AEP matching gifts program transitioning

AEP’s long-standing matching gifts program for institutions of higher education is undergoing several changes over the next month, but employees, retirees and directors will still be able to make contributions to colleges and universities and get the company’s one-for-one match beginning in February.

The company’s higher education matching gifts program is transitioning from Human Resources to Corporate Communications Community Relations at the end of the year. The move to Community Relations makes sense for a number of reasons including being able to seamlessly link matching gifts with the rest of corporate giving data and with the company’s community involvement efforts.

The higher education matching gifts program supports vital employee connections to educational institutions. Recipient institutions are often important to the communities that AEP serves and many also play a critical role in recruitment of talented employees to the company.

The biggest change will enable universities to submit their requests for AEP matching gifts electronically after receiving the initial application from AEP donors. This will be the first step in transitioning AEP’s corporate giving process to electronic systems including record retention.

The gifts program provides dollar-for-dollar matching gifts for personal donations of between $25 and $2,500 per institution per year by eligible active and retired employees and company directors.

Retirees are asked to hold their requests for matching grants starting now until the new system is functional on Feb. 1. More information about the new process will be shared through aepretirees.com and the HR Service Center nearer the launch of the updated program.