General Electric Foundation created the Corporate Alumni Program to match donations to the colleges and universities that employees graduated from. This eventually broadened to other charities. The foundation is one of the most generous, with a $5,000 match per employee per year, totaling more than $18 million in 2019. Countries United States In 2019, corporations donated $21 billion to nonprofit organizations. This was a 13.4% increase over 2018 corporate giving levels. In 2021, over 65% of Fortune 500 companies offered an employee matching gift program with an estimated $2-3 billion donate through these programs each year. Canada In Canada, corporate donate an estimated $3 billion to nonprofit organizations per year through corporate sponsorships, donations, and grants. Matching funds from corporations are available to more than 480,000 individuals in Canada who work for Canada's largest companies like Royal Bank of Canada, Deluxe Canada, and Sun Life Financial. United Kingdom In the UK, a not-for-profit organisation, the Big Give, have used match funding to raise over £160m for thousands of different charitable projects. The match funding is provided by a network of philanthropists and funders, called 'Champions'. Research commissioned by the Big Give shows that more people give when donations are matched (84% of surveyed respondents said they would be more likely to give if donation was matched) and people give more (one in three donors said they would give more than they usually would if do). Government projects In the United States, many projects in the various states and communities are partially funded with federal grants with a requirement for matching funds. For example, the Interstate Highway System was primarily built with a mix of 90% FHWA funds from the Highway Trust Fund and 10% matching state DOT funds. In some cases, borrowed money may be used to meet criteria for a matching grant; the $550 million Canadian federal government investment to connect a Detroit River International Crossing to Interstate 75 in Michigan qualified the state for US$2 billion in US federal matching grants that could rebuild other Michigan highways even though the Canadian money was nominally a loan, to be repaid by tolls on the new bridge. Government grants US federal matching grants have also funded historic preservation initiatives; a local historic property may be able to seek a 1:1 federal matching grant for specific capital projects, such as restoration of structures on the National Register of Historic Places. Political