By Stephanie Zurn

Every Thursday you can find Eastside Baby Corner (EBC) core volunteer, Sandi Dong, in the nonprofit’s distribution center toy room sorting through half-dressed dolls, miss-matched puzzle pieces and all sorts of unidentifiable toy parts that have been donated to the organization. She and her fellow toy volunteers rejoin the parts and pieces, clean them up and get them ready to give out to more than 200 kids each week.

Sandi’s time dedication is the kind of commitment any volunteer-dependent nonprofit like EBC yearns to have, but Sandi’s involvement with the organization goes even further. She and her husband, Randy, also have decided to support EBC through financial contributions.

Randy, who works for Microsoft, and Sandi give to EBC through Randy’s workplace giving program. Microsoft matches contributions so Randy and Sandi are able to double their gift. Sandi shares that the doubling of their gift is not the only reason they use the workplace giving program. They also enjoy the ease of it.

Each year around this time Sandi and Randy sit down to discuss their giving plan. Randy gives the names of the organizations they decide to support to his employer, and they don’t have to think about it again for another year. It’s that simple.

This is the time of year many of us are given the opportunity to participate in workplace giving through our place of employment. While some people give to a charity of their choosing outside of the workplace giving program, these programs have some unique benefits that you might want to consider as you make your plans for charitable giving. Workplace giving benefits both the community and you, the employee in several ways.

First, the community benefits from your gift in that the organization you give to has a better understanding of the funding it will have in the coming year. This understanding allows the organization to plan ahead and make the most of contributions.

The employee benefits in the obvious way that workplace giving is convenient. You can have your gift taken from your paycheck and can still take advantage of the tax incentives. Another clear benefit to workplace giving is that if your employer matches funds, you double your contribution, helping organizations like EBC do even more to accomplish the mission you believe in.

A less obvious benefit to employees that participate in workplace giving is that you get to help direct your organizations’ charitable giving. You get to decide where they will spend their philanthropic dollars.

EBC receives more than $50,000 each year through workplace giving, with almost half coming from matching funds. We are able to use this money to buy the things that we do not or cannot receive through in-kind donations, like car seats, port-a-cribs, formula and diapers. We use our ability to buy these items in bulk, and at a discounted rate to stretch the funds that come in through workplace giving.

Need more information? We invite you to visit EBC to see how we put workplace giving funds and other donations to use. Email helenr@babycorner.org and we will schedule a time that works for you.

Stephanie Zurn is a communications specialist at Eastside Baby Corner.