Honoree Melissa Black's YouTube Video about Crohn's Disease!

Meet Your Match

Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation

Team Challenge ½ Marathon

Participant Information: Matching Gifts Explained

Matching gifts are a great way to raise additional funds for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, funds which will aid in advancing the Foundation’s research and awareness efforts.

However, because of the length of time that it takes for most corporations to process matching gifts, they will most likely not be received by the Foundation in time to be counted as part of monies raised for your goal.  This handout is intended to help explain the matching gift process, as well as provide you with information on how you can help move the process along.

What is a matching gift?
Matching gifts are donations made from your employer that matches a charitable contribution that you have made.  Matching gifts can double or even triple the amount of the original contribution.  Many companies have matching gift programs.  If you are unsure if your company has a matching gift program, or if you need information on how to apply for a matching gift from your employer, you should visit your company’s Human Resources department.  

How do matching gifts work?
• Once an employee makes a charitable contribution, they submit a matching gift form to their company. 
• The company then sends a request to the charity to confirm receipt of the donation to be matched.  This confirmation request is sent by either mail or email.
• The charity then has to confirm that they did in fact did receive the donation, as well as confirming how much of the received donation is tax-deductible.
• Once the charity has verified the gift, the form is resubmitted to the matching gift company.
When the company receives the verified form from the charity, the matching donation is processed as a payable item.

How long does it take for a matching gift to be paid by the company?
Most companies do not process matching gifts on a rolling basis; they are often done on a quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis, meaning they only issue payment checks at specific points in the year.  Additionally, many matching gift programs have cut-off dates for verified submission forms.  Checks are often sent out 4-6 weeks after the cut-off date.  It is important to find out if your company has cut-off dates for their payment schedules, as missing cut-off dates can delay a payment.

To better explain how checks can be delayed, consider this example:
Mary works for Microsoft, and her sister Jane is participating in Team Challenge.  Mary makes a $100 donation to CCFA in support of Jane.  She then submits a matching gift form to the Microsoft Employee Matching Gift Program.  Microsoft notifies the Foundation that a match has been requested, and the Foundation verifies the gift.  However, during the submission and verification process, the company’s cut-off date for the payment has passed, and Mary will now have to wait another full quarter until her matching gift is paid out.

How can you help in the matching gift process?
Happily, there are several easy steps that you as a participant can do to ensure that the matching gift process move as smoothly and as quickly as possible.

1) Ensure that all matching gift notifications are submitted to your chapter Team Challenge Manager by entering their mailing and e-mail address on the form submitted to the employer.

2) Do not send Matching Gift Verification Forms to the processing center.  Submit them with a copy of the corresponding donation to your chapter TC Manager.

3) If a donor submits a matching gift form to their company using an online system, they will receive a confirmation email. They should forward that email to  you to forward to your chapter Team Challenge Manager so they are aware that a confirmation is required.

4) Most matching gift forms have an area on them where the donor can chose what program they want the gift designated to.  For Team Challenge, the donor designation should be completed as “Team Challenge—Event Year and Site—Participant Name. For example:
Team Challenge—2011 Napa—Jane Smith
The designation is the ONLY way we know that the gift should be credited to a Team Challenge participant.

5) Be sure that you communicate these directions to any of your donors who will be submitting a matching gift to their company on your behalf.

6) Have patience. As you can see from the description of the process, matching gifts take a long time to materialize.  It is because of this lengthy process that we caution you: do not count un-paid matching gifts as part of your fundraising minimum.

Support Take Steps of Chicago with some GREAT, FAST Sandwiches from Jimmy Johns!

Please come out and support CCFA's fellow signature event, Take Steps at one of these Jimmy John's locations for delicious sandwiches on Monday, May 16th from 5PM-8PM. Jimmy Johns will be donating 20% of the evenings proceeds to Take Steps Chicago!

Below are the participating locations:


1557 N Milwaukee Avenue, Wicker Park 
1250 S Michigan Ave, South Loop 


Don't forget to order one of their delicious cookies, crispy chips, and deli pickles! Remember 20% of the proceeds goes towards finding  a cure for Crohn's and ulcerative colitis!

Recommitment T-Shirt

The first 25 particpants who recommit to Team Challenge Illinois will recieve this amazing t-shirt!

