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Match Funding
Increasingly funders are demanding that projects ‘match fund’ any monies they give.
By this they mean ‘we will give you 50%, (or 60% or whatever % it might be) of the
total amount you need if you can raise the other 50% (or 40%) from other sources’.
The newer funding regimes like the EMDA, Community Investment Fund, the
European Social Fund, and some of the National Lottery distributing bodies require
you to find a percentage of what you are asking for from elsewhere.
Other funders, like the local authority and charitable trusts, even if they don’t demand
that you find matching funding, may be more likely to fund you if you can show that
others are committed to funding part of your project.
So it might help you with your fundraising if you put together your own funding
package where you ask a number of funders to each put in a matching amount of
money to make up the full costs of the project.
Or you might be able to raise part of the costs of your project from doing your own
fundraising.
What counts as match funding?
Any of the following can be counted:

grants from other public or private sources such as a local authority, a charitable
trust or a company.

raising the matching cash yourselves through running fundraising events like
jumble sales and street collections.

income generation through selling your services or goods.

non-cash support or gifts in kind such as donations of equipment, use of
buildings, volunteers’ time, and the time of others given free like your
management committee members.
You need to put a cash value to these things so that you can show how much they
are worth in terms of match funding.
Do we have to match pound for pound?
It depends entirely upon the funder’s policies. The amount you need to find can vary
from 10% upwards; around 50% is most common.
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Some funders, like European funds, will demand that you match their contribution
pound for pound and may deduct a pound for every pound you fail to find elsewhere.
Other funders are much more flexible in their approach. Don’t make assumptions
about what they mean.
Check their guidelines carefully.
You also need to check what their rules say about what they will count as
match funding

some public funders will not allow other public funds as match funding. For
example, you cannot match money from one European Programme against
another

some funders will not allow non-cash or gifts in kind to be counted

some funders will not make a decision about your grant until you can show you
have the required match funding in place.
The European Social Fund requires you to produce a signed ‘public match funding
certificate’ proving you have found matched funding before they will approve your
grant.
Why funders like match funding
Because it demonstrates the credibility of the scheme if another funder has already
decided that it is ‘worth’ funding.

The credibility of your group is enhanced if you can say ‘we can get this
ourselves if you give us the rest’.

It stretches funders’ pots of money further so that they can be seen to be
supporting more projects.

It gives the funder a sense of value for money - they can be part of a project
without having to foot the whole bill.

A project, which already has some funding in place, is less risky to support than
one that has no funding.
The cash value of ‘gifts in kind’ or volunteering
It should be quite easy to find out the cash value of gifts in kind like equipment,
furniture, use of buildings. Look through catalogues, check rent rates, heating and
lighting bills and so on.
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Number 9
Assessing the financial value of volunteers’ time is slightly more complicated. It will
take time to collect and pull together all the information you need to do an audit or
valuation. You can do it by using the following procedure:
Step 1 - work out your investment in volunteers:

Identify all your expenditure on volunteers, including the costs of advertising &
recruitment, induction & training, supplies & equipment, travel expenses,
accommodation & food, other expenses (phone calls etc), volunteer
administration, support and rewards, management time, insurance, building costs
expenses such as rent, electricity, phone bills.

Collect together all the figures and amounts from estimates and your budget.

Add all the costs together and this will give you your total expenditure on
volunteers.
Step 2 - work out the value of volunteering:

Describe and classify the work that volunteers do (reception duties, home visits,
administration, advice work etc).

Count the number of volunteers and how many hours are spent on different
activities.

Identify what the equivalent pay rate would be for each activity ( if you have job
titles the job centre can provide the going wage rate).

Apply the appropriate pay rates to the volunteers’ work. Remember to build in
employment overhead costs like pay rolling and national insurance.
Add together all the costs on a weekly basis; multiply by 52 to get annual rates. This
will give you the total value of your volunteers’ time.
Step 3 - divide the total expenditure on volunteers by the total value and you
can work out the ratio of return for every £ invested in volunteers
For example:
 total expenditure on volunteers
= £20,000
 total value of volunteering
= £90,000
£20,000 divided by £90,000 gives you a ratio of 1:4.5
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this means that for every £1 invested in volunteers by the organisation, there is a
return of £4.50 in the value of the voluntary work generated.
(source: The Centre for Research in Social Policy, Loughborough University)
Managing Match Funding.
You need to find out what your funders expect in the way of proof of where their
money has gone.
They may want a statement of income and expenditure that shows their part of the
project or activity.
Or they may be happy with a copy of the balance sheet and/or income and
expenditure account from your annual accounts that may not necessarily make clear
where that particular funders money has gone. Find out which they prefer and if you
have an accountant seek their advice.
If you do not have an accountant get advice from an appropriate agency like Mark
Newey, at Derby Community Accounting Services – Telephone: 01332 364784
Useful reading
The Volunteer Investment and Value Audit - Centre for Research in Social Policy,
Loughborough University).
Community Action, 4 Charnwood Street, Derby DE1 2GT
Tel: (01332) 342722 Fax (01332) 205069
E-mail [email protected]
Website www.communityactionderby.org.uk
Updated April 2010