Matching gifts and corporate processes can take time, so think slow and steady, not one and done.
It depends on org size and bandwidth:
The key is consistency and making it actionable.
If you do one thing, Ann’s recommendation was clear:
Make the ask actionable.
Collect employer info and immediately provide next steps, on the confirmation page and in follow up emails.
A strong benchmark to watch:
That’s your early indicator that you’re not just collecting employer data. You’re converting it.
Corporate revenue isn’t just for the nonprofits with big networks and bigger board members.
Sometimes it’s sitting right inside your ticket list.
You just have to ask one more question.
Transcript Recording:
Leya Simmons (00:00)
Hi, y'all. Welcome to the 501c drop today. My name is Leah Simmons and I am CEO and co-founder of Better Unite. If you join me often on these Tuesday at 1.30 webinars, you'll notice that I am actually not in my usual spot today. I've actually, and Anne and I were just talking about this, I am interestingly at a conference for fundraising events called Elevate.
And it, what I've been hearing and what we've been talking about ties in so perfectly to what I'm discussing with my friend Anne here, Anne Rossell Toulgon. I knew I was gonna mess it up. I had it before. But Anne is with Double the Donation. And today we are talking about Beyond the Bid, unlocking hidden corporate revenue in your supporter base. Anne, welcome. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (00:42)
Yeah
Thank you also, Lea, for having me here and no worries at all. I do get that a lot about my last name, so.
Leya Simmons (01:01)
I'm sure you do.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (01:02)
For everybody
who's joining us live, if we haven't met yet, my name is Andrusel Tiyagin. I'm from the partnerships team here at Double the Donation. So if you're unfamiliar with Double the Donation, we are the industry leading automation tool for workplace giving. Essentially, we help you identify which of your donors are eligible for corporate matches, volunteer incentives, and all of these other workplace giving programs. And then we do automate the outreach to send your donors the next steps, how to support
those requests, where to submit those requests, so you don't have to change them manually. ⁓
Leya Simmons (01:39)
Well, Anne, just thank you so much for
jumping right in. She said, she said basically all of the things that I was going to say. I will add to that that Anne is, you and I, we met maybe a little under a year ago, but Better Unite and Devil the Donation have partnered for about five years, if not actually a little bit more than that, longer than that. So we are good friends with Devil the Donation and you all do incredible work really facilitating.
that matching feature that our organizations and frankly donors also need so desperately. And they have recently come out with a very new and very innovative and really interesting grant finder tool that we have also pulled into Better Unite and we're such big fans of. It's also an incredible way to figure out how you can. ⁓
you know, cultivate more corporate sponsors for your next event or gala. And that's all of, those are all of the things and pieces that we are going to talk about today with Anne. So really quickly, before we dive in too far, I do want to remind everybody that if you just want to add in your questions to either the chat or the Q &A section here, Anne and I will see those and we will be as responsive as we can. We also have Peter from Double The Donation on the line, hiding in there.
He's here to answer any of your other questions, take information from you as you might need. And I'm so thrilled. Yeah, he just said hi in the chat. Great, thanks Peter. Thanks for being here as well. ⁓ Okay, so all of those housekeeping pieces aside, and I would love to just kind of dive right in and talk to you. As you know, we at Better Unite love, love, love fundraising events. ⁓ We also love to facilitate
⁓ real donor connections and deepening donor relationships. That's just so huge. And I am really intrigued by how, you I really do think that matching gifts and kind of leaning into the workplace ethos of a lot of our donors can really facilitate not just a corporate match, but also a deeper relationship. So anyway, these are the thoughts that are kind of rattling around in my fundraising head. But I wanted to start out by asking you, Anne,
What you think the single, like the biggest missed opportunity that you see with nonprofits where they're leaving money on the table when it comes to converting event attendees into their corporate sponsors or partners, I guess I could say.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (04:12)
love that we're just getting right into it. ⁓ But that is a really great question, If I had to name the absolute biggest missed opportunity, it's for me that nonprofits are completely overlooking the mutual network that is sitting right in their event attendees. And that's just because they're simply not getting that employer data at registration. I mean, I'm also from the partnerships team. So my day to day kind of looks a lot like a nonprofit searching for that corporate partner. And I do know for
Leya Simmons (04:15)
Ha
Hmm.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (04:43)
hand that to win a partnership, you really have to be able to sell your value proposition, make the other party see the mutual benefit. And you know, that is the main goal. You have to understand what is actually important to them. And for corporations today, I feel like the big three are now the social impact, brand reputation, and that employee engagement really. And understandably so. I companies sometimes want to be the heroes to their employees. They want to say, we
care about the causes you care about. And this is exactly why we see so many workplace giving programs out there. There's, like I said, matching gifts, volunteer incentives, corporate grants, really a lot of ways that corporations have been supporting nonprofits kind of indirectly to. And it's also one of the huge reasons why corporate giving was actually the fastest growing source of revenue for nonprofits last year. I mean, that for me is a pretty amazing statistic. Yeah, I feel like I
Leya Simmons (05:15)
Yeah.
