WNYC recently had their fall pledge week, in which thousands of people donated and millions of dollars were raised. To encourage people to donate, they announced that a benefactor agreed to give them matching funds, so that every dollar you donate would raise two dollars for the station. Towards the end of the week, they announced that all donations would be double matched, so that every dollar you donate would raise three dollars for the station.
Many people however are hesitant about donating to a new charity, since that involves getting on their mailing list, which in turn may make them feel more pressured to give to the charity in future years. Since it is hardest to attract first time donors, it seems the charity should focus their resources on getting those would be donors to bite. Why not get a benefactor to agree to quadruple match the first $200 given by every new donor? Many companies spend more money to attract first time customers, since they know it will be easier to make future sales to an existing customer. It seems that some non-profit corporations should be using the same strategy.
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Nice thought ... I worked in public radio for 7 years, and those 'matching' and 'challenge' grants aren't always what they seem. Generally, they come from businesses/people who have a lot of $ and would donate anyway. The 'challenge' terminology is just some semantic fireworks to get listeners more excited so they give more. The bigshots make their donations weeks before the drive, and give permission for the station to call it a 'challenge,' for stations to use as needed when donations during the drive get slow.
Sorry to bust your bubble. Overall, it's a nice idea. What I like better is that a lot of stations now run a low-key fundraiser year-round rather than stomp on the programming twicew a year.