Apple CEO Tim Cook today sent out the following note to employees:
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
More info via MacRumors here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
Now that is freaking leadership!! Awesome Apple!! Way to be a beacon of light in a sea of corporate darkness..
Truth.
Yeah, not like a ton of other companies do this. Oh wait, Exxon triples their employee’s contributions, and companies like Goldman Sachs match with much higher caps. This is nothing special, Apple has been lagging behind in this regard and this is just them playing catch-up to try and counter the anti-steve-jobs press due to him not publicly donating.
We’ve had this corporate gift matching program at Microsoft for years with $12,000 per year cap. Now that’s freaking leadership. See below:
http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/Features/2011/jan11/01-14Giving.mspx
That is the first time I have seen Tim Cook go down a new path that I wish Apple did not go down. If you want to give away money, it is called dividends. Let the stock holders decide which non-profit they want to donate to and how much to give.
First bad move I have seen Tim Cook take. I hope it is the last.
Another way to look at it: The matching funds are in effect part of the individual employee’s compensation, much the same as a matching 401k contribution.
Apple is not deciding where the money goes. The individual employee is.
I was about to comment on the same thing along the lines of WTF is up with this softer side of Apple? Apple is the 101st Airborne. We don’t need no stinking charity. They’re the battered bastards of Bastogne!
Corporations make donations quite frequently. You have probably been a beneficiary of such largesse at a public park or other venue supported by corporate donations.
This decision by Apple to support the generosity of its employees could stir up some negative responses if the program is without restrictions, as BlackWolf notes below. But I suspect that Apple has imposed some limits on the matching donations.
If 20,000 Apple employees donate $10,000 each (which won’t happen), then Apple will match with $200M. As an Apple shareholder, I am comfortable with that.
Im sure their sole purpose in this world is to make you money. What is this crazy ceo thinking? CHARITY? He should be working every second to maximize shareholder value. Wtf? The next thing we’ll hear is that Apple pays their employees a decent wage which further erodes you shareholder returns.
Pfft
You clowns are the probably the first ones to criticize “welfare” and social programs, loudly exclaiming: “Leave it to the private sector, not he role of government”. Now we have a high profile public sector company doing humanity some good and you complain?? Dividends? Yeah, screw the needy, screw the sick, lets give the rich more money.
Sole purpose in this world to make money? Talk about a soulless existence. This is a company with more money that our federal government, choosing to benefit society and human kind and you sharks think it is crazy? Pot Kettle Black.
I guess I should mark some of my posts as SARCASM for some of our slower readers.
I wonder what Jimmy Hoffa will have to say about this?
I thought Jimmy Hoffa got made into pizza sausage a long time ago
To all those who posted negative comments to this news, all I can say is grow a heart. Have some compassion to your fellow human beings who aren’t as well off as you. Way to go Apple! I’m an Apple shareholder and I applaud this charitable gesture.
I wonder if their are any restrictions?
How about those employees that want to donate to the pro gay marriage folk there in Cali? Or those who want to donate to the Morman Church, one of the largest groups against it?
What about Dems vs. Reps?
What about those iffy Muslim Charities that are under investigation for sending money to support terrorism?
The KKK has a 501 set up, what about them?
With that stated, I think it’s a great idea.
Did you notice the 501(c)(3) restriction?
That’s not any political parties, PACs, or advocacy groups. Churches, maybe. The Klan, maybe.
This is regulated by the IRS. Groups that are suspected of violating the 501(c)(3) standards get extra scrutiny from the IRS.
Private charity beats government seize & redistribute.
Individual decides where his money goes, and Apple has decided to spend their charitable money (tax deductible of course) to reinforce individual freedom to give to charity, or not.
I wish Captain Dumbass would pay more attention to Apple, and less attention to union graft & GE subsidies when he’s preparing his ‘big speak’ about jobs or stuttering about the economy.
Part of giving meaningful charitable contributions is doing the research. This way the employees do the research, it counts as an employee benefit, Apple gets good publicity and brownie points, the contributions are doubled, and the nitpickers who would complain about who Apple gave to and didn’t give to have nothing to complain about.
Brilliant!
This is very common at global companies. It’s good to see, but it’s not forging new ground. As much as anything, this is an employee benefit — helps with recruiting and retaining talent. Also, makes the company look good.
No reason for excessive cheers or sneers. Not that unusual.