Eligibility: Lorain County, Ohio Match Program

Basics | Eligibility | Not Eligible | Caps & Your Budget | Reporting & Receiving Funds | Contact Us

New to ioby? It might be best to start with our general FAQ here.

The Lorain County, OH Match Program can double donations to support resident-led projects. By focusing on volunteer-led projects and small grassroots groups, this program will get timely funding to local resident-led projects as neighbors deepen their collaborations and relationships in Lorain County.

ioby project leaders will have the option to participate in a media interview facilitated by the Community Foundation of Lorain County in order to share their work and experiences.

Match Funding Basics

How does match funding on ioby work? When you 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!

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 a member of our team within 1-2 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 (below), 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 not a grant program. ioby matching 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 active teams.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 weeks, there is no guarantee that match funding will still be available later.

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. We'll also alert you if matching funds begin to run low while you are fundraising with us.

How long will the match fund be available? This will depend on how many projects participate, and how much they raise. Funding will be distributed on a first-come basis as participating leaders fundraise. We anticipate that we'll have funding for projects at least until summer. Contact Lorain@ioby.org for more details and to enroll your fundraising idea.

Eligibility

Please note that you cannot participate in two ioby match opportunities at the same time, but if you exhaust one fund and are eligible for another one, then you may participate in an additional match fund opportunity.

Who is eligible to receive matching funds? Individual residents, informal groups of friends and neighbors, nonprofits that are run solely by volunteers, and community-based volunteer-led organizations are all invited to submit their project ideas.

You do not need to be a formal nonprofit to access match funding and raise tax deductible donations on ioby. ioby is a 501c3 nonprofit and can serve as the fiscal sponsor for projects led by individuals or informal groups. ioby can also disburse funds to your local nonprofit fiscal sponsor if you prefer (including 501c3's, schools, municipalities, government agencies, and places of worship).

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.

What kinds of community projects in Lorain and Elyria, OH are eligible for this match funding?

To access this match fund, the project that you are fundraising for must comply with all of these:

1. Occur within and serve residents of Lorain County, OH.

2. Provide a public benefit or service, and not be aimed at securing private profit for one specific individual, family, or business.

3. Be led by residents of Lorain County, OH. This could be individual residents, informal groups of friends and neighbors, community-based volunteer-led organizations, or a 501c3 nonprofit that is collaborating with resident leaders. Residents must be leading or co-leading.

ioby can serve as the fiscal sponsor for projects led by individuals or informal groups.
ioby can disburse funds to a local nonprofit fiscal sponsor stewarding funds on a resident’s behalf.

4. Projects cannot be one-time material give-aways. The purpose is to strengthen connections in Lorain County through collaborative projects implemented by volunteers.

5. Receive final approval from ioby.org with the support of the Community Foundation of Lorain County.

6. Cash out the ioby fundraiser and begin implementing the project by November 30, 2023. This funding is intended to fund near-term projects, and it is a crowdfunding best practice to fundraise for projects happening in the near future.

7. Project leaders may participate with multiple campaigns for different projects, but not sequential campaigns for the same project to access more than $1,000 total in matching.

Please note: All donations to all projects on ioby are fully tax-deductible.
You do not need to be a formal nonprofit to access match funding and raise tax deductible donations on ioby. ioby is a 501c3 nonprofit and can serve as the fiscal sponsor for projects led by individuals or informal groups. ioby can also disburse funds to your local nonprofit fiscal sponsor if you prefer (including 501c3's, schools, municipalities, government agencies, and places of worship).

Ineligible Project Examples:

Because all donations on ioby are tax-deductible, we cannot support campaigns that benefit one specific individual, family, or business, such as:

1. Gap funding for a small business.
2. Covering a specific individual’s loss of income or medical expenses.
3. Renovations to one individual's building.

Please feel free to contact Pete Saudek on our team at Lorain@ioby.org to discuss your project idea.

Match Caps and Budget Questions

Does it cost anything to fundraise on ioby? ioby fees are very low, just 3% is retained from the total you raise (including any match funding applied) at the end of your campaign, nothing is paid up front. ioby's fiscal sponsorship service is just 5% and details are here.

How much match funding can I receive on my campaign? $1,000 is the maximum amount that can be applied to any campaign in the ioby Match Fund. This cap helps ensure that multiple projects will have access to funding.

What if my project is small and I don't need $1,000? Or what if I don't think I can raise that much? That's totally fine! This program is appropriate for small-scale, grassroots projects and ioby has lots of experience supporting smaller campaigns. You are not required to try to use the full $1,000 in match funding.

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 $1,000 to implement your project, your public goal on your page would be $1,000—you would only need to fundraise $1,000 of that goal, which would be doubled as you fundraise.

Shouldn't I 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.

Does match funding apply to any donation? Match funding is meant to make it easier for you to reach out to your networks broadly to ask for donations, and not meant for doubling just one or two large gifts. For that reason, we’ll only be matching up to the first $150 of any single donation.

Does ioby accept checks and can they 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 can 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.

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 $1,000 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 match funding you've earned. When you close your campaign, your 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.

Here are some examples of possible budget scenarios:

Your original goal: $1,000
You raise: $500
Match funding added: $500
Total disbursed at end of campaign: $1,000*

Your original goal: $2,000
You raise: $1,000
Match funding added: $1,000
Total disbursed at end of campaign: $2,000*

Your original goal: $5,000
You raise: $4,000
Match funding added: $1,000
Total disbursed at end of campaign: $5,000*

Your page will continue to accept donations after your goal is met and you can raise your campaign goal at any time during your campaign. When $1,000 in match funding has been applied to your page, the match will automatically shut off. At that point, donations will no longer be matched but you are always welcome to continue fundraising additional unmatched dollars.

*Minus ioby fees.

Reporting and Receiving Your Funds

When will I receive my 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 or e-payment. The 3% fee for our secure payment processor will be retained from that total. We will ask you to electronically sign a simple project agreement or fiscal sponsorship agreement before sending your payment.

What reporting is required if I participate? All ioby project leaders are asked to complete an online survey that we'll ask you to fill it out at the point that you close your campaign and request your funds. It should take about 10 minutes to fill out, and helps us consistently improve our crowdfunding coaching services.

We may also follow up with you after you've implemented your project to ask you to share any great photos that we may use in public reports or blog posts to help share the power of your work and inspire other leaders.