Employer Appends Best Practices to Boost Nonprofit Revenue

Employer Appends Best Practices to Boost Nonprofit Revenue

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Data is the silent engine of nonprofit fundraising. When your data is clean, complete, and actionable, your campaigns run smoothly, and revenue flows efficiently. However, when your database is filled with holes—specifically missing employment information—you are operating with a significant handicap. You might know a donor’s name and donation history, but if you do not know where they work, you are missing the master key to unlocking corporate philanthropy. The solution lies in a strategic workflow known as the Employer Appends Best Practices, turning incomplete records into a roadmap for corporate philanthropy.

For many nonprofits, the concept of data enrichment can feel technical or intimidating. It is often viewed as a luxury for large universities rather than a necessity for all organizations. This misconception leaves billions on the table. In reality, employer appends (or the process of adding employer data to existing donor profiles) is a scalable strategy that any development team can master. By following proven best practices, you can ensure your data investment yields a high return, deepening donor relationships and securing sustainable revenue streams.

In this guide, we’ll cover:

Success in data enrichment is not just about acquiring information; it is about what you do with it. This guide will walk you through the essential steps to clean, enhance, and utilize your donor data to its full potential.

The Strategic Necessity of Employment Data

Before diving into the “how,” it is vital to understand the “why.” Why should a nonprofit prioritize budget and time for employer appends? The answer lies in the massive gap between potential corporate giving and actual revenue received.

An estimated $4 to $7 billion in matching gift revenue goes unclaimed every year. This gap exists largely because organizations do not know which of their donors work for match-eligible companies. Without this data, you cannot send the targeted reminders that drive submission rates. Furthermore, employment data unlocks volunteer grants. Many companies provide monetary grants to nonprofits where their employees volunteer, often ranging between $8 and $15 per hour. If you do not know a volunteer’s employer, you cannot alert them to this opportunity.

Did You Know? Mentioning matching gifts in fundraising appeals results in a 71% increase in response rate and a 51% increase in average donation amount. Knowing the employer allows you to add this powerful call-to-action to your messaging, making Employer Appends Best Practices a vital tool for boosting overall campaign performance.

Best Practice 1: Prioritize Pre-Append Data Hygiene

The quality of the insights you get out of an append is directly dependent on the quality of the data you put in. One of the most critical Employer Appends Best Practices is conducting a thorough data audit before you ever send a file to a vendor.

Deduplication

Duplicate records are the enemy of efficient fundraising. If “Jonathan Doe” is listed three times in your CRM under slight variations, you might end up paying to append his data three times. Merging these duplicates ensures you get a single, comprehensive view of the donor and maximizes your budget.

Standardization

Data vendors rely on standard formatting to match your records against their databases. Ensure that names are separated into distinct “First” and “Last” fields and that addresses follow standard postal guidelines. If your file contains typos or non-standard abbreviations, the match rate—the percentage of donors for whom an employer is found—will suffer. Investing time in this cleanup phase is essential for a high return on investment.

Best Practice 2: Select a Partner with Philanthropic Context

Not all data providers are created equal. A general marketing firm might be able to tell you that a donor works at “Starbucks,” but that information alone is insufficient for fundraising. You need context to turn that data point into a donation.

Beyond the Company Name

The gold standard in employer appends for nonprofits is a vendor that maps employment data to corporate giving guidelines. You need a partner who can tell you, “This donor works at Starbucks, AND Starbucks matches gifts at a 1:1 ratio”. This context turns raw data into fundraising fuel.

Accuracy Over Volume

When evaluating vendors, ask about their match rates and confidence scores. A reputable provider should be transparent about the percentage of your file they expect to match. Be wary of providers promising 100% match rates, as this often indicates “fuzzy” matching logic that sacrifices accuracy. In fundraising, sending a matching gift appeal to a donor based on incorrect employment data can confuse the donor and damage the relationship. Accuracy must always be the priority.

Quick Tip: Look for providers that offer integration with your existing CRM or donation forms. Seamless integration ensures that once the data is appended, it flows directly into your donor profiles, ready for immediate use by your development team.

Best Practice 3: Segment and Activate Immediately

Data sitting in a spreadsheet does not buy new equipment or fund programs. The core of Employer Appends Best Practices is having a concrete plan for activation. Once your file is returned with employer names and matching gift statuses, you must put it to work immediately.

