Frequently asked questions: 

1. What is the Matching Funds Program and what does it do?

• Matching Funds is a PTA program that helps facilitate the matching of any monetary donations made to the Briarwood PTA by corporate employers who provide the benefit to their employees.
• For qualifying employees, it’s an easy way to double their donations and help the PTA go even farther in helping to support Briarwood Elementary throughout the school year.

2. How do I know if my donations to the Briarwood PTA can be matched?

• Scroll down to see a list of some of the participating employers in our area and find out how to make a match request with them.
• Not every employer or company offers a corporate matching gifts or funds program. If you are not sure, check with your employer’s HR department to find out.
• Many corporations require that the organization they are matching funds for have 501(3)(c) non-profit status. The Briarwood PTA does!

3. If my donations can be matched, how do I make that happen?

• Most employers with matching gift programs make it easy for their employees to match donations.   Usually it’s a matter of filling out a form or submitting a simple request online. Check with your HR department or scroll down to see how match requests can be made with many local companies.
• Please note that each company is different and individual employer policies can change from time to time, however, so check with your company’s HR department to find out the most up-to-date details.

4. What can I do to maximize the benefits of my employer’s Matching Gifts program?

• Many companies have certain requirements for matching their employees’ gifts. For instance, some companies will only match donations that meet a certain one-time minimum dollar amount, such as $25, $50 or $100.
• In these instances, a donor is better off giving an amount that meets the minimum dollar amount once rather than giving a lesser amount on several different occasions.
• For example, donations of $15 as a general donation and $35 for Walk-a-Thon would not be matched by a company that requires a $50 minimum donation in order to match. These amounts cannot be aggregated and a donor would be better off making a one-time donation of $50 at just one event.
• These minimums vary by company and change from time to time, so again, it is important to check with your specific employer’s HR department to find out the details and plan ahead!

5. I still have questions – who do I contact?

• Feel free to contact Alison Larsson (Treasurer) at briarwood.pta.treasurer@gmail.com
  

Matching Gift Program & How to Request a Match 

THANK YOU for donating to Briarwood Elementary PTA and taking advantage of the great matching benefits from these generous companies!

ABBOTT:

By Internet: Please go online and input your donation through your company’s intranet. www.easymatch.com/abbottfund.

BOEING:

By Internet: Please submit your matching gift amount online here: www.cybergrants.com/boeing/giftmatch

Boeing's new Employee Gift Match Program is designed to support a variety of employee contributions to more types of non-profit organizations including monetary contributions of cash and/or stock, volunteering and participation in cause-related walks (like Briarwood’s Walk-a-thon)-- up to a maximum of $6,000 per active, full-time employee per year.

Please be advised of the following changes to the program:

• All gift match requests must now be made online. Paper forms will no longer be available.
• $100 minimum donation required for monetary donations.
• Volunteer at least 50 hours and Boeing will match your volunteer time at $10 per hour.

For more information, go to: www.boeing.com/companyoffices/aboutus/community/gift_matching.html

If you have questions, comments or support requests please contact 877-217-6379 or boeingsupport@cybergrants.com

COSTCO:

The purpose of the Matching Gifts Program is to provide contributions to nonprofit organizations supported by the Executives of Costco.

Request a paper form from the HR Department. Please complete the form and return it to Briarwood Elementary School, Attention: PTA Matching Funds, 17020 SE 134th St, Renton, WA 98059.

EXPEDIA, INC.:

Expedia supports the causes its employees care about through its matching gift program. Employee contributions made to 501(c)(3) organizations and educational institutions are matched dollar for dollar, up to $5,000 annually for employees based in the United States and Canada. Organizations are notified electronically when an employee has requested a matching contribution on their behalf, and funds are distributed quarterly.

By Internet: Matching Gift requests must be submitted online through your company’s intranet. Contact your company’s HR department for further details.

GE FOUNDATION:

By Internet: The GE Foundation has an entirely online system for matching. Please submit your matching gift amount online here: www.ge.com/foundation/employee_programs/matching_gifts.jsp.

For Matching Gifts customer support, call (800) 305-0669 or e-mail gesupport@cybergrants.com.

GETTY IMAGES:

By Internet: Matching Gifts requests must be submitted electronically on your company’s intranet. Contact your company’s HR department for further details.

GLAXOSMITHKLINE FOUNDATION:

Request a paper form from the HR Department. Please complete the form and return it to Briarwood Elementary School, Attention: PTA Matching Funds, 17020 SE 134th St, Renton, WA 98059.

HOME DEPOT:

By Internet: Register your gift online at www.givingprograms.com/homedepot

Request a paper form from the HR Department. Please complete the form and return it to Briarwood Elementary School, Attention: PTA Matching Funds, 17020 SE 134th St, Renton, WA 98059.

INTEL:

By Internet: Please go online and input your donation through your company’s intranet. www.easymatch.com/intel.

MEDTRONIC:

By Internet: Matching Gifts to Education requests may be submitted electronically at:www.easymatch.com/medtronicfoundation.

