TechMatch…ever heard of it? Most business and industry people have never heard of TechMatch before, however it is an essential element of fundraising for technical colleges in Georgia.

TechMatch is the Technical College System of Georgia’s matching grant program. The program was developed in 1999 to address the challenge of providing high caliber instructional equipment and technology needed to meet today’s skill standards. State funding alone cannot maintain the constant need for today’s cutting edge technology throughout the 33 technical colleges in Georgia.

The TechMatch challenge encourages partnerships between technical colleges and local businesses and industries. Technical colleges are challenged to raise a certain amount of money and in-kind gifts (instructional equipment and supplies) and the Technical College System of Georgia matches the monies raised dollar for dollar to a pre-determined level at the start of the fiscal year. Technical colleges can then use the matching funds to purchase needed instructional equipment and technology for their educational programs.

Over the past few years, Augusta Tech has benefited greatly from the TechMatch program. Since its inception, TechMatch has helped Augusta Tech secure close to $1.4 million dollars in funding for new equipment purchases. This accomplishment would not have been possible without the support of companies who donated in-kind gifts of equipment and cash.

“TechMatch is a wonderful program for businesses, the college and its students,” states Beverly Peltier, Executive Director of the Augusta Tech Foundation. “Businesses can write-off their donation; the college gets usable instructional equipment and supplies and the students get experience on equipment found in their future employers’ workplace environment.”

Past TechMatch donors include Monsanto, Augusta Iron and Steel, Bobby Jones Ford, Fairway Ford of Augusta, BellSouth, Augusta Newsprint, and Pactiv to name just a few. Over 1,000 businesses, industries and individuals have participated in the statewide TechMatch program resulting in a combined total of $39,000,000 in new or updated equipment for technical education students.

TechMatch is an on-going program throughout the year. Companies that have items to donate that may benefit the college in its matching grants challenge should call the Foundation Office at 706.771.4023 for an equipment evaluation. The evaluation process is relatively simple. First, the Foundation acquires a complete description of the potential donated item. An instructor is then contacted by the foundation to determine whether the specific instructional program can benefit from the donation. If the answer is yes, the donor is asked to value the property being donated in writing. The Foundation does not assign any value to the donation nor do we appraise a donated item. After completing this process along with securing the approval of the college’s president, the donor and the instructor work out a delivery date for the gift and a thank you letter is issued to the donor for tax purposes.

For more information on TechMatch, please contact the Foundation Office at 706.771.4023 or bpeltier@augustatech.edu.