EMPLOYEE MATCHING GIFT PROGRAMS
Every dollar counts for achieving our shared mission. Company employee matching gifts can turn one dollar donated by a match-eligible employee into two dollars, or more!
What are company matching gift programs?
Matching gift programs are a type of corporate philanthropy set up to encourage employees to give back to their communities. These companies make donations to the same nonprofits that their employees have donated to.
Programs vary from company to company, but these elements usually shape the guidelines:
- Match ratio: This defines what kind of donation the company will make in relation to the employee’s initial contribution. A 1:1 ratio indicates that the company will donate the exact same amount, doubling the contribution to the employee’s chosen nonprofit.
- Minimum and maximum: The minimum is the amount an employee must donate to qualify for a matching gift. The maximum is the total amount that a company will match per employee annually. The maximum may be different for employees that are part time, or full time, or based on their seniority.
- Nonprofit eligibility: Some programs offer different matches based on the type of work a nonprofit does, for example, educational institutions versus cultural organizations.
- Deadline: Every program identifies a deadline when the matching gift request must be submitted by the employee. This deadline can be either a firm date (December 31st is common) or a threshold based on the donation date (90 days after donation is made).
Do you volunteer with HFUSA? Some companies also offer a volunteerism match, which is a dollar amount in recognition of an employee’s volunteer hours to a nonprofit organization.
Thousands of companies offer matching gift programs. Employees of Merck & Co. (1:1 match + volunteer match), Johnson & Johnson (2:1 match for employees and 1:1 for retirees), The Home Depot (1:1 match up to $3,000), Schneider Electric (1.5:1 match for volunteers) and many other companies big and small have made these programs work for HFUSA.
The impact of these programs can be substantial! More than 18 million people work for companies with matching gift programs, and it is estimated that billions of dollars go unclaimed each year.