By Adam Forgie
BYU has received the largest single corporate matching donation in the university''s history from ExxonMobil Corporation.
ExxonMobil Chief Attorney and BYU alumnus, Steven G. Forsyth, presented BYU President Cecil O. Samuelson with a check for over $132,000, which matched three-to-one the nearly $70,000 donated by 59 BYU alumni who work for or retired from the oil and petrochemical company.
The combined donation of over $201,000 broke both a BYU matching-contribution record and a record in the two-year-old Corporate Alumni Partner program that Forsyth helped to initiate as BYU''s CAP at ExxonMobil.
?It was a privilege as an alumnus of BYU and an employee of ExxonMobil to make such a donation and to be able to provide the funds to help support the students at BYU,? Forsyth said.
The check accounts for more than 16 percent of the annual total donations received through BYU?s corporate matching programs.
?It is a marvelous thing that companies match gifts to BYU and that we have such a great relationship with ExxonMobile and that they are so generous with their matching program,' said Linda Palmer, BYU annual fund director. 'It?s fantastic that BYU alumni can more than double their gift when they use the corporate matching fund.?
?This donation is an example of the groundswell of commitment from BYU?s alumni and corporate partners,? said Jeremiah Christenot, BYU associate director of Corporate Matching Gifts. ?This is the largest donation for the third year in a row, directly confirming that a growing number of people find value in the BYU experience. They believe in the students.?
This marks the sixth year in which ExxonMobil has matched employees'' donations to BYU, and it is the second year of the company''s involvement in the CAP program.
'ExxonMobil was the first company with which BYU initiated a corporate outreach program called the Corporate Alumni Partner program,' Christenot said.
Christenot explained that the program identifies key BYU alumni working for matching gift companies, then invites them to volunteer for the university as a CAP. The CAP assists the university by acting as a liaison between the university and the company, with the primary responsibility to communicate with fellow BYU alumni working for their same company.
ExxonMobil is one of 403 companies to make employee-matching contributions to BYU in 2004. Other notable companies include Eli Lilly, Deloitte & Touche, Intel, Boeing, KPMG, Ernst & Young, Ford, IBM, and Wells Fargo.
As a result, BYU runs one of the most efficient corporate matching programs in the nation and frequently advises other universities throughout the country how to maximize the benefit of corporate matches, Christenot said.
The majority of the money from the matching donation will go to the President?s Priorities Fund, which pays for BYU?s most important needs. One of the greatest needs, Christenot said, is that of Mentored Student Learning where students can have one-on-one experiences with their professors.
Other ExxonMobil donations will fund specific College Annual Funds throughout campus as directed by the company?s BYU alumni.