Matching funds

Matching funds are funds that are set to be paid in equal amount to funds available from other sources. Matching fund payments usually arise in situations of charity or public good. The terms cost sharing, in-kind, and matching are often used interchangeably.

In philanthropic giving, foundations and corporations often give money to nonprofit entities in the form of a matching gift. Corporate matches often take the form of employee matching gifts, which means that if an employee donates to a nonprofit, the employee's corporation will donate money to the same nonprofit according to a predetermined match ratio (usually 1:1). For foundations, matching gifts are in the form of grants made directly to nonprofits if that the nonprofit raises a set quantity of money before the grant is bestowed. The benefit of foundation matching grants is that they provide greater incentive leverage when a nonprofit is fundraising from its constituency. If a foundation approves a 1:1 matching grant, donors know that their dollars will be doubled. On the other side, foundations who give matching grants receive assurance of the nonprofit's capacity to raise adequate funds.

For example, Dr. Booker T. Washington, a famous African-American educator, had a long-time friendship with millionaire industrialist Henry H. Rogers, who provided him with substantial amounts of money to be applied for the betterment and education of black Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Washington later wrote that Rogers had encouraged projects with at least partial matching funds so that two ends were accomplished:

Using the matching funds philosophy, after Rogers's death, Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Fund continued and expanded the work, eventually funding over 5,000 Rosenwald Schools between 1912 and 1932. During that time, over US$4.6 million additional dollars were contributed by blacks in the communities to respond to the challenge thus presented.

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