From the Nominator

"The March Matchness challenge is a segmented, online mini-campaign started in March 2018 to raise funds in support of specific fundraising priorities across the institution. The 2021 campaign was launched March 17 and ran through March 31 to our donor base of alumni, faculty, staff, parents, students, and friends, which accounts for about 100,000 constituents. 

Each email had a specific message and progress updates based on the highly-segmented data. Where previous challenges focused on donor goals, we chose to focus 2021 on dollar goals. We also expanded the number of programs with matching gifts, which included adding all of our Division 1 athletics teams to the challenge and providing them with their own website and leaderboard. When we quickly hit the initial goal to raise $100,000 in two weeks by utilizing a matching gift of the same amount from PepsiCo, we secured an additional $50,000 from PepsiCo. and raised the goal to $150,000. 

Our results exceeded all expectations. We were able to bring in 1,130 total gifts from 1,015 donors and we raised more than $550,000 for the institution; $257,515.24 from March Matchness donors, $142,675 from matching gift donors, and $150,000 from PepsiCo. We were able to achieve these results by creatively marketing the challenge and adding a competitive element through the leaderboard on the website. Overall, as a result of March Matchness, UAlbany Fund dollars showed a 539% increase in dollars and a 316% increase in donors over the prior March."

From the Judges

This campaign was very inexpensive and generated enviable results. The play on "March Madness" broadened energy and fun that is centered on sports to generate philanthropic responses.