The article’s title: “Alternatives to Corporate Matches for Retired Donors.”

Alternatives to Corporate Matches for Retired Donors

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Some employer matches end when a donor retires, and many do not. Either way, retirees can give through channels that often produce larger gifts than a typical match, including IRA distributions, donor-advised funds, and stock.

In this article, you’ll get six workflows to find retiree matches and to make up the difference through alternative funding sources.

1. Locate retirees who still qualify for an employer match.

Many corporate matching programs extend to former employees, so a retired donor may still have a match waiting. As Double the Donation explains, retiree programs sometimes run on modified terms, such as lower match ratios or annual caps. Boeing and Chevron, for example, cap retiree matches at $3,000 per year, while Eli Lilly allows up to $7,500.

Follow this workflow to identify match-eligible retirees in your donor file:

  1. Run a data append. Send your CRM records to an appending service to update employment details and fill in missing company names. An employer data append returns the company behind each record, which is the starting point for every match lookup.
  2. Add employer database integration. Embed a corporate matching lookup tool in your main donation form so donors can search for their former employer and see its terms. Choose a database that lists retiree eligibility, match ratios, and annual caps for each company.
  3. Automate your outreach. Set your matching gift software to automatically trigger email workflows that send submission instructions as soon as a donor is flagged as a match-eligible retiree. Put the match request link at the top of the message.
  4. Link straight to the company’s portal. Retirees may not have access to a company’s internal site, so a direct link to the submission page keeps the request moving.

Prioritize the employers that appear most often in your appended file, since each company you research applies to every donor who worked there. Then track how many retirees open the matching email and how many submit a request, so you can tell whether the gap is awareness or paperwork.

2. Replace the employer match with a donor-funded challenge.

A challenge match gives retirees the doubling effect of an employer match, and you control the terms. A major donor, board member, or local business pledges the funds, and the match is released as other supporters give. Plan for the match to cover about half of the extra revenue you want to raise: for an additional $25,000, secure at least $12,500 in committed match funds.

Define these four parameters when structuring a match challenge:

  • The ratio: Choose between a 1:1 and a 2:1 match. A 1:1 match is easier to fund, while a 2:1 match makes a stronger headline but costs your sponsor twice as much per donated dollar.
  • The cap: State the maximum match amount so donors can see how much is still available.
  • The timeline: Set a firm deadline and add a countdown timer to your landing page. Year-end works well because most of annual giving happens in December.
  • The framing: Tell retired supporters that their gift will be doubled at no extra cost to them, which gives them the effect of an employer match.

Supporters who hold a donor-advised fund can also fund a challenge match, which ties this strategy to the next section. Show progress with a fundraising thermometer throughout the campaign and publicly thank your match partner when the campaign closes.

3. Start a planned giving program with bequests.

Planned giving covers gifts made through a donor’s estate or financial plan, and most are bequests written into a will. Adults aged 65 to 84 created 27% of wills and accounted for 38% of bequest dollars in FreeWill’s 2025 report, placing retired donors at the center of this work.

The usual first move is to focus on simple gifts, such as bequests, before adding more complex ones. We recommend putting these three pieces in place.

  • Standardize bequest language. Publish the exact legal wording donors can give their attorney, including your legal name and tax ID. Generational giving strategies show that older donor groups prefer direct mail and phone calls, so print the language in your mail inserts and on your website.
  • Launch a legacy society. Create a named giving tier or legacy society for donors who have pledged a planned gift, and attach perks such as public recognition or event invitations.
  • Promote beneficiary designations. Tell donors they can name your organization as a partial or full beneficiary of a retirement account or life insurance policy without having to rewrite their will.

Start your prospect list with board members, volunteers, and longtime donors, and ask each whether they have already included you in their plans. Though the right tools can make the process simple, be sure to refer tax and legal questions to the donor’s own advisor, since the effects of planned gifts vary.

4. Make it simple to give from a donor-advised fund.

A donor-advised fund (DAF) lets a donor contribute assets, take the deduction upfront, and recommend grants to charities over time. Retired donors with a DAF request those grants from their account at the fund sponsor. Some employers match these grants, so check DAF match eligibility before you assume a gift does not qualify.

Set up these three pieces to make DAF grants easy to give and easy to process:

  • Add a DAF payment option. Install a DAF integration on your main donation page so donors can log in to their fund account and recommend a grant without leaving your site.
  • Tag DAF holders in your CRM. Send them a dedicated appeal in November and December, when grant recommendations tend to peak.
  • Split the receipting. The fund sponsor is the legal donor of record, so send the official tax receipt to the sponsor and record the hard credit there. Thank the individual who recommended the grant, and record a soft credit on that donor’s profile.

Ask DAF donors who work or have worked for a matching employer to submit a match request. Chevron, for example, matches DAF grants when the employee or retiree funded the account alone, whereas Bank of America and CarMax do not.

5. Set up your organization to receive stock and mutual fund gifts

Donating appreciated stock or mutual fund shares lets a donor avoid capital gains tax on the growth and claim a deduction for the full market value, so the gift is often larger than a cash donation. To get the full tax benefit, the donor generally needs to have held the shares for more than one year. Some employers even match stock gifts at the share value on the transfer date.

Follow these steps to get ready for securities donations:

  1. Open a brokerage account. Set up an account that can receive electronic transfers of securities, or confirm that your current one can.
  2. Publish transfer instructions. List your brokerage name, DTC number, and account number on your ways-to-give page. Add a contact for mutual fund transfers, since they can require more hands-on work than single stocks.
  3. Ask donors to notify you first. Stock transfers often arrive without a donor name, so a heads-up lets your team attribute the shares to the right record and send a prompt acknowledgment. Request the donor’s name, the security, the number of shares, and the expected transfer date.

Decide whether your organization will sell shares on receipt or hold them, and record that choice in your gift acceptance policy. Some organizations decline stock in certain industries, so list any restrictions on the same page as your transfer instructions. Donors may need a brokerage statement as proof when they request an employer match, so send a transfer confirmation quickly.

6. Promote IRA charitable distributions to donors age 70½ and older

A qualified charitable distribution (QCD) sends money from a traditional IRA directly to your organization and counts toward the donor’s required minimum distribution (RMD), without adding to taxable income. Donors must be at least 70½, and the 2026 limit is up to $111,000 per person. You can’t promote QCDs to the right people without ages, so run a birth date append on records that are missing a date of birth.

Use these three changes to make QCDs easy to find and easy to complete:

  • Update your ways-to-give page. Add an IRA section near the top of the page with a short explanation of how a QCD works and who qualifies.
  • Publish your tax ID upfront. List your legal name, mailing address, and tax ID so donors can hand the details to their IRA custodian. Ask them to have the custodian issue the payment directly to your organization.
  • Offer a one-page instruction sheet. Create a downloadable PDF that donors can give to their financial advisor, with your payment details and a reminder to confirm the specifics with their tax advisor.

Once a QCD arrives, flag it in your CRM as an IRA distribution and credit it to the donor’s profile. Your receipt should state that the funds came from an IRA custodian and leave out tax-deductible language. QCDs also typically don’t qualify for employer matches, so pair these donors with the challenge match in the next section.

Final thoughts on matching gift alternatives for retirees

Ultimately, when identifying alternative gift opportunities for retired donors, you should start with the data you have. If your CRM includes employer names and ages, launch the retiree match workflow and the QCD page update first. If it does not, run a data append first, since those two fields decide which workflows apply to each donor.