Apple?s new CEO Tim Cook introduced a corporate matching program aiming charitable donation to nonprofits. Apple took upon itself to raise as much as $10,000 per US employee per year. But the company outdone itself and ended up raising $2.6 million in just two months. This is a great start.

AppleInsider was the first to announce the scoop ? Apple employees have matched more than $1.3 million in donations so far and combined with the $1.3 million due to personal contributions initially donated by employees, it brings the total sum of the ?Apple Matching Gifts Program? to more than $2.6 million

"We are all really inspired by the generosity of our co-workers who give back to the community and this program is going to help that individual giving go even farther," Cook said.

What is Apple planning to do with the $1.3 million matched so far? Well the money is being used by the company to internally promote the program and solicit even more donations. When employees stumble upon an image praising the success of the program, they will be led to a page that provides a more detailed overview of the matching program.

Citing a source close to Apple corporate, AppleInsider also states that the company is trying to encourage the recruitment for its Silicon Engineering Group by offering a $5,000 referral bonus to current employees. The deadline for the referral is the 12th of November.

The program was started by Apple in September and is available only to US employees so far, though Apple is expected to roll it out in other countries as well, in the upcoming months.