Giving Options
MSU Shares provides an easy way for you to make an impact on your community. Your gift will help people improve their lives. Your gift has the power to bring about changes that matter in your community. Whether you choose to utilize the paper pledge form or donate online through the EBS portal, there are three donation options for supporting our community.
Option 1 - Capital Area United Way
Select this option to support the following within the Capital Area United Way:
Option 2 - Specific Organization
Select this option to direct your donation to a specific organization. Please refer to the MSU Shares Agency List for participating organizations and codes. If you choose to direct your gift to a specific agency, your donation to EACH organization must be a minimum of $50.00 to cover the the costs of processing designated gifts and to keep administrative costs low.
Option 3 - Organizations NOT listed in the campaign brochure
Select this option to direct your gift to an organization not listed in the campaign brochure. There is a location on the front of your pledge form (#3) to complete this information. If you choose to direct your gift to a specific agency, your donation to EACH organization must be a minimum of $50.00 to cover the costs of processing designated gifts and to keep administrative costs low.
Click here to donate directly to the campaign by credit card.
Important Information -
The 15% Administration rate and what it covers:
- Raising $3.5 million that is invested right back into the local community within 12 months to provide resources for our own neighbors facing crisis or with another health/human service need.
- Organizing, planning and implementation of the annual community campaign – a year-round function.
- Working with 250+ companies annually to train and assist employees in planning a fun, successful campaign. Includes presentations to employee groups and other onsite meetings.
- Printing 20,000 pledge forms, brochures, posters, letters and other written communications plus postage.
- Hard costs of electronic websites for donations, a mobile platform for donations, and a community-wide web portal for volunteer matching. Plus soft costs for maintaining, updating and troubleshooting these sites.
- Intake and processing of 10,000+ donor pledges, credit card and check donations, and proper accounting of designations to more than 1,000 outside agencies.
- Year-round collection of incremental donor monies through companies’ payroll deduction systems, attribution of these increments to the proper donor, and distribution of dollars to the appropriate organizations at various times during the year.
- Final reporting of donor pledges to each company and to other United Ways that may receive donations when pledges are designated elsewhere. Providing reports back to companies from electronic campaigns.
- Field year-round phone calls and e-mails from donors and companies’ HR or finance departments about pledges.
- Maintenance of outdoor thermometers and other public awareness campaign tools and advertising.