What? I didn't realize that.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (05:42)
I
have this at the top of my head, but it might be around 9 % or something like that. But basically, it was the fastest growing source. when ⁓ you have this mutual network, you can approach a company really easily and can say, hey, we already have 15 employees of yours supporting our mission, attending our events, volunteering at our events. And that is really just going to make it so much easier for a company to say yes to a partnership.
Leya Simmons (05:46)
Wow.
That's great.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (06:12)
Maybe the last thing I would want to add to that is I feel like this is such an obvious fact that most nonprofits are leaving on the table when your supporters are already registered for your events, giving out their donations. They're already highly engaged and are very willing also to give you their personal information. So failing to add just that one more piece, that simple field that is asking them who their employer is, is leaving an incredibly easy, warm for me.
Leya Simmons (06:31)
Mm-hmm.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (06:42)
gateway to corporate partnerships that's on the table.
Leya Simmons (06:46)
Okay, so
you teed up my next question perfectly. And also to summarize your last answer, like I was thinking, it like timing or is it awareness, that thing that we're leaving on the table? But like from what you've said, what I hear is it's data. Basically we just need that data. Yeah, so then you just mentioned gateway strategy. So this is something you and I were talking about right before the call as well. Summarize that gateway strategy to me and tell me like what...
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (06:49)
You
Exactly.
Leya Simmons (07:13)
What is something that an event specialist, nonprofit event planner, et cetera, what should they start doing, you know, I would say pretty immediately to get that ball, that strategy rolling?
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (07:27)
Honestly, there's a lot, but just kidding. The gateway strategy for me is obviously using your event attendees as that warm internal champions to introduce your nonprofit to their company CSR team. So you can ditch the entire cold calling of these corporate corporations, these other teams that you're working with. The one thing to do tomorrow is probably, like you said, everything I just discussed is talking about data, data, data, data.
Leya Simmons (07:36)
Mmm.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (07:57)
logging into your ticketing or CRM platform or even applying it in general to your fundraising platforms and adding that employer field just to start off with just collecting that information and maybe trying to source other ways you can really leverage that information to follow up with these other opportunities with your supporters.
Leya Simmons (08:20)
Okay, so we just need the information and once we have the information, now we have a whole lot of options that open up for us relative to, because I do also remember, you know, when I was working as a development director and event planner, like corporate sponsorships was this like holy grail. We always wanted it and boards would just say, ⁓ hey, go get this thing. And as the development director, you're kind of like, okay, like who do I call at?
Microsoft or whatever. And ⁓ I love the idea that your attendees have those connections already built in. We just don't know which attendee has what connection. So once we can start to find that piece out, then that's that single action that can then open up this world of possibilities, which is amazing. So then how would you say that development teams should prioritize ⁓
employer related outreach after an event compared to other things that you and I both know that they're doing like, you know, renewals or major gift outreach. Where in the hierarchy of strategy does that fall in your perspective?
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (09:29)
You know, interestingly, I've actually heard this question before, I think pretty recently too. So I'm really glad that you brought it up because I feel like development teams shouldn't really be asking themselves this question. You know, for me at least, or for our team here at Double the Donation, because we basically know it's happening currently. You shouldn't be looking at employer outreach as something that competes with renewals or major gifts or your other fundraising strategies, because those are all equally important.
there for a reason and it's not it's never an either or kind of situation. So you have to look at it as a valuable addition like a bonus of some sort because sometimes it is like a bonus like just looking at matching gifts for example you basically got this donation from a donor and you're just going to be asking that donor also to specifically fill out this form so they can double that gift. I mean it's easy and everybody loves free stuff so why not right?
Also, donors respond to matching gift asks really well. We actually have statistics on this. feel like Peter could easily just share that on the chat. But just by mentioning matching gifts in your fundraising appeals, nonprofits will already see a huge bump in the response rates. I feel like that's around 71%. I know I'm not.
like just blurting out numbers here. Here's what might excite you more though. If a donor knows their gift could be matched, the donation increases by an average of 51 % and also one in three donors.
Leya Simmons (10:51)
Ha ha ha.
my gosh.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (11:03)
say that they would give a larger gift if a match is offered. I I feel like this is also apparent with just the fundraising industry in general. We have these challenge matches, these corporate matching gift programs. So it is pretty intuitive and kind of straightforward of a concept as you think about it. And aside from all of these different metrics, it's just a happy conversation to bring up to a major donor, for example. If you know that this donor has already given you 10,000, you
know,
Microsoft is even willing to match their gift up to $15,000. I mean, that is something you would want to bring up in tandem with that conversation you're going to have with that major donor. So instead of just really trying to prioritize which goes first, for us, it's really just incorporating all of these different asks or just nudges about corporate giving opportunities with all of these other fundraising asks.
