Are you overlooking this important employee benefit? You can double your gift dollars/earn donations from volunteering if you qualify!
Many times, the employee benefits package of your company can seem too overwhelming to review! The annual renewal period comes and it’s all we can do to figure out which boxes to check for health insurance, dental and vision, retirement plans and so on.
But not tied to any annual renewal period is an often-overlooked benefit that many companies offer – the charitable matching gift.
You will need to check with your H.R. office. But often, a company will match 1-1 and sometimes 2-1 any charitable donations you make to nonprofits you are supporting. This can really increase the impact of what you can do to advance the missions of the charities you care most about.
Usually, you need to be a full-time employee, but not always. Again, it’s worth a quick call. Some companies will match part-time employees’ donations and some will also match donations by retirees!
And if you volunteer, there are programs that will make a financial contribution equivalent to the dollar value of the time you contribute. Again, check with your H.R. office to see how to process these employee volunteer grants.
You can use this link to see if your company is on the main database listing matching gift companies: hsnaples.org/matching-gifts. But if you don’t see yours there, still make a call to H.R. Your organization may not have made this list yet or you might inspire them to start a program going forward.
Don’t leave this money on the table! You care deeply about the charities you support. You can double the impact you already are having if you are able to use a matching gift program from your employer.
And here at Humane Society Naples, we are so fortunate to have a number of generous donors who establish special matching gift drives throughout the year to move our life-saving mission forward. Thank you always for responding so generously to those matching challenges, too!
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Kim Hanson
Senior Philanthropy Officer
Humane Society Naples
(239) 438-4624
kim.hanson@hsnaples.org
Kim Hanson joined HSN’s Community Affairs team as Senior Philanthropy Officer last July. With more than 40 years in the nonprofit development field, Kim had served for the past 7 years as the Major & Planned Giving Officer for Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League in Palm Beach County. She posts a monthly blog on our HSN website about ways of saving the precious lives entrusted to us through a variety of charitable giving vehicles.
