matching funds is a term used to describe the requirement or condition that a generally minimal amount of money or services-in-kind originate from the beneficiaries of financial amounts, usually for a purpose of charitable or public good.

In example, Dr. Booker T. Washington, a famous African-American educator, had a long-time friendship with millionaire industrialist Henry Huttleston Rogers who provided him with substantial amounts of money to be applied for the betterment and education of black Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Dr. Washington later wrote that Henry Rogers had encouraged projects with at least partial matching funds, as that way, two ends were accomplished:

1. The gifts would help fund even greater work.

2. Recipients would have a stake in knowing that they were helping themselves through their own hard work and sacrifice.