Payment Cards Can Help Giving Grow March of Dimes Donations Paid With A MasterCard Card Will Be Matched Up To $225,000 (NAPSA)—Charitable giving is never more important than during difficult economic times like those currently facing our nation and march of dimes beyond.After all, this is when peo- ple need the most help. Fortunately, spurred by the increased use of the Internet to make donations, a new generation of donors has emerged. According to Giving USA, U.S. charitable giving is estimated to have been $309.39 billion in 2007, up 3.9 percent, and the first time that gift giving has exceeded $300 billion in anycal- endar year. Many of these donors tend to have a preference for electronic payments, and many are using payment cards, which help them to keep better records and can also make it easier to give more generously. Charitable organizations are making charitable giving safer and more convenient by accepting payment cards for donations. For donors, this means: They can enjoy the added convenience and safety of using a credit or debit card. Their statements serve as the record of their charitable contributions throughout the year. This is safer than cash and can makecalculating tax deductionseasier. They can eliminate the hassle and cost associated with writing, mailing and delivering paper checks in order to make contributions. e They can earn rewards such as travel points or merchandise. They can more easily plan their charitable giving throughout the year in a systematic manner. Spurred by the increased use of the Internet, a new generation of donors has emerged. Experts say these donors tend to have a pref- erencefor electronic payments. Add Value To A Donation An easy way to increase the power of donations is to look for match programs, like one MasterCard is currently running in sup- port of the March of Dimes. Between November 1 and December 31, 2008, MasterCard will match donations made with a MasterCard card online at www.marchofdimes.com and offline at March of Dimes’ Signature Chefs Auction charitable events for a total MasterCard donation to March of Dimes of up to USD $225,000. “MasterCard is proud to support the March of Dimes’ mission to give every baby a healthy start,” said Stephen Carnevale, Vice President, Senior Business Leader, MasterCard Worldwide. “Our hope is that our matching gift program, together with the ease and convenience of making card-based payments, will help increase giving at this busy time of year.” To learn more about the program, visit www.marchofdimes. com/mastercard. To learn more about the work of the March of Dimes, visit www.marchofdimes. com or nacersano.org for a Spanish languageversion. MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard International Incorporated.