Leya Simmons (12:01)
I am having so many thoughts right now. First of all, I think I love this idea that we can utilize what we have kind of started calling momentum fundraising. you know, instead of the event and the clock striking midnight or the auction, silent auction closing or the final checkout happening, there are these structured items that we can.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (12:04)
Hahaha
Leya Simmons (12:25)
we can use automations, we can use workflows and we can plan for that we know are going to happen post event. And so adding in a potential ask for corporate matches that totally flows into that. And then I also have been thinking because we were just talking about this at this conference that I met, this is a conference all around fundraising events is the oxytocin spike. So was literally somebody talking about the neurobiology of what's happening.
or the neural mirroring. there's like really fundamental psychological and biological things that happen to us as human people when we give in community, when we know that we are giving as a part of a collective. And honestly, I had never really thought of it this way, but when you're donating and you know also that your company, that company you work for, the company that you've dedicated your time and your talent to is going to...
in some way reciprocate that action, that also would be another spike in the oxytocin, the feel good ⁓ chemical that gets released in our brains when we do something that's good. So that is so interesting to hear you talk about that. And I couldn't help but mention that that's literally what I was hearing about this morning. ⁓ And then thinking about how that actually does apply to attendees to events.
relative to their corporate. So not only are you as a development director opening up this whole new avenue and this new potential partner in the company, but you're also increasing the value that that donor applies to the gift that they just gave. This is really fascinating and wonderful. Thank you so much, Ann. Okay, so that all sets us up for strategy. Now I wanna dig into how, and then of course I took it way esoteric there for a moment, but we're back.
Set up the strategy, let's dig into how we actually gather the right information at registration and during events so that our tools can find those opportunities that we're talking about. Anne, what exact employer fields should we collect at registration to make sponsorship sourcing and matching useful? And which ones are like 100 % critical? Which ones are nice to have?
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (14:34)
mean...
If we can go as comprehensive as with getting employer information from your donors or supporters in general, I feel like that's always the ideal case. But of course, we have some limitations I know, and we don't want to be bombarding our supporters with all of these questions. Maybe mission critical would be absolutely that employer name, of course. If you have that, you're already set up for success. And maybe if you want to talk about sponsorship sourcing and making that real
Leya Simmons (14:52)
Sure.
Okay.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (15:05)
powerful that connection that you have with that supporter. It's always also important to add that job title. I mean, just by knowing who the decision makers are in a company and if you know you're connected and that specific person who is like a decision maker in this specific company is supporting your cause. I mean, that just gives you again a good warm introduction to that company's corporate philanthropy in general.
Leya Simmons (15:13)
interesting.
Mmm.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (15:35)
So also maybe job title, talking about job titles, maybe because that is sometimes relevant to matching programs. Like I know some companies would only match to full-time employees, maybe keeping that in mind as well if you're asking for that information. But all in all, I would say just to be really specific, it would be employer name and job title if you want that sponsorship connection also.
Leya Simmons (15:49)
gotcha.
I love that. So do you have any ideas around like some kind of non-intrusive ways that we can reliably capture employer info? And God forbid we have to do it at check-in as much as we all know that we're gonna try our very dead level best to get all of that information from our attendees prior to the event.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (16:19)
You
Leya Simmons (16:24)
When we don't and when we have to ask these questions out loud at check-in, do you have any ideas there around a non-intrusive task tactic?
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (16:34)
an interesting question because I've never really seen it like in this specific angle of being intrusive before because I feel like I haven't really thought about it because it is like a bonus that you're trying to frame in your messaging for your supporters. Maybe the sponsorship part could be a little bit tricky because then you're gonna be a little bit too specific and all of that. But maybe aside from just adding that employer field ⁓ in your asks, you
Leya Simmons (16:39)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (17:04)
ask their personal information, my number one tip would probably be providing context first. Maybe just a simple, did you know your employer might match your or double your gift. ⁓
Leya Simmons (17:11)
Hmm.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (17:16)
maybe even marketing ahead of time what these corporate matching gift programs are, what these volunteer incentives are going to give your volunteers. All of those different pieces I feel could be really helpful in making it just a little less strange for your supporters because they have to also know why you're asking this information. And then second, I think, is providing a way for your supporters to actually search for their own company's program because
you
It might be a bit straightforward for us, but it's not really straightforward for a lot of donors that their companies would have these corporate giving programs in general. so aside from just asking that information point blank, giving them more of like a resource to really learn more about what these asks are about and not an ad. But I do want to mention that at Double The Donation, we have this certain workplace giving plugin where you allow your donors to see if their company
has a workplace giving program and you also direct them with the next step. So that's kind of like what I'm imagining our resource would be like for your supporters, wherein you're not just allowing them or you're not just getting that information one way, but you're also pushing out some information for them to take out after they've supported your event. They can kind of take some time to think through all of these different opportunities. And maybe then you might even get like a proactive ⁓
communication from your donor wanting to actually help your cause and like connect you to their company. And it's also maybe something that you can easily use as a resource also whenever you get into these conversations and you're just trying to give out more details about what they can do because like you said ⁓
it's just kind of hard to get all of these different information at once. And I also don't imagine that a nonprofit would just have all the different information about a company's workplace giving program, like all of the companies that already have that at the back of their minds. But basically being able to follow up after your ask is something that for me is really important and making sure that that isn't really an intrusive ask because you're kind of making it a conversation then. And yeah.
