Matching Gifts

Jennifer Thomas
Jennifer Thomas
Fourth Anniversary
in Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT®: General Discussions
Hi! I am looking for any insight as to how best to enter Matching Gifts. I was trained to use an appeal code (ex: FY21 Matching Gift, FY22 Matching Gift, etc.) and give soft credit to the donor. However, I know there is a matching gift feature in RE that allows you to create a MG pledge and then apply a gift to that pledge. Is there any benefit or drawback to doing one method over the other?


Many thanks for any suggestions!
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Comments

  • JoAnn Strommen
    JoAnn Strommen Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 January 2026 Monthly Challenge 2025 bbcon Attendee Badge
    I've used the MG function in RE for years. Works well. MG pledge/payment shows on the individual's record as MG. All gifts are listed on MG company record. Predecessor set up somehow that individual's name auto populates the reference field of the MG.


    Thoughts on SC:

    I know some orgs SC MGs. Never have at either org I've been at as it didn't meet our definition of SC (donor did not have true ownership/control over the funds).

    Can make accurate gift reporting tricky. What SC do you want include/excluded?


    MG:

    For some of our donor category lists we do include MG but other lists do not. Have the option without interfering with SC issues.

    Our appeal carries over from the appeal on the donor's gift. So if donor gave $2K to Spring Phone-a-thon and says it will be matched, MG pledge created. When MG pay comes, it goes to same appeal. More accurate analysis.

    How software is designed to be used.


    Just my 2 cents.
  • Heather MacKenzie
    Heather MacKenzie
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 August 2025 Monthly Challenge Badge bbcon 2025 Attendee Badge
    In addition to what JoAnn Strommen said, which is all good stuff!, I'd also suggest that if you have a gazillion matching gifts from a donor that you also received hard credit gifts from, consider making 2 records that are linked to each other through relationships. One for the matching gifts and one for the gift gifts.
  • Sunshine Reinken Watson
    Sunshine Reinken Watson Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 First Reply February 2026 Monthly Challenge
    I'm going to echo what JoAnn Strommen‍ said. The matching gift function is cleaner than soft crediting gifts to the individual. It will also allow you to credit the matching gift to the original appeal that the donor gave to, if appropriate. You can easily pull a list/report of matching gifts just like you would if you put them all in the same appeal, but you will have a better idea of how they are coming in.

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