Zoo fundraising: what is a ‘challenge gift’?
A challenge gift is a fundraising technque widely used in the USA, but not so much in Europe. It is normally deployed within a given campaign, appeal or other distinct fundraising drive.
One major donor is asked to publicly make a large firm pledge towards your total target, which can only be redeemed if a matching amount emerges from other donors. So, for instance, you are targeting 2 million €, and Joe Bloggs or Jean Dupont agrees to a challenge gift of 500,000 €, but only if 5 other funders give 100,000 € each. This would catapult you towards half your overall target.
From the challenge giver’s perspective, this stretches his or her generosity. From the zoo’s point of view, this brings you a new way to approach donors ( who may be personal contacts of the challenge giver) . You can point out that whatever they give will be doubled. There may of course be a private understanding with the challenge giver that some or all of their gift will still be forthcoming, even if the target is not actually made.
Challenge gifts are sometimes used to re-envigorate flagging campaigns. Certain USA foundations only ever give through this technique.
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