Leya Simmons (19:25)
Yeah.
I totally hear that.
Yeah, think that so honestly what I'm hearing you say is like even more important that we get this data from our attendees prior to the event because at the actual check-in line, there's no, know, it would be very difficult to communicate not only.
okay, tell me who your employer is and then try and get all of that written down properly in your job title. But also like if they had, if we had sent that information out in advance of the event around, you know, the employer matching piece, then we've educated them so that when they show up, it's less weird. And it also might be an incentive to our attendees to actually give the information prior to actually showing up at check-in.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (20:01)
Mm-hmm.
Leya Simmons (20:18)
⁓ okay. That's all really wonderful advice and continuing then. And it also, I think if you send out the information as you described before the event, contextualizing, you know, why is this important to the nonprofit and why could it be important to you and your donation? Then when you do that moves management followup, and we continue that momentum fundraising after the event, then now there's already a learning curve that you've hopefully surmounted by having given that information before. Okay.
That's really wonderful. What do you think or would you say are a few event day tactics that would turn a one night attendee into a sponsor prospect that doesn't make, like you said earlier, you know, it doesn't make our supporters feel like we're mining them for corporate contacts, but that we could do to facilitate that later on ask.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (21:12)
I I feel like we've been talking a lot about how to really communicate the impact.
to your supporters and maybe your potential corporate sponsors because I feel like, and I'm just going to be going on and on about that still because I feel like that is really important, know, providing a story. And when we're talking about fundraising in general, that's really kind of the gist of it all that we're doing all these different strategies, these different marketing ideas, basically how we can present our message about how we support these causes and all of those different things. So maybe
Leya Simmons (21:22)
Yeah.
I love, yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (21:49)
Maybe
providing an even more compelling story about how corporate sponsorships have helped your mission grow in the past. I know with events we have maybe some areas we'd like to touch on, but definitely keeping that in mind and maybe even just incorporating that in your other ⁓ topics or subjects might even be better if you have companies you can actually highlight during the event, keeping the impact close to your mission.
and actually making it quantifiable. Like for example, with company A's donation of this much, we were able to build five classrooms in this area. I feel like really just making sure that it is like a tangible impact that your donors can also visualize would be really, really helpful.
Maybe the next one would be similarly people right the wave. Like we're just naturally expected to follow trends, see what other people are doing. I feel like the same concept applies to donors when they see that other people are doing matching gifts. Not only are they more likely to at least learn more about it, but it also tells your donors that it's definitely doable. It's not a hard process at all to get your gifts matched
Leya Simmons (22:37)
That's great.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (23:07)
for you to advocate for these partnerships with a company. So one would be about you talking about other companies and then second would be about talking about other donors because social impact, social proof is always going to be really helpful. I mean at least for me that is totally helpful. And then maybe last thing would be
Leya Simmons (23:22)
Totally.
Absolutely.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (23:30)
During the live appeals, the paddle races, the ones that you guys are doing, people are, like you said, this emotional high from giving right after they make that pledge on their phone. Their confirmation page shouldn't just say thank you and, you know, just the details about that specific pledge. Again, talking about your ass being a bit more actionable, you should be able to also provide other next steps for your donors.
Leya Simmons (23:32)
Mm-hmm.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (24:00)
be able to follow up with that specific ask of here's how you can actually do that.
Leya Simmons (24:07)
Yeah, absolutely. ⁓ I love all of that. Well, so now that we have covered ⁓ that, you know, kind of in-event, pre-event and post-event, honestly, ⁓ how we're cultivating our attendees into potential ⁓ connectors for our corporate ⁓ matching or corporate giving, can you show us or walk us through the end-to-end flow ⁓ from collecting employer data and Better Unite to enrichment and surfacing sponsorship leads via the double the donation integration?
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (24:38)
would love to let me actually go ahead and share my screen because I like pull up this sample form from Better Unite with an integrated double the donation solution as well. Alright you guys see my screen now?
Leya Simmons (24:41)
Okay.
Perfect.
Yes.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (24:53)
Perfect. So about that data collection, it's really, like I said, that straightforward field of having your donors type in their company. So as they're going through that flow, could easily, at least within this specific flow that we have, they could easily type in their company on there and just proceed with actually making that gift because we never want to take out donors as they're doing or as they're making that gift. And then, like I said, being a bit more actionable with your ask, you did not just
encourage your donors to type in their company but you are following up with their next steps. I mean I realized that was Microsoft. So basically when you go into as a donor when you go into that process when you make that gift to identify Apple to be your company you are also supposed to see some of these information about their company's matching gift program what else Apple has to offer so corporate volunteering would be included in there there are
volunteering PTO, volunteer grant options as well, payroll giving. Definitely a lot of organizations are very interested in this. And then there are sometimes corporate sponsorships as well, depending on the availability, of course, that we can service in that specific next step. So within that next step, you're again being actionable in not just asking about their employer, but also forwarding them to their next steps. So just by making that gift, can easily
Leya Simmons (26:02)
for sure.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (26:23)
click on this button right here to actually get to the next step on how I can submit that matching gift request to Apple because donors wouldn't really know unless you tell them the next steps so I feel like that is definitely really important in that aspect and then
Leya Simmons (26:37)
Right.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (26:41)
Maybe just to share with you a quick overview. This is like a sample account that we have doubled the donation. Once that transaction passes over to your organization's double the donation account, you can then actually utilize your reporting tab and maybe see, you know, who your prospects are. You see a lot of these different opportunities. Some of the donors we are waiting for in terms of their matching gift process, actually waiting for them to submit that matching gift request.
