Match Funding
Questions about the basics of fundraising with ioby? You might want to start with ioby 101.
Who is eligible to receive matching funds? Anyone working on a great project that benefits residents of a community in Cuyahoga, Geauga, and/or Lake County. For example, projects might include stewarding street trees or green space, adding public art, funding an afterschool program, improving a community garden, advocating for better transit options, or hosting a workshop series about social justice. The sky’s the limit! Individual residents, informal groups of friends and neighbors, nonprofits, schools, community-based organizations, and community development corporations are all invited to submit their project ideas.
What if I have more than one eligible project idea? It’s best to pick one thing to crowdfund for at a time. If you’re trying to decide between several possible funding needs, keep in mind that crowdfunding works best for projects that are concrete and specific, where residents will be able to see the results or participate in the project they helped fund. Your project idea does NOT need to have been developed during a 2019 Common Ground conversation in order to be eligible. If you didn't participate in Common Ground 2019, but are working on positive change in your community, matching dollars are still available to you.
How do I get approved for match funding? Simply share your project idea via the brief form here. You’ll need to create an ioby account, or sign into an existing ioby account, to do this; the process typically takes 5-10 minutes.
After you share your project idea with us, you'll be contacted by our staff within 1 or 2 business days. They can confirm for you if the project idea you shared is eligible for matching funds, or ask questions if we need a little more information. If you’re fairly confident your project fits the eligibility guidelines, feel free to begin building a fundraising page immediately after sharing your idea, or you can wait to hear from us.
If I’m approved for match funding, am I guaranteed to receive a specific amount? No, this is a challenge match, not a grant. Your team needs to raise a dollar to receive a dollar, and no amount of match funding is guaranteed in advance. If you begin a campaign, but then stop fundraising for several months, there is no guarantee that match funding will still be available later. Funds will be distributed on a first-come basis to all participating campaigns, so that funding flows toward projects with the most urgent funding needs and the most active teams.
How do I know if match funding is still available for my project? When you share your project idea, our team will alert you in the case that match funds are running low and you may not be able to access the maximum amount; then you can decide if you would like to go forward with fundraising or not. If you are already participating in the Common Ground match, but have not yet met your fundraising goal, ioby will alert you when match funds begin running low.
How much match funding can I receive on my campaign? $2,000 is the maximum amount that can be applied to any campaign in the Common Ground Crowdfunding Match.
Should the goal I set on my fundraising page include the amount of match funding I hope to receive? Yes. For example, if you need $3,000 to implement your project, your public goal on your page would be $3,000—you would only need to fundraise $1,500 of that goal, which would be doubled as you fundraise.
How does match funding on ioby work? When you are fundraise on ioby with match funding, donations to your campaign will be doubled instantly, so you move toward your goal twice as fast. So if someone donates $25, your page will reflect a donation of $50!
Your page will continue to accept donations after your goal is met and you can raise your campaign goal at any time. You are always welcome to raise more (unmatched) funds beyond the maximum match funding cap, and you can keep whatever match funds you earn even if you raise less than the cap.
For example, here are some possible budget scenarios:
Your original goal: $4,000
You raise: $2,000
Match funding added: $2,000
Total disbursed at end of campaign: $4,000
Your original goal: $4,000
You raise: $1,000
Match funding added: $1,000
Total disbursed at end of campaign: $2,000
Your original goal: $4,000
You raise: $3,000
Match funding added: $2,000
Total disbursed at end of campaign: $5,000
Your original goal: $7,000
You raise: $5,000
Match funding added: $2,000
Total disbursed at end of campaign: $7,000
Why shouldn't I just set a really big goal and hope for the best? You will only receive match funding equivalent to what you raise, so we encourage you to aim for an amount of funding that fits your team’s fundraising capacity and immediate budget needs. Also, it makes crowdfunding more difficult to set a larger goal than you have a plan to reach, because donors are less likely to give to campaigns that don't look likely to meet their goal. Our webinars, campaign planning tools, and your Leader Success Strategist can all help you set a goal that fits your team size and fundraising plan.
What if I use up all the match funding I was originally planning for, but want to keep fundraising? Great! With ioby’s flexible finish policy you can always raise your goal mid-campaign if needed. If you hit the $1,500 match cap, you are also welcome to keep fundraising additional unmatched dollars.
What happens if I don’t meet my goal? Our trainings and one-on-one support are intended to give you and your team the best shot as success. However, if you fall short of your goal, you'll still keep anything you raised and equivalent match funding. When you close your campaign, your ioby Leader Success Strategist will ask you to adjust the budget on your page to show how you’ll use the smaller amount of funds toward your project.
When will I receive match funding? Donations to your ioby campaign page will be doubled instantly as people donate to your page. When you decide to close your campaign, you’ll receive the total you raised plus match funding as one lump sum, via check. ioby’s super-low fees will be retained from that total. Please allow 7 business days from signing your project agreement to receiving your check.
Can check donations be matched? Yes. It's not standard practice, but if you have a donor who prefers to give by check instead of credit card, they can send their check to ioby to be applied to your campaign. ioby's donation processing fee of 3% also applies to check donations, and check donations are able to be matched. We won’t be able to match a check donation until we receive and process the check, whereas online donations are matched instantly.
How long will match funds be available? This will depend on how many projects participate, and how quickly they fundraise. Funding will be distributed on a first-come basis as participating leaders fundraise, but we currently expect to have enough funding to support campaigns at least through October 2019.
Other Questions?
Contact ioby’s Cleveland Action Strategist, Dawn Arrington, at dawn@ioby.org or 216-930-4030.