The is a post in a blog series I’m writing called "Microsoftie Perks"
Microsofties are very generous people and they keep getting more and more generous every year. About 35,000 Microsofties raised $100.5 million in 2011!
Microsoft encourages Microsofties to be generous by matching our charitable gifts of cash, volunteer time, stock or product dollar for dollar, up to $12,000 a year, with cash or Microsoft products. There is an internal site called “give” that allows you to enter your gifts and Microsoft takes it from there to verify the gift with the organization and do that match.
The Giving Campaign
A lot of this giving happens during the Giving Campaign, which is a fund raising event that happens once a year to encourage Microsofties to give and to enter their giving to be matched. There are so many activities that happen during this time to help raise money, like the 5k race (which I have been training for for the last couple of months), an auction, concerts and other community led events. I have personally been involved with the Giving CD and the Giving Photobook and have put on a few concerts to support Northwest Harvest and Seattle Red Cross. It’s a great experience and also very humbling to know that there are so many people in need. But also very nice to see how actively Microsoft is involved and supportive of the causes that Microsofties care about.
Triple Matching
You should also be on the look out for special programs with silent matchers to triple your contributions. For example, right now the Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission is having a shortfall in giving and someone stepped forward to match dollar for dollar up to $5,000. Include that with Microsoft’s matching program and your $19.20 becomes $38.40 which becomes $57.6 or about 30 meals.
This Microsoft perk is an amazing one that means a lot to me. It’s such a great thing to know your charity will actually get double what you give, $12,000 turns into $24,000. Imagine what your charity could do with an extra $12,000.
Jon