You can look also into the leading companies, some of the most selected companies that your donors ⁓ have added into that integrated form at BetterUnite. So you can also see who your supporters are that are working for this certain company. And that could be your easy, that warm gateway to those corporate partnerships. And then you're also able to follow up automatically with some reminders about their matching gift eligibility, again, for
rewarding them all of those next steps. So yeah, just a quick overview of what that looks like within Double the Donation. ⁓ Yeah.
Leya Simmons (27:51)
I love that. in, well, actually I wanted to ask then about what I mentioned, I kind of teased at the very beginning, and it's called Grant Finder, but for our purposes of this conversation, we are talking in terms of potential sponsors and things like that. So the Grant Finder within Better Unite, is that on me to share? I think it is, isn't it? Let me, okay, I'll share my screen. Here we go. And.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (27:53)
Thank
Sure. Go ahead, Leah.
Leya Simmons (28:22)
So here we are inside my Community Works Better Unite account. Can everybody see my screen, I should ask actually. Okay, so here in our grant management tool, which lives under giving grants, we can click on find and apply for grants. So in here, you actually have all of these incredible grant opportunities, but some of these, I'm gonna, again, for the purposes of this call.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (28:28)
Yes.
Leya Simmons (28:46)
Some of these opportunities really can serve as opportunities for finding sponsors or corporate sponsors for an event. But they are also an incredible way to you to, I mean, I love this that you guys have done here. You can see down here powered by double the donation, but you've got a direct apply opportunity here and this offer of in-kind donations. these can also be parts and part of a silent auction, even potentially a live auction.
While it does live under giving grants and it ⁓ is a separate piece from the event tool over here, if you are running an event within Better Unite, this would actually be an incredible place to come to potentially, as I said, not always, but sometimes potentially ⁓ find ⁓ some synergy with your organization and a potential corporate sponsor. that is provided to us.
by our friends at Double the Donation. And I mean, like when Anne first let me know about this, I was over the moon excited about this. I think that is just one of the most wonderful tools that ⁓ Double the Donation has. It's not me, you guys do a whole lot of incredible things. So don't even wanna say that, but it is an incredible and wonderful tool for our teams and our organizations using BetterUnite. ⁓ So it's just wonderfully intuitively and fluidly done. So good job. ⁓
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (29:57)
Thank you.
Leya Simmons (30:10)
Okay, back to my questions for you. Can the integration itself surface likely internal champions or influence holders like automatically, or do you think that that requires a more manual review?
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (30:22)
interesting question again. So
Technically, what the integration does is it surfaces matching gift opportunities, at least for that specific donation matching integration that we have from your donor base automatically, as long as employer information is provided. So like within that search tool that I shared with you, that is an optional field for your donors. So they can just basically let us know that they're working for this specific company. And that is something that we can automatically identify if it is an opportunity.
Leya Simmons (30:34)
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (30:54)
like if they do have that workplace giving program. So that could be matching gifts again and those other types of ⁓ opportunities within their program. So that is kind of automatic. In that sense, you don't have to do manual research to see if their company has a matching gift program or other workplace giving programs. The system is basically able to spot that for you. And...
Leya Simmons (30:58)
Okay.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (31:19)
I guess more importantly, you also don't need to send those manual emails. I think I was able to share a quick view of what those automated emails look like and basically not manually, not have to manually direct your donors and how to submit. I mean, like I said, a lot of your donors won't really know how to do this. So basically you're able to automatically provide them those next steps while they're in that giving mindset.
Leya Simmons (31:28)
Yeah.
Okay, so now we have captured the information, we're enriching it, and we're hopefully spotting our influencers. So we've covered identification. Now I'm gonna turn our focus over to outreach. So once an internal champion or the match is found, identified, whatever that is, what do you recommend as an outreach sequence?
So what would you say the right timing and messaging is so that we can know the goal being obviously we want to involve the gift into matching gift revenue.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (32:21)
Good question again, Lee. I mean, we have been talking a lot about this giving mindset. I love how we just went scientific earlier, but because it's really true, I mean, the giving mindset is like the holy grail for all of nonprofits to send out all of their different follow-up outreach after a donation. But we obviously can send out everything all at once. So maybe after, of course, doing that first outreach after they make that gift, maybe at least remind
Leya Simmons (32:29)
Hahaha
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (32:51)
finding them within the same week about their potential for these other workplace giving opportunities, especially that match because that is directly tied to your donor's ⁓ gift. If that makes sense. Obviously making that ⁓ outreach as soon as they made that gift. So after and then a week after, maybe then the at least third that we have ⁓ as a default within the automated emails at Double the Donation is a month after the donation was made.
