1) How does the program work?
Volunteers give gifts of time and expertise to eligible schools and organizations (a cause) and report their hours here. After the annual cut off each year, all hours to eligible causes are reviewed for a matching grant from the Intel Foundation.
2) What is a Volunteer Matching Grant?
The Intel Involved Volunteer Matching Grant is a monetary award for volunteer hours completed at an eligible cause. The grant provides $10 per reported volunteer hour with a maximum of $15,000 for schools, and $10,000 for eligible non-profits, per eligible cause, per year.
3) Where do I submit Intel Involved hours?
To report your volunteer hours, go to the Intel-Benevity Get Matched portal. New users: contact support@benevity.org to create an account and obtain the required log in information. Indicate you are a U.S. retiree and provide your WWID to begin the process of creating an account. Benevity will verify your WWID, then will reply with a temporary password, the URL to log in, and other instructions.
4) How do I report Intel Involved Volunteer Hours?
Intel Involved Volunteer Hours must be logged to a specific cause or they are not eligible for a matching grant. Hours logged as “something else” in the Track Time form are NOT eligible for volunteer matching funds. If a cause, project, or volunteer opportunity is not yet eligible for Intel’s matching programs it is recommended hours be logged as above AFTER you have nominated it and are notified via email that the cause is eligible. Click here for complete instructions.
5) Does it matter when I enter my hours?
No. However all hours performed during a given year need to be reported no later than December 15th at 3 pm PST of that year. After the deadline, no hours can be submitted until the program reopens in early January.
6) What is a cause?
Cause is the universal term used in the portal to describe an eligible school or nonprofit organization.
7) How does a cause become eligible for a volunteer matching grant?
In order to be considered for the Intel Involved Volunteer Matching Grant Program, a cause must be within the published guidelines.
Here is a summary of the guidelines:
- Public/government-funded schools (K-12 or equivalent) must be fully accredited and offer comprehensive programs; independent or private schools must be fully accredited, offer comprehensive programs and non-profit, i.e., non-profit 501 (c)(3).
- Colleges and Universities must be degree-granting institutions.
- Nursery, daycare, or pre-school program may be eligible for a matching grant if it is a 501(c)(3) public charity or its equivalent or is located at a public school and run by a school that is otherwise eligible for the matching grant program.
- A U.S. cause must be a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charity or its equivalent and must provide required documents, proof of status, and self-certification.
Causes must be approved in the Intel Get Matched portal which includes a self-certification process (see question #14 for more information). This is the same portal used for the Matching Gifts Program. Employees can nominate their causes using the easy form under “Quick Links” inside the portal. Additionally, causes can proactively search for themselves on the Benevity Causes Portal to initiate the process or contact the Charity Relations team at causes@benevity.org.
8) When do the causes receive their checks?
Matching Grants are disbursed in the spring and summer of the year following the volunteering. Note: Due to privacy and security concerns, Intel does not include any volunteer information when issuing matching grant payments.
9) Why does Intel wait until the following year to pay the matching grant?
By waiting until all the hours are in the system, Intel is able to combine the hours of multiple volunteers to reach the 20-hour threshold per cause, resulting in more causes receiving matching grants.
10) Once I’ve reported my hours, is it okay for me to tell the cause where I volunteered to look for the check?
No. Reported hours to be reviewed and approved by the program manager and by the Intel Foundation before any funds can be disbursed. No commitment of funds on behalf of Intel or the Intel Foundation should be made to any cause until the payout report has been published and made public.
11) Are the names of the Intel Involved volunteers passed on to the cause?
No. Due to privacy and security concerns, Intel does not include the names of the volunteers reporting the hours matched by the grant.
12) How will I know if my cause has been sent an Intel Involved payout?
A current payout report is posted on the IRO website after each payout is made. The report is accumulative and includes hours submitted by both employees and retirees. No commitment of funds on behalf of Intel or the Intel Foundation should be made to any cause until the payout report has been published and made public.
13) Can my volunteer hours for a 501(c)(3) that is NOT an eligible school or a public charity count as Intel Involved hours?
The Intel Foundation can only disburse funds to eligible schools and 501(c)3 public charities or their equivalent. Public organizations like fire departments, libraries, schools, or parks are not eligible unless they have a “Friends of . . .” partner organization that supports them. All causes must be approved in the Benevity portal in order to be eligible for a matching gift or matching grant payment. Nominating a cause is as easy as filling out the form located on the portal under Quick Links and Nominate a Cause.
While waiting for your cause to be reviewed, or if your organization is not an eligible school, 501(c)3 public charity or equivalent, you can still report your hours. Simply select “No cause attached” instead of searching for the cause. Write in the name of the cause where you volunteer in the provided space. Once your cause is approved, email support@benevity.org and ask to have your record updated.
14) Can I volunteer for one cause and report the hours to a different cause?
No. Volunteer hours cannot be transferred to a different cause. Grants will be awarded only to the cause where the volunteer service was performed or that benefited directly from the volunteer service.
15) Can I direct where the funds will be applied after the grant is paid to the cause?
No. You cannot direct how the cause uses the grant funds. Each school or non-profit determines how grants should be used. NOTE: Neither the matching grant nor the volunteer hours may be credited toward tuition or tithing or in any way represent a direct material benefit to the volunteers, members of their families, nor any designated individual.
16) Will the Intel Involved Volunteer Matching Grant go to the local chapter of the eligible cause where I volunteered?
If your cause is part of a bigger organization (parent organization), it will only be listed if the parent has added it as a child project. For example, if you search Red Cross in the Benevity portal, you will see all the child projects listed in this way: Phoenix Region via AMERICAN RED CROSS. The child project is listed first (Phoenix Region), the parent cause is listed after the word “via” (AMERICAN RED CROSS). If your cause is not set up as a child project and does not have its own unique EIN number, you should ask the director of the cause to add it to the system. It’s easy and only requires the official contact from the cause to log in to the Benevity Causes Portal and update their profile with their child project details. Questions? Contact the Charity Relations team at causes@benevity.org.
17) My cause has been asked to self-certify before they can be approved for the Intel Involved Volunteer Matching Grant Program. What does that mean?
Self-certification is required before a cause can become eligible for the Intel Involved Volunteer Matching Grant Program. Self-certifying involves thirteen self-certification questions that cover the cause’s practices on anti-discrimination, secular use of funds, political affiliation, deployment of funds, etc. An official contact from the cause must claim their charity and self-certify to be considered for Intel’s volunteer program. Note: This questionnaire cannot be completed by the volunteer. It is a binding certification that must be completed by an official of the cause.
18) How can an Intel retiree post a volunteer opportunity that meets the requirements?
It’s easy! Just use the top navigation bar on the portal and select “Create a Volunteer Opportunity”. Fill in the blanks on the form and click submit. A Community Engagement manager will review the opportunity. If appropriate, they will approve and you will receive a notification with a link to it. The opportunity will appear on the site and be available for employees and retirees alike.
19) Can a cause post volunteer opportunities?
In order to post a volunteer opportunity, a cause would need an access code from Intel. Contact retiree.volunteers@intel.com for more information.
20) Who do I contact with questions about retirees participating in the Intel Involved Volunteer Matching Grant Program?
Email retiree.volunteers@intel.com with any questions.
21) My cause received a previous Intel Involved payout. Will their Intel Involved Program eligibility be carried forward into the next year?
No. All causes must renew their eligibility annually to continue to receive Intel Involved payouts.