Apple, Employees Raise $50M for Charity, Matching Program Expands Worldwide

Starting today, Apple will begin expanding the matching gift program for employees to every country in which the company is present, instead of only the US and Canada, and a few other countries it had already rolled out earlier this year, Mercury News reports.

“Apple believes deeply in leaving the world better than we found it … We’re inspired by our employees’ generosity and take great pride in supporting the causes they’re passionate about,” Denise Young Smith, Apple’s vice president of worldwide human resources, said in a statement to this newspaper. “Much of that money goes to important causes making a difference right here in the Bay Area. We’re proud to continue expanding our employees’ contributions by matching the time they give around the world.”

The matching gift program was introduced by Tim Cook when he took the CEO position at Apple in the fall of 2011. Since then it has matched more than $25 million in employee donations to charity so far, which has had immediate results. The San Francisco AIDS Foundation, for example, was able to use the money received to provide free programs and services to the community.

According to local charities speaking with Mercury News, Apple’s move has inspired more employees to open their wallets.

When it launched in 2011, the program was limited to the US only, but Apple expanded it earlier this year to the UK, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and Ireland. In a letter to employees, Tim Cook emphasized that Apple is impressed by the workers who give back to the community, so they are kicking off this program to help these individuals to go even farther.

As a result, for each employee who donates to non-for-profit organizations and charities, Apple matches up to $10,000 per year in donations.