{"id":2376,"date":"2026-03-03T11:40:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T11:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/?p=2376"},"modified":"2026-03-04T09:05:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:05:52","slug":"tips-for-our-authority-partners-on-getting-more-project-matches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/2026\/03\/03\/tips-for-our-authority-partners-on-getting-more-project-matches\/","title":{"rendered":"How authorities can drive more project matches"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" src=\"http:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Tips-from-the-network_Wordpress-thumbnail-1024x512.png\" alt=\"Header image with blue background and white text reading 'TIPS' followed by yellow text reading 'from the network' and a pill reading 'for our authority partners' with an arrow. Match My Project logo appears in bottom left corner.\" class=\"wp-image-2409\" srcset=\"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Tips-from-the-network_Wordpress-thumbnail-1024x512.png 1024w, https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Tips-from-the-network_Wordpress-thumbnail-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Tips-from-the-network_Wordpress-thumbnail-768x384.png 768w, https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Tips-from-the-network_Wordpress-thumbnail-1536x768.png 1536w, https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Tips-from-the-network_Wordpress-thumbnail-2048x1024.png 2048w, https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Tips-from-the-network_Wordpress-thumbnail-1568x784.png 1568w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Projects sitting on the site for over 6 months? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Community organisations or suppliers feeling like they&#8217;re putting time in to get support but not having any luck with uptake?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;ve onboarded nearly <strong>30 authorities<\/strong> now and worked through plenty of teething problems with our network. It&#8217;s been a genuine two-way street and along the way we&#8217;ve picked up a few things worth sharing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some small tweaks that can make a big difference to <strong>match rates<\/strong> and some general suggestions for <strong>getting your communities engaged<\/strong>&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:9px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:9px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is the project title doing enough work?<\/strong> Suppliers are busy. If a title is vague or a description doesn&#8217;t grab them, they&#8217;ll move on. Ask community organisations to make it clear, specific and compelling \u2014 and if you cover a large area and the project involves in-person work, recommend they include a location or postcode in the title so suppliers know straight away whether it&#8217;s feasible for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Could it be broken down?<\/strong> Larger requests are much harder to match. Anything over \u00a33k in funding is a tough ask \u2014 if the project can be split into stages, do it. Smaller, focused projects are far easier for suppliers to say yes to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is there a funding breakdown?<\/strong> If funding is involved, make sure to ask the community organisation to upload a breakdown with quotes where possible. Suppliers need to understand where their contribution is going before they&#8217;ll commit \u2014 it has to map to their Social Value commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is there enough time?<\/strong> On average, suppliers need around 2\u20133 weeks after matching to get moving. If a project has a one-month completion date, that&#8217;s already cutting it fine. Advise community organisations to upload time-sensitive projects as early as they possibly can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do the Social Value outcomes actually fit?<\/strong> Community projects need to show a social, environmental or economic benefit \u2014 but selecting everything dilutes it. Encourage community organisations to pick, at most, three that genuinely reflect their project. It helps you track what&#8217;s happening across the region and where support is needed most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Have you checked existing offers first?<\/strong> Before a community organisation posts a new project, it&#8217;s worth checking whether there&#8217;s already a supplier offer that fits, and vice versa. It could save everyone a lot of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Could a stale project do with a refresh?<\/strong> If a project has been sitting without a match, you could encourage the community organisation to edit it using the tips above. After you\u2019ve re-approved it, it will go straight back to the top of the feed and get in front of fresh eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Are you sharing projects beyond the platform?<\/strong> LinkedIn is underrated for this. A post about a project that isn&#8217;t getting traction can unlock interest that the platform alone hasn&#8217;t managed \u2014 and it keeps your organisation visible in the Social Value space too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Are community organisations getting face time with suppliers?<\/strong> Inviting community organisations to supplier forums and relevant events makes a real difference. Some of the best matches happen in conversation, not on a screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Got a supplier or community organisation in mind?<\/strong> We already send weekly round-up emails of new projects and supplier offers, so that bit&#8217;s covered. But if you spot a project and know just the supplier for it (and vice versa), a direct nudge from you can make all the difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:9px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:9px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>We know you&#8217;re managing Social Value alongside community investment, procurement and everything else. Time is limited. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In our experience, small efforts to optimise how projects are presented can make a significant difference to match rates \u2014 and often trigger conversations and connections that go well beyond the original match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:9px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#cdcdff\"><strong>Maximise your impact on the platform.<\/strong><br>Book a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/calendar.google.com\/calendar\/u\/0\/appointments\/schedules\/AcZssZ0Vdo1A_ZqMIKpjoIg-btdZEZz36msmAstbl03O2jj8tTUrtNT2uvYGHlk69wyQ7kpZxbnUXeSR\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">free 15-minute session<\/a>\u00a0with Susanna or email\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:hello@matchmyproject.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hello@matchmyproject.org<\/a>\u00a0to troubleshoot issues and learn expert tips to boost your performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Projects sitting on the site for over 6 months? Community organisations or suppliers feeling like they&#8217;re putting time in to get support but not having any luck with uptake? We&#8217;ve onboarded nearly 30 authorities now and worked through plenty of teething problems with our network. It&#8217;s been a genuine two-way street and along the way [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-authority","category-guidance","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2376"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2376"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2437,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2376\/revisions\/2437"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}