Found Money: The Simpliest Way to Increase Your Event Totals

Fundraising events like galas, auctions, golf tournaments, and more require months of planning and significant overhead. While the primary focus is often on ticket sales and high-bid items, there is a massive opportunity for "found money" that many nonprofits overlook.

By integrating workplace giving programs into your event strategy, you can significantly increase your totals without asking donors to reach deeper into their own pockets.

In this guide, we'll cover:

• Understanding the "Found Money" in Workplace Giving
• Maximizing Matching Gifts During and After Events
• Turning Event Volunteers into Financial Assets
• Leveraging Corporate Sponsorships for Greater Impact
• Actionable Tips for Event-Day Integration

In 2026, the key to scaling event revenue lies in maximizing the impact of every dollar already committed. Launching a strategy that captures matching gifts and volunteer grants is the most efficient way to ensure no revenue is left behind.

By the end of this guide, you’ll see how moving from a manual tracking system to a streamlined, tech-enabled approach allows your team to focus on the guest experience while your fundraising software captures every available corporate dollar in the background.

Understanding the "Found Money" in Workplace Giving

Workplace giving is a broad term that encompasses a range of employer-sponsored programs that support employees' charitable interests. The most common forms are matching gifts and volunteer grants. For an event planner, these programs represent "found money" because the individual has already decided to support your cause; you’re simply helping them unlock a second gift from their employer.

The scale of this opportunity is staggering. Double the Donation research indicates that an estimated $4 billion to $7 billion in matching gift funds goes unclaimed every year, largely due to a lack of awareness among donors. In fact, 78% of donors are unaware whether their company offers a matching gift program or how to submit a request.

When you educate your attendees about these programs, you aren't asking for more money; you’re offering them a way to double their personal impact. This shifts the conversation from a request for more to a celebration of shared impact.

Did You Know? Mentioning matching gifts in your fundraising appeals can lead to a 71% increase in response rate and a 51% increase in the average donation amount. People are more inspired to give when they know their gift goes further for a cause they care about!

Maximizing Matching Gifts During and After Events

Matching gifts are the most direct way to boost your event totals. While ticket sales or winning bids on auction items often do not qualify for matches due to the fair market value received, "pure" donations (such as paddle raises, fund-a-need contributions, and general event donations) almost always do.

To capture these funds, however, you’ll need a system that identifies eligible donors in real-time. By using a fundraising tool that integrates with ClickBid, such as Double the Donation, you can automatically screen your donor list against a database of thousands of companies. This allows you to provide immediate, actionable instructions to your guests, often before they even leave the venue.

Quick Tip: Don't wait until the event is over to talk about workplace giving. Include a "Check your eligibility" search tool on your event registration page to capture employer data from the very first touchpoint.

Here are a few additional tried-and-true tips:

• Mention matching gifts during the live appeal to remind donors that their $500 gift could actually be worth $1,000 or more.
• Display a "potential total" fundraising tracker that includes identified matching gift opportunities to drive excitement.
• Follow up with an automated email within 24 hours after the event that includes a direct link to the donor's company matching form.

The window immediately following an event ending is critical. Donors are still feeling the emotional connection to your mission. Sending a personalized nudge that highlights their employer's policy makes it incredibly easy for them to complete the process, ensuring that "found money" actually hits your bank account. It’s a donor stewardship tactic that works!

Turning Event Volunteers into Financial Assets

Events are labor-intensive, often requiring dozens of volunteers to manage registration, auctions, and logistics. While their time is invaluable, it can also provide direct financial support through volunteer grants, often called "dollars for doers" programs.

Many corporations donate a set amount to a nonprofit for each hour an employee volunteers. In 2026, roughly 40% of Fortune 500 companies offer these programs, with most paying between $8 and $15 per hour. If you have ten volunteers from a company like Microsoft or Google helping at your gala, those hours could translate into thousands of dollars in grant revenue for your event.

To tap into this, it’s important to track volunteer hours diligently. Use your CRM or volunteer management software to record who showed up and how long they stayed. Post-event, send these volunteers a personalized "Thank You" that includes information on how to log their hours with their employer to secure a volunteer grant for your organization.

Leveraging Corporate Sponsorships for Greater Impact

Corporate sponsorships provide the foundational funding for many events, but they shouldn't exist in a vacuum. In a data-driven environment, sponsors are looking for more than just a logo on a banner; they want to see deep engagement with their employees and clear evidence of their social impact.

You can create more value for your sponsors by integrating their specific workplace giving programs into the event. For example, if a local bank is a primary sponsor, you can highlight its matching gift program from the stage. This provides the sponsor with internal "PR" among employees in the room and encourages them to give more generously.

Key Takeaway: A successful event strategy in 2026 views corporate giving as a multi-channel opportunity, combining upfront sponsorships with back-end matching gifts and volunteer grants to maximize total revenue.

Actionable Tips for Event-Day Integration

To successfully bridge the gap between your event and workplace giving support, you need to make the process effortless for the donor. Here’s how you can do it:

• Start by ensuring that your ClickBid checkout process is optimized. By enabling a matching gift search tool at the point of payment, you allow donors to identify their employer as soon as they fulfill their pledge.
• Next, train your staff and board members to speak about workplace giving. They should be able to explain that many companies match donations dollar-for-dollar and that the process usually takes less than five minutes. Having a "Match Expert" at the registration desk can help answer questions and encourage donors to check their eligibility on the spot.
• Finally, keep the momentum going after the lights go down. The "Found Money" doesn't all arrive on the night of the event. A structured 30-day follow-up campaign focused specifically on matching gift and volunteer grant completion will ensure that the potential revenue you identified during the event becomes a reality.

By integrating these touchpoints into your event-day logistics, you transform workplace giving from a back-office administrative task into a vibrant, visible part of your event experience.

When your technology, your team, and your follow-up strategy are all aligned, you effectively remove the friction that often prevents donors from doubling their impact. This proactive approach doesn't just increase your immediate ROI; it signals to your supporters (and their employers) that your organization is a standout partner capable of maximizing every dollar contributed to the cause.

By treating workplace giving as a core component of your event planning, you turn every attendee and volunteer into a potential gateway for corporate support. In 2026, this isn't just nice to have. It's a fundamental strategy for any nonprofit looking to achieve its full fundraising potential.

Best of luck!

About the Author

Julia Beltran is a fundraising technology expert dedicated to helping nonprofits and educational institutions modernize their revenue strategies. As the Director of Partnerships & Marketing at Double the Donation, she works at the intersection of nonprofit growth and corporate philanthropy, helping organizations capture high-value funding that often goes unclaimed.