The In's and Out's of Matching Gifts, Volunteer Grants, and Tax Deductions

Before an adult (like a family member or church member) donates, you want to check and see if their employer has a matching gift or volunteer grant program. You can easily double their donation just by searching a database. Here’s how to make matching gifts and volunteer grants work for you!

1. Search the database for the donor’s company.
Go to the ASPCA’s website and scroll down. Use the Double the Donation search engine to find out if your prospective donor’s company has a matching gift or volunteer grant program. For instance, if my prospective donor worked for JPMorgan Chase & Co, a quick search would tell me that JPMorgan will match my prospective donor’s contribution from $25 to $1,000. They also offer volunteer grants of $3,000 for up to fifteen hours of volunteer work.

2. If there’s a matching gift program, contact NTSA immediately.
If one of your prospective donors’ companies offers a matching gift program, send us an email ASAP. We’ll do all of the research to find out if NTSA would be eligible for the program and how your prospective donor would go about filing the paperwork. Give us 48 hours (on business days), and we’ll be able to find out if you could double their donation!

3. Your donor should make her/his donation directly to NTSA.
If there’s a matching gift program, your prospective donor needs to write a check directly to NTSA. You should then mail that check to:

NTSA
56 Mill Street
Williamsville, NY 14221

This is extremely important. Companies can only make matching gifts to eligible nonprofit organizations (like NTSA), so if your donor makes their donation directly to an individual, they won’t be allowed to participate in the matching gift program. Make sure to send them extra thanks for taking the time to file the matching gift paperwork and really going above and beyond to make their gift count!

4. If there’s a volunteer grant program, contact NTSA immediately.
If one of your prospective donors’ companies offers a volunteer grant program, send us an email ASAP as well. We’re more than happy to let donors know about long-distance volunteer tasks that they can easily complete! (That also includes activities that large groups of volunteers can complete in your community!)

What happens to my matching gift or volunteer grant?
The matching gift or volunteer grant will be added to the NTSA Scholarship Fund. While we cannot guarantee that the gift or grant will go specifically towards your course fee (per legal regulations), having a larger scholarship fund makes it more likely that every student that needs financial aid will receive it!

What about tax deductions?
Since NTSA is a non-profit organization, that means that your donors can receive a tax deduction if they make their donation to the NTSA Scholarship Fund. In order to receive a tax deduction, your prospective donor needs to write a check directly to NTSA. You should then mail that check to:

NTSA
56 Mill Street
Williamsville, NY 14221

We’ll send a receipt on NTSA letterhead, thanking the donor for her/his gift. Your donor should keep this receipt for when she/he files taxes in 2018. Like with matching gifts and volunteer grants, we cannot guarantee that any money donated directly to the NTSA Scholarship Fund will go specifically towards your course fee (per legal regulations), but having a larger scholarship fund will ultimately benefit you. When you’re dealing with major donors (like companies or wealthy individuals), a tax deduction is sometimes the difference between receiving a sizable donation and being told “better luck next year.” If your donor asks about possible tax deductions, tell them that they are eligible to receive one. (If your donor doesn’t ask, then don’t volunteer the information and let them make the donation to you directly.)