The Egyptian Electric Cooperative Association (EECA) Operation Round-Up program is a charitable program designed to provide financial assistance to charitable groups and/or organizations that improve the quality of life to those in our communities within our service footprint.
Yes, the Operation Round Up program was started by Palmetto Electric Cooperative in South Carolina in 1989, over 30 years ago now. It was a way for their cooperative to act as a conduit and help facilitate the cooperative members in giving back to their communities. The program has been adopted by over 350 other rural electric cooperatives across the nation. One of the cooperative principles is Concern for Community. Cooperatives feel a strong responsibility to the people in the communities they serve that goes beyond simply providing reliable and safe electricity, it is an extension of the concept of neighbors helping neighbors that built our electric cooperatives in the first place.
Operation Round Up is an at-will and voluntary, or opt-in, program offered to our membership, employees, and accepts outside donations from anyone. For traditional “round-up,” once authorization is received, the billing program is designed to capture and collect the rounded-up funds, difference to the next whole dollar, and shown on the monthly electric statement. Each monthly EECA statement will show the Operation Round Up charge amount as a line item, as well as the accumulated year-to-date amount that is tax deductible.
Donations are automatically captured through your monthly electric bill, whether you are on regular billing or budget billing. These contributions are collected within our 501(c)(3) charitable fund. This can seem like small change, but when you multiply that by the possibility of thousands of Egyptian Electric Cooperative members participating in the program, it could deliver big benefits to the local community and charitable organizations.
When choosing the traditional round-up enrollment option, the average contribution each month is 50-cents (or $6.00 per year), never to exceed $11.88 per year. Many participants choose to instead add a flat dollar amount ($1, $2, $5) to their monthly EECA bill, opposed to the automated rounded up amount. Some employees choose payroll deduction or even make a monetary contribution outside of the billing process.
Yes, because the funds are collected and awarded through our 501(c)(3) charitable organization they are. The monthly amount will be shown on your monthly electric bill, as well as the year-to-date contributions. Therefore, it’s easy to track your tax-deductible Operation Round Up contributions with your last bill of the year.
Egyptian Electric collects these contributions within our 501(c)(3) charitable fund, and awards will be given out from this fund. An Operation Round Up committee will thoroughly evaluate each application to determine if the proposal meets the defined outline and objectives. Grant opportunities, by application, will be made available to any group or organization recognized as exempt under Section 501(c)(3) and Section 170 of the IRS Code. Major funding categories include community service, economic development, education & youth, environment, emergency energy assistance, safety and disaster relief. Applications will be accepted quarterly and awarded based on available funds within the charitable fund.