Matching credits are available to Rotarians working toward becoming a Guy Gundaker Fellow. These are awarded at the Club level, and each Club has the responsibility to establish their own matching credit policy. Each year, after all of the fundraising totals have been tallied, usually in October, Club Directors are given an update as to how many credits are available to your Club , along with the records containing the totals of individual gifts from your Club Members. The following Q&A covers a few major questions regarding matching credits.
Where do matching credits come from?
These are typically from dollars already contributed to the Gundaker Foundation from a Rotary Member who has since left Rotary. These past contributions become credits to your Club which can be used to match current donations, and help Rotarians become a Guy Gundaker Fellow more quickly.
What is a good matching credit policy?
Since the available number of matching credit dollars is limited, a typical policy is to match sustaining members, those who give $100 or more each year, with either a 50% or 100% matching credit. Sustaining members are the lifeblood of the Gundaker Foundation, and this policy provides a little additional incentive to maintain their stream of contributions year after year.
How do we award the matching credits?
When you pass along contribution checks to the Treasurer, you will fill out a short form which credits the contribution to the Rotarian making the gift. There is a space on this form to include matching credits.
In order to ensure that your local Club maximizes the use of matching credits, it’s up to the Gundaker Director to notify the Gundker Treasures to update your club records when members leave your club. This way, their past contributions can be added to your club matching credit account. One exception is for Rotarians who are already Guy Gundaker Fellows. These dollars are permanently carried in the name of that member and are not available for use as matching credits. The same is true for Rotarians who transfer to another Club within the District. In this case, their Gundaker contributions follow them to their new Club.