Matching gifts program

As part of our commitment to building a culture of giving and volunteering at the company, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation Matching Gifts program encourages employees to contribute to causes they care about most by doubling the impact of their charitable donations to eligible nonprofits with matching gifts up to $5,000 USD per employee, per calendar year.

In 2024, employees directed more than $69 million in combined individual giving and the bank’s matching gifts, volunteer grants and other employee-directed giving programs, impacting more than 48,000 nonprofits around the world.

Bank of America volunteers

Program rules:

  • Eligible U.S. charitable organizations: Charitable organizations in the U.S. must be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and not be classified as a private foundation or certain types of supporting organizations.

  • Eligible non-U.S. based charitable organizations:

    • Charitable organizations located in England or Wales must be registered with the Charity Commission

    • Charitable organizations outside of the U.S., England or Wales must be qualified as eligible for donations from CAFAmerica. Employees should search on the employee programs site to determine if the organization is included in that listing. The site also provides instructions for nominating organizations that are not currently on the eligible listing. Further information regarding CAFAmerica can be found at the CAFAmerica website. Employees should NOT contact CAFAmerica regarding the qualification of organizations.

  • Gifts must be personal contributions paid directly to organizations (cash, check, credit card, securities, etc.) or paid through Bank of America’s employee giving platform via payroll deduction or credit card.

  • The amount of each gift must equal at least $24 USD to be eligible. As part of our efforts to address disasters around the world, we make specific exceptions to lower the minimum gift for disaster relief donations.

  • Donations made by U.S. employees via payroll deduction or credit card through my Giving and Volunteering will be matched systematically once the employee selects the match request.

  • Donations made directly to eligible organizations:

    • Employee deadline – When requesting matching gifts for donations made outside of my Giving and Volunteering which have been paid directly to the recipient organization, employees must report donations in my Giving and Volunteering and request matching gifts when prompted. Employees must then have recipient organizations verify donations using the instructions provided to claim matching gifts. Such matching gifts requests must be entered by employees by March 31 after the year in which the donation was given.

    • Please note that the matching gifts program is a benefit to employees and responsibility lies with each employee to follow up on the matching gift (confirming the nonprofit organization verifies the employee’s donation and/or has received the matching gift).

    • Organization deadline – For donations paid directly to organizations and then reported by the employee in my Giving and Volunteering, organizations must verify receipt of employee donations by May 15 after the year in which the donation was given.

    • An authorized representative of the recipient organization must verify receipt of the donation in order to claim the matching gift. To avoid any perception of a conflict of interest, this authorized representative must not be the donor, a close relative of the donor, or another active Bank of America employee.

  • The timeframe for a matching gift is dependent upon how quickly a nonprofit verifies an employee donation. Employee donation electronic payments are processed monthly. Match donation electronic payments once verified are disbursed monthly.


U.S. employees: Apply for a Matching Gift for donations paid directly to organization, or set up a new payroll or credit card donation and request a matching gift
Employees outside the U.S.: Apply for a Matching Gift
Charitable organizations: Verify employee gift

Eligibility criteria

The Bank of America Charitable Foundation’s Matching Gifts Program is subject to IRS rules and regulations which include the following:

  • We do not match charitable gifts to private foundations, family or donor advised funds, or gifts to political or fraternal organizations.

  • We do not match charitable gifts that provide benefits directly to employees or their families, such as trips, tours, internships, tuition, event tickets, parking privileges, club dues, products and services, or discounts on products or services.

  • We will allow matching gifts for athletic programs with a youth development component that have an impact on grades K-12 or the in-country equivalent.

  • We match pledges after the employee pays them. Future pledges are not matched through the program. Payment of pledge must meet criteria of the program. If an organization’s program changes and is no longer eligible under the Matching Gifts Program criteria, payment will not be made.

Beyond these requirements, as a corporate foundation, our program is subject to additional restrictions which limit our support of gifts to the following:

  • Donations must be individual contributions provided by the participant and not a collection of donations from other parties.

The following organizations are not eligible for funding:

  • Any organization that discriminates based on race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability or veteran status. This also includes organizations that espouse hate and discrimination towards any group

  • Individuals, including those seeking scholarships or fellowship assistance

  • Political, labor, fraternal organizations, or civic clubs

  • Government and municipal agencies and organizations

  • Endowment funds

  • Fiscally sponsored organizations

  • We do not provide general funding to any organization whose purpose is to promote or to discourage the observance or influence of religious beliefs. However, we will support such organization’s funding of homeless shelters, soup kitchens or other social service needs. The organization may be asked to provide proof of the community program receiving funding.

  • Individual pre-K-12 schools (this includes private, public, charter, individual school supporting foundations, PTA/PTO organizations etc.)

  • Memorial campaigns

  • While we may sponsor the opportunities below through other funding avenues, these opportunities are ineligible for charitable grants, with rare exceptions.

    • Sports, athletic events, or athletic programs

    • Travel-related events, including student trips or tours

    • Development or production of books, films, videos, or television programs.

  • Contact us at foundation@bofa.com

Employee giving program review policy

Participants are:

  • Full-time and part-time benefit eligible employees

  • Active members of the Board of Directors of Bank of America Corporation

Bank of America regularly evaluates our programs to ensure the process adheres to stated guidelines and our commitment to corporate social responsibility, including random reviews of organizations receiving matching funds from our programs. Organizations selected for review will be required to provide documentation verifying receipt of individual donations for each participant.

Bank of America may suspend, change or terminate this program at any time. The interpretation, application and administration of the program shall be determined by the Board of Directors of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation Board, whose decision is final.

Make sure that you are familiar with these matching gift program rules. Failure to abide by these rules or providing any false or misleading information in connection with a matching gift request could result in disciplinary action up to and including termination, as well as possible civil or criminal liability.

Bank of America reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to discontinue funding and to demand the return of the matching gift grant amount, or any portion thereof, and any income earned thereon, if you provide Bank of America with any false or misleading information or make any misrepresentations in connection with this request for a matching gift.

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