Leya Simmons (33:17)
Mm-hmm.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (33:20)
Because usually also, ⁓ the reason why we set that at a month after a donation was made is because a lot of these matching F programs have deadlines, of course. A lot of them do have end of year as their deadline, but we do have to cater to some matching F programs with an earlier date as their deadline. So I feel like that earliest could be a month after the donation was made. So also keeping that in mind, you know, there are different parameters to these programs.
that you have to consider making sure that ask is still not expired if that makes sense.
Leya Simmons (33:57)
Right, right, right. It's still appropriate.
Uh-huh.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (34:00)
Yes, that is still appropriate. So maybe doing that and of course, utilizing all of these different giving campaigns that your nonprofit has and maybe even doing it around times like giving Tuesday, end of year fundraising, of course, like I mentioned, a lot of these programs have their deadline by end of year. So maybe that.
Leya Simmons (34:21)
I hear that. I mean, honestly, what I'm hearing in there too is even more ⁓ advocacy for a post-event, ⁓ you know, kind of momentum, moves management flow that you've set up, you've thought it through well in advance, but then maybe actually identifying or segmenting the attendees at your event that you've done that sort of outreach to. You know, maybe there's a different sort of outreach that you do to those folks.
around like you said, giving Tuesday or your end of year asks because they do have that, that's the kind of that expiration date. Do you, mean, and I'm throwing this question at you, Anne, do you have ⁓ thoughts around the difference between a soft opener versus like an actual sponsorship ask and or thoughts on maybe how you build up to that sponsorship ask?
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (35:10)
Mm.
mean, maybe because I'm looking at it.
as like not just a single donor that you ask for these sponsorship introductions. I feel like it's just like I shared earlier in my example, it's just a bit more powerful if you can actually point to a group of people who are employed in this certain company and you can basically let the company know. Because that's basically similar to what we do in partnerships. If we have mutual clients, the solution, making the solution possible is just easier.
Leya Simmons (35:22)
Right? Mm-hmm.
Sure.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (35:47)
You know, it doesn't take much of our resources to make when you do have that collateral Yes, when you do have that collateral I feel like that's often like the best way to introduce the possible partnership with a company So maybe that's not too specific I feel like that maybe that group or again going back into maybe if you do have like powerful decision makers who are in your supporter list then definitely even doing that personal outreach
Leya Simmons (35:51)
That's always good.
Mm-hmm.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (36:17)
to them, even treating them actually like a major donor I feel would work. So I feel like that is going to be my recommendation.
Leya Simmons (36:23)
Okay,
so do you have ⁓ any thoughts around like wording, maybe you have a specific wording for this, but ⁓ within the integration with double the donation, how do you address privacy and consent? Like is there some language maybe that we should include in registration or our privacy policy when we're going, when we know that we might use that employer enrichment?
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (36:48)
That is a good question. mean, we also do take privacy and security really seriously here in our company. Double the donation is SOC 2 compliant, meaning we have achieved like the highest level of security effectiveness. I know Peter can share also our trust center in there, which would be a bit more comprehensive as to what I can share about how we handle all of these different data privacy and all of those different things. But basically, we also don't take payment
information within Double the Donation only, the contact information, ⁓ the first name, last name, employer name, of course, and email address or what's being taken back into Double the Donation. When it comes to employee employer enrichment, because we don't necessarily transact with the company, we're basically just connecting your donors with these information. Yes, I feel like we don't often get that question. So
Leya Simmons (37:23)
Right.
You're a connector. Sure.
Good.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (37:48)
Maybe, maybe when we're just talking about how double the donation works with your data, maybe for organizations who are interested to hear this. I mean, you have full control over what is being passed in and what actions are being taken. If they can, if they want to tell the software that we want to exclude gifts made above 10,000 to pass into double the donation, we want to exclude ⁓ employees of this certain company. Those are all really possible.
Leya Simmons (38:16)
Mm-hmm.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (38:18)
within the account and then within the software itself, if you want to say you just want to send all of these specific types of emails, it's only going to ever send those types of emails. So all of those functionalities are really just within the control of the organization when it comes to how we interact with donor data. It's also under the organization's programe. It's more of like a marketing tool. Also, I want to say that we don't really
do much with actually connecting with their companies if that makes sense.
Leya Simmons (38:53)
Gotcha, gotcha,
gotcha. Yeah, I know, that's wonderful. Okay, so now we've established all of the ways that you can get this going, that we can start this up. let's, well, we've established all the things that you should do. So now I think let's wrap with how to get started. Like what we need to like, you know, actually functionally do and what does success look like? So what are the typical setup steps? What do you think is a typical timeline? ⁓ And then also, you know, and this is an interesting,
Well, I mean, it's interesting to me question who typically owns this process? Does it usually come from, you know, the fundraising development team or is, you know, this kind of like a one-off data set question or a database administrator? How does that work? And again, primarily, I want to know typical setup steps and how long does it take to get going?
