Schwab will match gifts for school financial literacy programs

A pilot program to match individual donations for classroom projects designed to build financial literacy has been launched by The Charles Schwab Corp., the company said Wednesday in a press release.

Schwab’s initial $100,000 funding will provide dollar-for-dollar matching donations to DonorsChoose.org, a nonprofit founded in 2000 by a Bronx history teacher, for projects that incorporate financial education. Such projects at any public or charter school across the country with a total cost of up to $1,500 are eligible for the matching donation.

DonorsChoose.org has raised more than $510 million for 860,000 projects involving nearly 22 million students. Teachers come to DonorsChoose.org to request the materials and experiences they need most for their classrooms; donors can choose which programs they want to help fund. More than 2.4 million students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade have been helped by the organization’s efforts.

Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, senior vice president of Schwab Community Services and president and chair of the Charles Schwab Foundation, said the company’s ongoing financial education program for youth, Money Matters: Make It Count, through Boys & Girls Clubs of America, has reached nearly three-quarters of a million teens to date.