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Home Corporate giving Resources for effective corporate giving What is matched giving? A guide to matched giving for employers
29 August 2025

Maximise impact: A guide to Matched Giving for employers

CAF CAF Corporate Client Team

What is matched giving? 

Matched giving (also known as matched funding) is where an employer matches an employee's donation to charity to help them increase their impact — a powerful yet simple way to increase participation in workplace giving schemes and build a culture of generosity.

This blog supports Human Resources, Corporate Social Responsibility and internal engagement managers to explore what motivates employees to give, the benefits of matched giving and how to use matched giving to increase the chances of employees donating.

 

What motivates employees to give?

For responsible businesses to boost their employees’ participation in their scheme, it helps to understand what drives employee generosity – whether it is personal connection, ease of giving or a sense of shared purpose. 

It is not always easy to know what truly motivates employees to give — especially in large, diverse organisations where priorities and preferences vary. Understanding what drives employees to donate can help you to tailor your giving programme with their values and preferences and build a more engaged scheme.  

 

Common motivations for employees and ways to approach them include:


  • A sense of community: Share positive employee giving stories. Employees are more likely to donate when they see their peers doing the same.
  • Shared values: Regularly remind them how your company’s social purpose aligns with theirs, to foster pride and engagement.
  • Ease of giving: Provide a simple and seamless giving process and remove barriers to participation. For example, keep non-office-based employees updated on your giving scheme.
  • Tangible impact: Let them know that their donation can make a greater, positive impact on charities with matched giving.

The benefits of matched giving

Matched giving is a powerful way to show employees that their generosity is valued and supported. By increasing the impact of their donations, it encourages continued participation in giving and fosters a sense of pride.

It also signals that your organisation is committed to social impact — not just enabling giving but actively supporting your employees’ charitable goals. This helps build a culture of shared purpose and strengthens employee connection to your values.

Matching employee donations also helps charities access vital funding—especially now, with public giving at its lowest since 2016 and areas of greatest need seeing the fewest donations. Our UK Giving Report 2025 shows that only 50% of UK adults donated last year, down from 58% in 2019. So, by offering matched giving your business can drive giving participation and support more charities to make a difference in our communities.


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Types of matched giving

You can align matched funding to suit your business goals and giving budget. Here are four common approaches to consider:


  • One-to-one matching: Every £1 donated by an employee is matched by £1 from the employer.
  • Capped matching: A certain amount is provided to all employees per year.
  • Campaign-based matching: Matching donations during specific fundraising drives or events.
  • Doubling the difference: Offering to double the amount donated by the employee.

You can choose to match donations through payroll giving, fundraising events, or even personal donations to registered charities.

How to set up matched giving 

Get started with these three steps:


  • Choose how to manage matched giving: Match donations through a payroll giving scheme, a company account or a bespoke programme.
  • Define your matching rules: Set how much your organisation will match, and which donations will be eligible.
  • Track, measure and report: Use simple reporting tools to monitor how many employees participate and communicate the impact of their donations.

How to promote your matched giving scheme 

Once you have set up your scheme it is important to promote matched funding effectively and let your employees know about it.


  • Internal communications: Raise awareness through office screens, newsletters, and intranet posts. 
  • Events and campaigns: Highlight matched giving during fundraising events or awareness weeks. You can also offer to match donations in a prize draw. 
  • Social media: Share employee impact stories and milestones to inspire others. 

Learn more about ways to engage employees in your scheme in our Employee Engagement Guide.

What is an example of matched funding? 

One of our clients, a global insurance firm, has demonstrated its commitment through their Give As You Earn (GAYE) payroll giving scheme — a UK programme that enables employees to donate to charity directly from their salary before tax.

To maximise the benefit, the company matched contributions pound for pound, up to £50 per month. In 2024 alone, this added over £97,000 to employee donations — raising the total to an impressive amount of over £234,000 for the charity.

 

An employee explained how giving through the scheme made a personal impact:

Each year, we experience first-hand the difference our donation makes to the community, and it is a great feeling.

How CAF supports matched giving 

CAF offers flexible matched giving solutions to help employers boost charitable impact while streamlining administration. Whether you choose to match donations through our Give As You Earn (GAYE) payroll giving scheme, a Company Account, or a bespoke programme, we can help make it easy to process employee requests within the limits you set. 

To further explore how matched giving can work for your organisation, get in touch with us here.

 

Other ways CAF can help you give 


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