Volunteerism: The Medtronic Foundation supports communities where Medtronic employees live and work. Volunteer efforts are important to the health of those organizations. The Volunteer Grant program supports employees’ volunteer involvement by providing financial support to nonprofit organizations once an employee volunteers. Employees, retirees and board members who volunteer 25 hours during the year may apply for a donation to the organization.

Please submit your volunteer time online here:https://secure1.easymatch.com/MEDTRONICFOUNDATIONVH/CustomerContent/common/employeetnt.asp

MERRILL LYNCH:

By Internet: Please go online and input your donation through your company’s intranet. www.easymatch.com/merrill.

MICROSOFT:

Microsoft matches U.S.-based employee cash or software donations to eligible 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. Microsoft employee donations to eligible organizations are matched up to $12,000 per employee per year. Microsoft must receive the matching gift form from your organization by January 31 in order for this match to be applied to the employee’s matching limit for the prior calendar year. The gift must have been made in the last 12 months in order to qualify for a matching gift.

1. By Internet: Give a check to Briarwood Elementary PTA (Note: minimum donation must be $25.00 to be eligible for a match)
2. Go to http://give/ (which resolves to: http://lcaweb/give/Pages/default.aspx)
3. Click on the “Match Now!” button
4. Search for “Briarwood” in the search field

5. You will see a few matching entities. Please choose “Briarwood Elementary PTA” in Renton, hit the “Add to Cart” button, and it will show as “Added…”. (Note: Do not choose “Briarwood Elementary School” in Renton unless you have specifically donated to the school itself, as these funds will not go directly to the PTA.)
6. Hit the “Continue” button

7. Fill in the form for:
• Choose default of “gift already made”
• method of payment (cash/check),
• amount,
• matching type (choose default of “Cash”),
• matching amount (full match for anything over $25.00),
• date of gift (date on check)
• purpose (this is optional, but it helps with tracking if you donated to a particular cause, i.e. the annual Walkathon)
8. Hit the “Continue” button at the bottom

9. Read the policy and hit the button to “agree with the statement below”, and then hit “Confirm” at the bottom
10. And then you’re done! You will receive a confirmation email from MS@easymatch.com fairly quickly. (Note: The next time you decide to have your donation to Briarwood Elementary PTA matched, the entity will already be in your list of prior donations, so you can skip search step #4)

Volunteerism: Like many companies in the United States, we match our employees’ donations dollar for dollar. At Microsoft, we take it one step further by matching volunteer time at $17 per hour through the Volunteer Time Matching program. Through this benefit, the allocated limit is US$12,000 per employee, per year.

Please submit your volunteer time online here: http://give

Also you can now track and manage your volunteer hours and donations using the mobile app for your Windows Phone:

www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/volunteer-manager/4659eb24-872a-4d24-8f5d-648f2ca8ad5c

REAL NETWORKS:

By Internet: You must go online and input your donation through your company’s intranet: www.easymatch.com/real.

STARBUCKS:

By Internet: You must go online and input your donation through your company’s intranet: www.cybergrants.com/starbucks.

Once you have entered the information, print the page and send a copy to Briarwood Elementary School, Attention: PTA Matching Funds, 17020 SE 134th St, Renton, WA 98059. Or you can simply email the Gift ID # and amount to briarwood.pta.treasurer@gmail.com and we will go online and confirm your match.

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS:

Please request a matching funds form from HR and return it to Briarwood Elementary School, Attention: PTA Matching Funds, 17020 SE 134th St, Renton, WA 98059.

US BANK:

Employee Gift Matching: The U.S. Bancorp Foundation will match an employee’s personal charitable contributions of cash (including check or credit card payments) or stock in the amount of $50 or more. The maximum aggregate match per employee is $1,000 per calendar year. Nonprofit Board Members: An employee who serves on the governing board of an eligible 501(c)(3) nonprofit may apply for an additional contribution amount matching his or her personal charitable cash contribution to that organization, up to an additional $2,000 per calendar year. The maximum aggregate match for employees on nonprofit boards is $3,000 per calendar year.

HOW TO APPLY: Matching gift requests must be received within one year of the gift date. Requests received after that will not be honored. By Internet: Please submit your matching amount online here: www.easymatch.com/USBancorpGive/

WELLS FARGO:

Eligible Donations:

• Must be from the team member’s personal funds, which has been paid directly to an approved school.

• The minimum eligible gift for matching is $25. For installment gifts, each match request must be submitted  separately and meet the $25 minimum gift requirement.

• The annual limit for each donor is $6,500 and is based on the date of the gift.

• Gifts must be in the form of check, credit card, or marketable securities with a quoted market value. Checks written from a family foundation or trust are not eligible for a match.

• Gifts of securities are valued based on the average of the high and low on the date of the gift. No other form of personal or real property will be matched.

Request a paper form from the HR Department. Please complete the form and return it to Briarwood Elementary School, Attention: PTA Matching Funds, 17020 SE 134th St, Renton, WA 98059.

ZYMOGENETICS, INC.:

By Internet: Matching Gifts requests must be submitted electronically on your company’s intranet.