ExxonMobil its employees donate $36 million to U.S. universities

by PegNews wire

IRVING — ExxonMobil and its employees donated more than $36 million to 900 colleges and universities across the United States through the ExxonMobil Foundation’s 2008 Educational Matching Gift Program.

ExxonMobil employees, retirees, surviving spouses and directors made more than 8,500 individual contributions totaling more than $11 million to institutions of higher education in 2008, which were matched by the ExxonMobil Foundation with more than $25 million in unrestricted educational grants.

Since its inception in 1962, the program has provided $398 million to higher education institutions in the United States. Through the matching program, donors may pledge up to $7,500 per year to colleges or universities with which they are affiliated, the American Indian College Foundation, the Hispanic Scholarship Foundation and the United Negro College Fund. Donations are matched on a 3-to-1 basis.

These donations are a remarkable testament to the value ExxonMobil employees and retirees place on higher education,” said Kenneth P. Cohen, ExxonMobil vice president for public affairs and chairman, ExxonMobil Foundation. “We’re investing in the future, campus by campus, by providing these much needed dollars for colleges and universities to increase their level of excellence.”

In 2008, together with its employees and retirees, Exxon Mobil Corporation, its divisions and affiliates, and ExxonMobil Foundation provided $225 million in contributions worldwide, of which more than $89 million was dedicated to education.

Source: ExxonMobil