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Our Story
It started with a magic school bus.
It would be funny if it wasn't true. Maybe it's still funny. This is the story of how the vision and mission for MatchNice was born, and why we focus on being the best at donation matching.
In 2018, during a lunch break, Pooya stumbled upon something extraordinary: a magic school bus! The bus was part of an organization called Moonshot Moment, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing childhood literacy rates. Curious, Pooya spontaneously introduced himself and asked to learn more.
On the bus, there was a big tapestry with a creative exercise. Participants filled in prompts accompanied by a symbolic drawing. Pooya’s answers read: “I am from the dust, from a miracle, and total improbability. My name is Pooya, I dream of a world of gratitude fueled by people doing good.” Bit deep, but that's okay.
Little did Pooya know that four months later this tapestry and the drawing he created would inspire the logo for MatchNice, a symbol of interconnected hearts representing collaboration and impact. It's always a wild exercise looking back to this original drawing and how far we've come.
An opportunity for greater impact.
Why aren't more mission-aligned nonprofits partnering up to increase their impact?
Around the same time, Pooya was volunteering at Beat The Streets, a youth sports nonprofit mentoring disadvantaged youth through wrestling. While mentoring, he realized that higher education wasn’t always the best path for every student. This led him to YearUp, a nonprofit connecting students with Fortune 500 companies—an obvious bridge between need and opportunity.
With a background in industrial and systems engineering, Pooya started thinking bigger. Why weren’t the 1.8 million nonprofits in the U.S. forming more mission-aligned partnerships? What if the key to increasing nonprofit impact wasn’t creating more organizations, but strengthening connections within the existing ecosystem? That question sparked the vision for MatchNice.
Our vision: connect the nonprofit ecosystem and maximize social imact.
The early days of MatchNice
The idea is to connect nonprofits, communities, businesses, and government for bigger impact.
Initially, we envisioned an “Angie’s List” for nonprofits: a directory of vetted service providers to help organizations achieve their missions. However, the onset of the pandemic in 2020 shifted everything. With 80% of nonprofits facing less than a month’s budget to stay operational, this wasn’t the solution.
MatchNice pivoted to build a donation platform that focused on trust, transparency and emotional connections instead of transactional donation experiences. Early pilots with redesigned donation pages proved successful for grassroots nonprofits, moving donor relationships from transactional to relational.
The matching "Aha" moment
How can we be more differentiated in a market with hundreds of other fundraising platforms?
During these pilots, another key insight emerged: Matching is in our name! Research revealed that 84% of donors are more likely to give when their gift is matched, with 1 in 3 donating more. MatchNice launched a pilot program awarding five nonprofits $500 matching grants each. All five met their match in less than two months, and three raised more online during that period than they had in the previous year.
Recognizing the competitive landscape of fundraising platforms, MatchNice refined its focus to become the best donation matching platform in the world. By integrating seamlessly with existing donation pages, MatchNice complements other fundraising platforms rather than competing with them. It's a win for all: nonprofits, donors, matchers, and other fundraising platforms raise more and inspire more giving.
Our mission: simplify donation matching to inspire more giving.
Unlocking billions in untapped giving.
Donation matching works, but most nonprofits lack access to simple donation matching tools.
Every year, an estimated $1-4 billion in potential matching funds go unclaimed. While corporate employee matching programs exist, most nonprofits lack simple, effective solutions to unlock the full power of donation matching. Without the right tools, they miss out on funding that could transform their impact.
MatchNice was built to change that. By focusing solely on donation matching, we help nonprofits access new funding, donors see their gifts go further, and matchers fuel the causes they care about, all with a seamless, transparent process. We want to create a world where generosity fuels more generosity.
The future of giving starts here.
A smarter and easier way to unlock generosity and maximize impact.
We believe the future of giving isn’t about working harder—it’s about working smarter. That’s why we’ve built MatchNice to make donation matching effortless, unlocking new funding opportunities without disrupting existing fundraising systems.
The result? More funds raised, greater impact, and a stronger culture of generosity. This journey started with a question, and we’re still asking the big ones: How do we unlock more generosity? How do we empower more nonprofits? How do we make giving more connected, more meaningful, and more impactful?