ExxonMobil Foundation’s 2007 Education Matching Gift Program has donated more than $2.5 million to 19 colleges and universities in Louisiana, the company said.
ExxonMobil employees, retirees and others from the company contributed more than $900,000 to Louisiana higher education institutions in 2007, a number matched by the ExxonMobil Foundation with $1.6 million in unrestricted educational grants.
The Educational Matching Gift Program matches gifts to affiliated higher education institutions by employees and retirees on a 3-to-1 basis. Since its inception in 1962, the program has provided more than $372 million to higher education in the United States.
ExxonMobil Foundation funds math and science programs to respond to the nation’s growing need to produce more engineers and scientists and develop more highly qualified math and science teachers. To assist with these efforts, the Foundation is encouraging college and university presidents to allocate a portion of the unrestricted matching funds to existing or new programs which provide teachers with professional development opportunities, train new math and science teachers, and support women and minority science and engineering programs.
Under the Educational Matching Gift Program, ExxonMobil provides the 3-to-1 matching funding for donations of up to $7,500 a year to colleges and universities with which employees or retirees are affiliated. The affiliation requirement is waived for gifts to the United Negro College Fund, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the American Indian College Fund.