Friends of St Michael’s School – Company Match Funding/Giving. How can you help?
What?
Match giving or funding is a simple way of maximising funds raised. It is a corporate arrangement where companies pledge to donate to a voluntary or charitable organisation, such as the Friends of St. Michael’s School charity, a sum relating to the amount their employee donates to or raises for the organisation.
How?
Organisations may match funds in a variety of ways, the most common being:
- time donated by their staff for voluntary work
- a donation made to the charity
- the matching of funds raised from a sponsored event
- the matching of funds raised through a specific activity e.g. staffing a stall at a Friends of St Michael’s School event
- Gifts in kind e.g. donating equipment or services like in-house printing
Who?
As match giving is an informal scheme, there are no definitive lists of companies that are willing to take part. However, there are some good examples of larger companies who have excellent schemes in operation – it is useful to know these to mention to companies who do not yet have a scheme. Some larger companies have publicly announced their matched giving schemes. For example, Barclays match funds up to £750 per employee per year, and both Cable & Wireless and Yorkshire Bank offer employees the chance to match funds up to £1,000 per year!
If you don’t know whether or not your company does this, speak to someone in HR or your immediate line manager. Once the company has agreed to match funds ask them to put their pledge in writing to the Friends of St. Michael’s school. While there is no standard form for making this commitment, it is useful for everyone to have the pledge confirmed, including details of any agreed limit.
For any further information please speak to any committee members of the Friends of St Michael’s School or email aldbournefosms@gmail.com