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (39:43)
Sure.
mean, that is also a really interesting question to me about who actually owns this process. Because I mean, I have seen different ways on how organizations have set their strategy up. Like I know there are actually matching gift teams, maybe for larger organizations, those who really have their day-to-day tasks to be reaching out to donors, following up on these different opportunities. So maybe that question is kind of dependent on the bandwidth an organization has.
Leya Simmons (39:49)
Yeah.
Okay.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (40:14)
say if you have maybe a smaller group, going back to incorporating all of these different workplace giving opportunities as an addition to your other fundraising asks is going to be a really helpful way on how you can pass this task to your gift officers. Just a quick, you know, segue that after that specific ask, maybe you can also mention that, hey, did you know your company also matches blah, blah, blah. I feel like that could be an easy way for
Leya Simmons (40:31)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (40:44)
organizations to handle this. When it comes to the setup process, if we're talking about the tool itself, it shouldn't be taking more than a week. Obviously, you're just going to be, again, implementing all of these different fields to be added on your form, making sure you are collecting that employer information in the first place and that you're doing something about it. So if you are a user of double the donation, then that should take like less than a week. Making sure all of
these different follow ups are automatically set. And then maybe for just talking about in general, I feel like the setup should also take place starting from your marketing strategy. Like you have to make sure your organization is also talking about it. It's not just within your donation form that you're all of a sudden asking for matching gifts. Cause maybe within your website, it's such an easy marketing tool you can surface ⁓ matching gifts into your donors. Or again, all of these different workplace giving opportunities.
using those different tactics of social proof, highlighting different companies, maybe starting with marketing and then when it comes to timeline, I feel like this shouldn't be like a one-off campaign that you're just gonna start now and then stop doing after a month and also because these processes actually do take time, unfortunately.
Leya Simmons (42:00)
Right.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (42:09)
Or maybe that might be an okay thing for other organizations. But at least for matching gifts, as for my knowledge, it usually would have at least a month of a gap for a donor to submit their request and then for that company to actually process you that fund. So it has to be a slow and steady kind of strategy that your organization should be willing to do. I hope I was able to answer your question. I feel like I just blabbered around there.
Leya Simmons (42:23)
sure.
Mm-hmm.
No, I think that was great. No, I love it. was all very
good blathering. It was wonderful and very helpful. So if we're asking, and I always kind of end with this question, although I may have one more question after this, but if we're asking our listeners today or people that are watching to do or take away one single thing, right? Like what can they do, one pilot.
in what could they do? then in the next, because as you mentioned, this takes some time. So in 60 to 90 days, what would be that highest impact, lowest effort pilot that you would recommend? And then also what benchmarks after that 60, 90 day window should we look at so that we can judge the success?
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (43:21)
sure a lot of our attendees are interested to hear this because I mean you want to see that ROI like instantaneously almost. For me maybe if you can just implement one thing it is making your ask actionable.
Leya Simmons (43:29)
always.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (43:37)
It's obviously easy to just add in that employer detail, get all of that information within your CRM, but then your donors won't really be able to do something about it. So I feel like to actually see that matching gift, if we're talking about matching gifts in this case, if we want to see that.
submitted for a request to their company, you want to make sure you're following up with Next Steps. So whether that is through that confirmation page that you surface all these Next Steps or through your follow-up emails to this specific donor that you send out, maybe that link to their CSR vendor and how to submit that request, maybe even following up with how ⁓ they can...
Leya Simmons (44:15)
Mm.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (44:22)
you know, send a warm intro to their company to support your organization. I feel like that's definitely a must. ⁓ Yeah.
Leya Simmons (44:28)
Okay. I like that. No,
I think that's actually a really good suggestion. And thank you so much. go ahead, please. No.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (44:36)
I'm sorry, I just forgot. You
did ask about the benchmark and I do want to share this because maybe it isn't going to be as straightforward of a process but I feel like there are absolutely different ways. know technology is on its rise.
Leya Simmons (44:40)
Yes.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (44:51)
always is on its rise. But I mean, there are different ways for you to track how donors interact with your different fundraising asks. So maybe again, connecting it to how we can be actionable with your outreach. If you can maybe see how many of your donors have initiated their matches. I mean, at least within double the donation you can see because we do provide that next step. Yes, you can actually know if a donor has been redirected
Leya Simmons (45:14)
interesting. You can look at that.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (45:21)
to their company's matching gift portal. So if you can see that match initiated rate for this certain group of donors, I feel like that could be like the best benchmark, at least what I have been sharing with a lot of our clients when it comes to talking about ROI.
Leya Simmons (45:24)
Gotcha.