Create Targeted Segments

Stop treating your donors like a monolith. Use this data to create distinct segments for outreach:

  • The “Match-Eligible” Segment: Donors who work for matching gift companies. Send them a specific email: “Did you know [Employer Name] will double your donation?”
  • The “Corporate Partner” Segment: Donors working at companies with strong CSR reputations. Flag these for personal outreach by your corporate relations officer.
  • The “High-Capacity” Segment: Donors with C-suite or Director-level titles. Move these into a prospect pool for major gift officers to review.

The Retroactive Ask

One of the most effective ways to generate immediate revenue is a retroactive matching gift campaign. Most companies allow employees to request matches for donations made in the last 6 to 12 months, and sometimes until the end of the calendar year.

Use your appended data to identify donors who gave recently but did not submit a match. Send them a personalized email: “Thank you for your recent gift! We noticed you work for [Employer Name]. Did you know you can still double that donation at no cost to you?” This is “found money” that requires no new financial commitment from the donor.

Best Practice 4: Leverage Automation for Ongoing Success

While a one-time append is valuable, your donor base is constantly changing. People change jobs, companies merge, and policies update. To maintain data health, you must move from manual batched processes to automated solutions.

Automated Screening

Top-tier matching gift software can screen donors in real-time. By integrating a search tool into your donation forms, you can capture employment data and matching eligibility the moment a gift is made . This prevents data gaps from forming in the first place.

Triggered Emails

Connect your appended data to your email marketing platform. Set up automated workflows that trigger when a donor’s record is updated with a match-eligible employer. This ensures that every opportunity is pursued promptly, increasing the likelihood that the donor will take action while their gift is still fresh in their mind.

Did You Know? 84% of donors say they are more likely to donate if a match is offered. By automating the identification and notification process, you are not just securing a match; you are encouraging the donor to give again in the future.

Best Practice 5: Maintain Data Hygiene and Privacy

Data decays quickly. People change jobs, companies merge, and policies update. To ensure the Employer Appends Process continues to deliver ROI, you must view it as an ongoing cycle, not a one-time fix.

Schedule Regular Re-Appends

Depending on the size of your database and donor turnover, plan to run a fresh employer append every 12 to 24 months. This captures donors who have changed careers and helps you catch new prospects who have entered your system without providing employment details.

Build Data Collection into Intake

Stop the bleeding of missing data by improving your intake forms. Add an optional “Employer” field to your online donation pages and volunteer sign-up forms. Using a search tool with an autocomplete function encourages donors to provide this data voluntarily.

Validate with Donors

Use your communications to verify the data. In your annual update or donor survey, show them the info you have on file (e.g., “Do you still work at [Company]?”) and ask them to update it. This keeps your data fresh and reminds them of their potential connection to workplace giving.

Measuring Success: KPIs for the Process

To justify the investment in employer appends to your board or leadership, you need to track the results. It is not enough to simply count the number of records matched; you must measure the revenue impact.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

  • Match Identification Rate: Track the percentage of your donor base successfully matched to an employer. If this rate is low, it might indicate that your base is largely retired or that you need a vendor with better coverage of small-to-mid-sized businesses.
  • Revenue Lift: This is the ultimate metric. Track the increase in matching gift revenue and volunteer grants in the 12 months following the append compared to the previous year. For example, some organizations see huge increases in identified match revenue simply by prioritizing identification strategies.
  • Conversion Rate: Measure how many of the identified match-eligible donors actually submitted a request after your outreach. A low conversion rate suggests that while your data is good, your communication strategy might need refinement. Perhaps the emails aren’t clear, or the instructions for the donor are too complex.

Wrapping Up & Next Steps

The Employer Appends Process is one of the most efficient ways to turn “dead data” into “active revenue.” By systematically identifying where your donors work, you peel back the curtain on thousands of dollars in potential corporate funding that is currently sitting unclaimed. It allows you to move from generic “please give” messaging to highly personalized, strategic partnerships that benefit the donor, their employer, and your mission.

While the technical steps—cleaning, matching, and importing—require diligence, the payoff is substantial. A single append can reveal hundreds of match-eligible donors, dozens of potential corporate sponsors, and a clear roadmap for your major gifts team.

Ready to uncover the hidden potential in your donor list?

  • Run a quick query: How many of your active donor records are missing employer info? If it’s more than 30%, it’s time for an append.
  • Check your forms: Are you asking for employer info on your donation page? If not, add that field today.
  • Explore solutions: Look for partners like Double the Donation who can provide the actionable workplace giving data you need to succeed.

Take control of your data today, and watch your corporate revenue grow.