As auction chairs ourselves, we understand the frustration of waiting to find out whether we will receive a requested item or not. Although our system streamlines the process, donor companies independently remain in control of how and when they respond. We see some responding within hours to weeks, others monthly, some only when the answer is yes.
To help, we at DonationMatch send a summary of pending requests to companies every week. These are designed to save you time while consolidating all outstanding requests into a single email to not be overly burdensome on the donors. Also, the more attractive you make your event opportunity (including photos, links, attendee demographics, and promotion opportunities on your event website), the easier you make the decision for donors to say yes. However, like the "real world," some donors are more responsive than others, while others simply are not able to respond to everyone due to the volume of requests they receive. In an effort to make this process more efficient for themselves, we've also noticed an increasing number of companies reviewing requests only 1-2x per month, so the earlier a request is submitted, the better.
You could choose to send a message directly to the potential donor through the "New Direct Message" box at the top of the item's request page (you can see these in your "Match Activity" tab after a request has been made). Any personal message submitted, especially if you have compelling reasons why your event may be more relevant to them than others, may prompt a faster response.