Accelerating mega-donors' impact

How donor challenges
inspire and incentivize gifts

Leading the advancement team at one of the nation's largest universities, Karen Cochran leveraged giving challenges for greater impact.

When billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott makes a transformational gift to your organization, it can seem like a windfall. But multi-million dollar gifts may also create an unexpected challenge—the perception that your organization has fulfilled its need for donations.


In 2021, the University of Central Florida made headlines when it received the largest gift in the university’s history—$40 million from Scott. The unrestricted gift validated the university’s commitment to social mobility, ensuring students from all backgrounds and incomes have access to high-quality, affordable education.


To head off potential engagement issues with current and prospective donors, the university used the record-breaking gift as an opportunity to amplify its impact by raising more funds, increasing donations, and expanding its philanthropic base through a series of donor challenges.


Using giving challenges to leverage big dollars

84%

of donors are more likely to give if a match is offered

1 in 3

donors are more likely to make a larger gift when a match is applied

Why It Worked

Campaigns that leverage matching dollars raise three to five times more money than those that do not.

A colorful drawing of a hand holding a card and giving a thumbs up

Matching challenges are not new in the philanthropy world. In 2015, Oregon Health & Science University raised $500 million in less than two years to match Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife Penny’s $500 million challenge. The $1 billion set a fundraising record—but matching challenges can also be successful at smaller scales, especially when paired with a sense of urgency and impact.


To make the Scott gift go further, UCF set out to raise an additional $40 million for the university’s endowment supporting thousands of students and fueling its academic excellence while driving social mobility.


Apart from matching new gifts, “The UCF Challenge” was unique because the university accelerated the impact of endowed gifts by co-investing with donors for immediate spendable funds while the endowment grew. For gifts of $1 million and above, other immediate matching opportunities were also made available.


The strategy of pairing immediately available funds with endowed funds made sure donors saw the impact of their gifts right away.


Within the first year of “The UCF Challenge,” UCF saw more than $7 million in commitments and had more than $20 million in discussion.


Aside from its monetary impact, the Scott gift served as an endorsement for those who wished to support social mobility efforts in higher education and propelled the institution to build even more support and drive additional contributions from new and existing donors. 

Does this level of success feel like a dream?

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