Mentor's Corner: Meet Luke

Luke Reardon was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in the Spring of 2008. He spent two weeks in the hospital losing over forty pounds before the doctors were able to diagnose him. His involvement with CCFA started when he interned at the Minnesota/Dakotas Chapter of CCFA in 2009. Since then, he has participated in Team Challenge, Take Steps and Young Professionals Group. Along with fundraising, he has also been a CCFA advocate during the “Day on the Hill” in Washington , DC. His leadership skills and passion have proven to be a great asset to the Young Professionals Group where he now serves as the Fundraising Committee Chair. Most recently, he participated in his second half marathon while acting as a mentor for Team Illinois at the 2010 Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas benefiting CCFA. His favorite memories come from Team Challenge. “It’s always inspiring to hear others’ stories of what they have and continue to go through. It was amazing to see everyone’s hard work pay off,” Luke says of this past Vegas race. Luke serves as a role model and an inspiration to those with IBD but when asked what inspires him, Luke responded, “I am inspired by the courage and determination I see in people with IBD. It never ceases to amaze me how resilient those of us with IBD are. I have heard stories of what others have dealt with and it amazes me how they were able to cope with what they had to go through and maintain a positive outlook. These people and their stories inspire me to do what I can so they, and others, will never have to be the subject of such pain again.” He is thankful for his health and the opportunity to improve the health of others. “I am not a doctor, nor will I ever be, but I can still have a valuable impact on IBD research,” he says. Luke’s humanitarianism and drive to find a cure is a true inspiration to us all.

Mental Toolbox by Coach Stacey

What do you have in your mental toolbox?  If you are new to this whole half marathon training program, my guess is not much.  If you are an experienced endurance athlete, then you should have several things, but no one has a packed, there is no room for one more thing in my toolbox, toolbox.  Your mental toolbox is a topic that you will hear me speak about, write about, and stress how important it is.  There is nothing that will carry you through without a doubt more than your mental toolbox.  Well, except your feet of course!  But, what is a mental toolbox?
 Each time you go out for a training walk, run/walk, run, there is something to learn, something to remember, something to put in your mental toolbox so that if it happens on event day, you can go back in your mind and say to yourself, “I’ve done this, I know how to handle it.  I know what to expect, and how to not let it de-rail my race.”  This is why it is so important that you go out in all kinds of weather.  Saturday was a perfect day.  Perfect!!  Although, it was spitting rain at the beginning, it was a little windy, and a bit cold, it was perfect.  Why?  Because you got three mental toolbox items for the price of one.  If one race day, if it is raining, windy or cold, then you have already walked, run/walked, or ran in it, and you already know that you will be fine.  Yes, you may be cold or wet, but you can go on and finish.  It is all about having the experience and then turning it into a learning experience.  Even this morning, with the snow, it was a perfect metal toolbox day.  No, it is not going to snow in Napa, but it isn’t always about the race that you are doing right now, but a race that you may do next, or even one that you haven’t thought about. 
 I know that it is hard to go out and do your training when the weather is bad, or when you are tired, or don’t feel very good, but I urge you to do just that.  Go out, open yourself to the experience, learn, and store it in your mental toolbox.  I promise you that at some point durning your race, what ever race that is, you will use something that you have stored in your mental toolbox, and will be thankful because it will get you through whatever it was that confronted you.
“Feel the Fear and Do It Anyways!”
Coach Stacey

Mentor's Corner: Meet Amy

My name is Amy Kovacs and I am a 24 year old resident of Highland, Indiana. I work as an Electrical Desginer at Superior Engineering while I finish out my degree at Purdue University Calumet in Electrical Engineering. In what little free time I have I love to run, read, and pretty much sit around and watching movies or not do anything. I am a huge movie buff! I am also a fan of country music and I am always on the lookout for somone who also shares that passion.

I joined Team Challenge last season for their Vegas Run as a whim. I, myself, have never had any dealings with Crohns or Colitis nor had I even heard of it until after I joined. I joined with the intention of just meeting some people, raising some money, and of course having the time of my life in Vegas! Obviously, as I am a mentor now, it has turned out to be so much more than that. I cannot even think of a good way to put into words! Everyone is going to have a blast this season and thats for sure!