The Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation has secured a $150,000 matching gift challenge grant from Malibu-based Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. — a provider of credit building and credibility solutions for businesses.
For every donation made to the Education Foundation through December 20 of this year, D&B Credibility will make a dollar-for-dollar matching contribution, up to $150,000. These funds are the result of the company’s EdAhead™ initiative, and are part of its deep commitment to higher education and the path that leads to it.
D&B Credibility is making a cash and in-kind investment this year totaling $250,000. This includes the $150,000 matching gift, as well as the development of a high school summer internship program, in partnership with the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, with scholarships, technology, staff and other expenses covered by D&B Credibility.
Jeff Stibel, Chairman and CEO of Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp., said the company was honored to support the efforts of the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation.
“We are so pleased to be making our first EdAhead donation through this major commitment, and to help the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation raise even more money through a matching gift initiative. It is a program that is really paying it forward,” Stibel said.
This will be the first year of what is expected to be a long-term, multi-faceted partnership between the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation and Dun & Bradstreet Credibility, which is also sponsored the Santa Monica 5000 on Sunday, a race that benefits athletics in Santa Monica-Malibu schools.
Through the EdAhead™ program, D&B Credibility matches to a certain limit employee contributions to the company’s 529 plan, effectively doubling the amount the employee is putting
into his or her college savings account, and then totals up the matched amounts for each office and donates the same amount to the school district in which the office is located.
The commitment to the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation will benefit all schools in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, which is the home district for the company’s headquarters in Malibu, CA.
Linda Greenberg Gross, Executive Director of the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation, said this was a remarkable demonstration by Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. of how corporations can support their local public schools, provide their employees a meaningful benefit and show genuine commitment to the community in which it operates.
“We hope more companies will join Dun & Bradstreet Credibility’s EdAhead initiative,” she said. “We are pleased to partner with Dun & Bradstreet Credibility in fundraising for the District’s Vision for Student Success initiative, and expect that our base of supporters will grow as a result of this matching gift challenge. We are truly grateful to the company, its leadership and employees for their generosity.”
