ExxonMobil Foundation's Education Matching Gift Program Sets the Bar High

For nearly half a century, ExxonMobil Foundation has supported colleges, universities, and qualified educational organizations across the country through an employer matching gift program described as the most generous of its kind. Through the Education Matching Gift Program, ExxonMobil matches employee and annuitant contributions 3:1 up to $7,500 per person per year. That translates to well over $449 million in free money for the nation's institutions of higher education since 1962.

"Both Exxon Mobil Corporation and ExxonMobil Foundation engage in a range of philanthropic activities that advance education, health and science in the communities where ExxonMobil has significant operations around the world," explains Bill C. Carpenter of ExxonMobil Public and Government Affairs. Last year, notes Carpenter, over 4,900 employees and retirees gave nearly $12.5 million in gifts to over 900 educational institutions. The foundation boosted their generosity with an additional $26.2 million in unrestricted matching grants.

Through the ExxonMobil HR portal, employees and retirees can obtain the forms they need to identify qualifying colleges, universities and other organizations throughout the United States to which they can designate as recipients. Gifts to the American Indian College Fund, Hispanic Scholarship Fund, and the United Negro College Fund also qualify for the foundation's 3:1 match.

The impact of the ExxonMobil Foundation's Education Matching Gift Program is felt around the country every day by educational institutions large and small (see "LSU Foundation Takes Aim at Matching Gifts," below). Find out how to take advantage of the free money offered by matching gift programs like ExxonMobil's by contacting HEP Development today!

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LSU Foundation Takes Aim at Matching Gifts

For the LSU Foundation, 2010 was a year of many milestones. Not only did it mark the foundation's 50th anniversary, but also the 150th anniversary of Louisiana State University and the end of its four-year Forever LSU campaign to raise $750 million for the university's building projects, endowed scholarships, endowed chairs, and professorships. It also marked the 100th anniversary of ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge Refinery. Over the years, many LSU graduates have gone on to work at ExxonMobil, and to mark the event last year they took advantage of ExxonMobil's generous employee matching gift program to donate nearly $800,000 to the LSU Foundation. With the company's match, the total gift was over $1.75 million!

"The relationship has been long and it has been deep," says Jeffery L. McLain, CFRE, Vice President for Development at LSU Foundation. "We're fortunate that there's such history and dedication there." When McLain joined the foundation in August 2005 -- around the time that Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana and the surrounding Gulf states -- he launched a campaign to help raise awareness among ExxonMobil employees of the ExxonMobil Foundation's Educational Matching Gift Program, which matches employee and annuitant gifts at 3:1 up to $7,500 (see "ExxonMobil Foundation's Education Matching Gift Program Sets the Bar High" above). In both 2008 and 2009, ExxonMobil employees donated more than $1 million to the LSU Foundation. McLain says that the foundation relies on HEP Development's comprehensive GiftPlus Online® database to identify match eligible prospects at ExxonMobil and elsewhere.

To make it easier for ExxonMobil employees to learn how they can have their gifts to the LSU Foundation matched, McLain set up a web page with information about how to determine eligibility, where to obtain match applications, and how to leverage gifts over several years. "The beauty of being online now is that you can make it easy for people to find what they need," McLain explains.

Now that the Forever LSU campaign is over, says McLain, "We're about to get very aggressive. We will be turning our attention to awareness campaigns for other companies with matching gift programs." McLain says that the matching gift program will be a key part of the foundation's strategy along with major gifts, annual gifts, and endowments. "Matching gifts are in the quiver of fundraising arrows that our development officers use," he says. HEP Development is proud to help the LSU Foundation hit its fundraising bullseye.

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Meet Marianna Funk

Over the course of the next several issues, Match Points will profile some of the key people behind the scenes at HEP Development who bring you the matching gift tools and services on which you have come to rely.

One of the things that sets HEP Development apart is the GiftPlus® database, the most comprehensive resource of matching gift information available online today. Every day, GiftPlus® is updated with the latest information about corporate matching gift programs for nearly 19,000 U.S. and Canadian companies and subsidiaries. And the person responsible for ensuring that GiftPlus® is as up-to-date as it can be is Marianna B. Funk, HEP Development's Director of Research and Director of Customer Service for Matching Gifts.

Marianna, who leads a research team that updates HEP's United States and Canadian databases, has been with HEP Development since the Fall of 2004, after a 20-year career as an office manager and researcher. "I was lucky enough to find an ad in the paper for HEP Development seeking an office manager position," Marianna recalls. "I was hired the day of the interview after telling [founder and CEO] Steve Hafner that I had 20 years of experience with entrepreneurs." Not long after coming aboard, however, circumstances intervened to redirect Marianna's career focus. "On December 26, 2004, the tsunami in Indonesia took place," Marianna says. "We were inundated with requests for matching gift information. The work to have the database information as clear, up-to-date, and concise as possible became a priority which I wanted to take on as my main focus." With Shari Mohr at KU Endowment as her mentor, Marianna learned everything she could about matching gifts and soon mastered the technical aspects of the database as well. Soon, she became HEP's Director of Research, in charge of maintaining and growing GiftPlus®.

"All nonprofits should be aware that they are missing out on free money if they don't have a proactive match strategy," says Marianna. "By subscribing to eMatch Donor Link™, nonprofits allow donors to see the possibility that their donation will be matched," she says. Promotion of the link is essential to its usefulness, adds Marianna. Follow-through is also important. "If the donor and the nonprofit do not work together to see the match through, they may not be successful," she adds.

"We have some great clients at HEP that use the database all the time," Marianna says. "They send me new information on programs, administrative or policy changes. I greatly value my relationship with these superb individuals." Marianna encourages Match Points readers to e-mail her anytime with information, updates, or questions about anything related to matching gifts or the GiftPlus® database.

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News Bits

• HEP to Roll Out MatchMyGift™ Android, Web Apps -- HEP Development will soon be introducing an Android version as well as a web app version of its MatchMyGift™ tool for front-line fundraisers. The web app will work on any smart phone equipped with a web browser, enabling all smart phone users to benefit from the same benefits that iPhone users have enjoyed since the original app was introduced last year. MatchMyGift™ provides major gift officers, development staff, volunteers, and class agents with the most accurate and comprehensive corporate matching data at their fingertips through HEP Development's comprehensive GiftPlus® database, which is updated daily with new and revised information about corporate matching gift programs.
• CASE to Offer MatchMyGift™ App as Membership Benefit --
  Beginning July 1, 2011, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) will offer the MatchMyGift™ app as a benefit of premier membership. MatchMyGift™ enables front-line fundraisers to search the industry's most accurate corporate database to verify a donor's match eligibility, identify employer matching gift programs, review company match policies and procedures, and more -- all at the point of solicitation. Employees of CASE member institutions can learn how to get access today by visiting the CASE website or by e-mailing the CASE Member Service Center.
• New Matching Gift Brochures -- HEP Development has announced a new line of custom matching gift brochures and a new set of 2011 brochures for schools, hospitals, arts organizations, and charities. These brochures are ideal for inserts in direct mail campaigns. Creating awareness among your donors is an essential part of your overall marketing plan for corporate matching gifts. One simple and effective way to create awareness is to insert a matching gift leaflet into your direct mail packages that lists the companies that match to your type of nonprofit. HEP Development offers custom quotes that include a freight charge based upon weight and geographical area. Click the links above to see samples of the new brochures.

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June 2011