Apple kicks off internal charitable matching program

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Apple kicks off internal charitable matching program

Apple has launched a new charitable matching program that will see the company match employees’ personal donations to eligible charities. In an email to employees reprinted by Mac Rumors, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the program, which will match employee donations to non-profit organizations dollar-for-dollar up to $10,000 per year. The program will initially be available only to full-time U.S. employees, with plans to expand it in the future. Cook’s email is reprinted in full below.

“Team:

I am very happy to announce that we are kicking off a matching gift program for charitable donations. We are all really inspired by the generosity of our co-workers who give back to the community and this program is going to help that individual giving go even farther.

Starting September 15, when you give money to a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, Apple will match your gift dollar-for-dollar, up to $10,000 annually. This program will be for full-time employees in the US at first, and we’ll expand it to other parts of the world over time.

Thank you all for working so hard to make a difference, both here at Apple and in the lives of others. I am incredibly proud to be part of this team.

If you’d like more information on the program, you can get it on HRWeb, which can be easily accessed through AppleWeb.

Tim”

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Comments

1

Wow…if this is true, Apple just gained more brownie points in my eyes. I hope more companies follow suit.

Posted by Bacco on September 8, 2011 at 11:37 AM (PDT)

2

That sounds pretty good, but I am wondering why the cut-off of $10k annually. I’m not sure if Apple employees do donate that much or more than that, but I’m sure Apple can afford more than $10k a year.

Still, it seems like Tim is trying to slowly bring back philanthropy in Apple. This is really praiseworthy.

Posted by Sreedhar on September 8, 2011 at 11:26 PM (PDT)

3

#2: I’m pretty sure it’s a measure to stop Apple paying an astronomical amount if every employee suddenly decided they wanted to donate lots of money to charities. It’s $10k per employee, not overall.

Posted by Spooky2k on September 9, 2011 at 8:54 AM (PDT)

4

@sreedhar, you’d be surprised what some people donate in a year. The 10K limit is likely to prevent massive matching in case someone decides to follow Warren Buffett or Bill Gates and donate millions. I’m sure even some non-management types have saved quite a bit or made thousands over the years via Apple stock. 10K might be a chunk of annual income, but could be a drop of savings.

Posted by Big Money Tony on September 9, 2011 at 11:25 AM (PDT)

5

#1 - Why is Apple getting brownie points in your eyes? My company has been doing this for a long time. Why has Apple a very successful company, only now getting around to giving back to the communities in this fashion? Did it really take Jobs leaving for Apple to start giving back?

Sorry, I don’t judge this as a “hooray for Apple” move, I count it as an “about freaking time” move from Apple.

Posted by Jeff on September 10, 2011 at 6:32 AM (PDT)

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