Okay,
that's great. And that's good to hear. And I actually did not know that within Double The Donation. So I love knowing that now. Thank you. Okay, Anne, thank you so much for your time today. Are there any final thoughts or questions you want to leave? Or can I go ahead and open it up to some Q &A? I haven't actually looked to see if we have very many. Well, we really don't. We've been covering a lot of ground. ⁓ And Peter's been in our chat talking a whole lot. So that's amazing.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (45:43)
Hahaha
Ashley.
Leya Simmons (46:05)
Any final thoughts or questions or anything else that you'd like to share, Anne?
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (46:11)
Um, I mean, I feel like we always want, you know, results to be instantaneous, but it sometimes is a slow process. And feel like I've mentioned that, but I just want to reiterate, because again, all of these different programs and these opportunities take a while, especially if we're talking about sponsorships. mean,
Leya Simmons (46:20)
for sure.
That's a good one.
Mm-hmm.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (46:31)
These
matching gift programs, volunteer incentives that we're talking about are all donor-centric. These are all upon your donors to complete, but when it comes to these grant application processes, these are kind of a bit more...
sophisticated of a process that would actually require your nonprofit to be a bit more strategic, a bit more patient with actually collecting all of these different information and bringing in your best, most compelling requests to this specific company. you know, with that specific grab finder that you that we were able to share with better unite users, of course, those are some of the ways that we at least help nonprofits, you know,
Leya Simmons (46:56)
Mm-hmm.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (47:17)
get to their next steps a little bit easier. feel like I've been talking about next steps a lot. you know, if you can maybe help also your team, your fundraising team with equipping them really with all of these different resources, I feel like that's already taking you a step higher from your previous outreach strategy.
Leya Simmons (47:39)
I think that's actually so prescient. I love that you shared that. then, know, patience, which is very rarely a virtue, I find, among many people, despite what everybody says, ⁓ that, you know, having just that pause, that beat, or a moment to really give the things that you've put into place an opportunity to play themselves out, because we are dealing with
donors and companies and people with lives and other things that they have to go and deal with and do, but then also establishing the triggers and the reminders along the way that can absolutely move the needle when we're looking at it from a longer perspective. So, Anne, thank you again for joining us for Beyond the Bid. I so appreciate it. It was really, really wonderful advice. And I'm sharing here Anne, who I hope she does not mind that I'm sharing her information and.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (48:17)
Thank you, Leah.
Absolutely.
Leya Simmons (48:28)
If you have other questions, please reach out to, or if you're watching this and have not had an opportunity to ask your questions or see Peter's very engaging chat, at dot, please say it for me, Tuogon, Tuogon, I was close, Tuogon, and Tuogon.Tuogon at doublethedonation.com. Of course, if you have questions for us, Better Unite, support at betterunite.com. We would be happy to show you around the platform and you can see in real time, in real life, that wonderful grant finder through,
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (48:40)
to yogurt. It's wild.
Leya Simmons (48:58)
Double the donation and how you can easily under the settings tab if you're already a better unite user go and establish that integration with your better unite account to your double the donation account ⁓ Let me very quickly mention next week's webinar Couldn't be more excited about this misty markham is a firecracker ball human energy source
She is amazing. And she's an auctioneer that I actually had dinner with last night here in Portland. She's based out of the Pacific Northwest. She's the founder of Markham Auction Agency. And she's not only an auctioneer, she is a fellow data nerd. And she collects a lot of data about auctions, ⁓ events, and how everything operates at the, at the pieces and parts that, that she's attending and everything she has visibility into. she,
not only collects that data, but also analyzes it. So she'll be joining us next week for leveraging historical data for the fundraising win. So much information. March 10th, next Tuesday at 1.30 Central, it's gonna be here on Riverside again. So please scan that QR code if you would like to join us. We are of course, are sending this out to everybody that has ⁓ joined us so far today, this webinar so that you can take a look and ⁓ revisit all of Anne's amazing
⁓ tips and thoughts. And if you would like for us to show you around Better Unite, as I mentioned, you can now scan that QR code to grab that demo or of course, email us at support at betterunite.com. But again, ⁓ thank you so much. And I so appreciate your joining us today and double the donations partnership over these years with us at Better Unite has truly been wonderful and amazing for all of our nonprofits as well.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (50:43)
Thank you so much, Leah. And actually, if I can add just one more thing, because this might be interesting to people who are listening right now or to those who are.
Leya Simmons (50:47)
Please.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (50:53)
listening to the recording. If you do go into our website at doublethedonation.com and you get like a personal demo from our team, we can actually provide you like a specific kind of demo that we can also share with you your expected ROI of matching gifts, just objectively speaking, because ⁓ that is basically important for you to be able to justify if you need the tool or also like that. ⁓
Leya Simmons (51:10)
wow.
ROI calculators,
we gotta love that. All right, thank you again, Anne. Thank you, Peter. And thank you, double the donation. Thank you all for spending, let's see, what is that? 51 minutes with us this afternoon. I hope that you have gathered as much information and insight as I have. And then let's go do some good. Have a great day, everybody. Bye-bye.
Ann Rossell Tuyogon (51:23)
Yes. Thank you, Leah.
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