Wells Fargo Donated $444 Million to 11,000 Nonprofits in 2018

Actualizado: 30 Nov 2023, 12:44 PM EST Publicado: 21 Feb 2019, 10:14 AM EST

Giving builds on increasing philanthropy over 25 years, addresses
community issues around affordable housing, small businesses, education,
sustainability

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/CSR?src=hash” target=”_blank”gt;#CSRlt;/agt;–Wells Fargo increased its philanthropic impact in 2018 by donating $444
million to nearly 11,000 nonprofits to help communities and people
in need. The company has been committed to local communities throughout
its 167-year history and has increased its philanthropy 25 times over
the past 28 years.

“We approach philanthropy with a problem-solving mindset,” said Wells
Fargo CEO and President Tim Sloan. “We want to help people find an
affordable place to live, work with diverse small business owners on
growth and expansion, and support young people in learning job skills
that can translate into a steady income. It is a privilege to
collaborate with non-profits in the U.S. and around the world to make a
difference in the communities where we live and work. And we recognize
that families and neighborhoods need the public and private sectors to
work together in providing both resources and expertise.”

Making an impact in the community

In collaboration with thousands of community leaders, Wells Fargo
concentrated its 2018 philanthropy on addressing urgent community
issues. Examples include:

Affordable housing with more than $117 million to help people
buy a home, including down payment assistance, homebuyer education and
financial coaching. More than $75 million was given through NeighborhoodLIFT^®,
the company’s long-running homeownership program for low- and
moderate-income communities in partnership with NeighborWorks America.
The initiative expanded to nine new cities and also added special
incentives to enable hundreds of teachers, military service members,
veterans, and first responders to achieve homeownership. In 2019, the
program will reach 10 additional cities. Since 2012, LIFT has helped
create 20,000 homeowners since 2012 with a total of $442 million
donated over seven years.

Through the Wells Fargo Builds℠
program, Wells Fargo team members built and improved 489 affordable
homes with more than 57,700 volunteer hours in 2018.

The
Veterans Community Project in Kansas City, Mo., and HouseATL in
Atlanta are other examples of affordable housing programs supported
locally by Wells Fargo.

Small business growth with $24 million to provide access to
capital and training for entrepreneurs in rural and urban markets. As
part of this total, $20 million went to empower diverse small business
owners as part of a previously announced Wells Fargo Works for Small
Business: Diverse Community Capital (DCC) $175 million commitment
through 2020. Since its inception in 2015, DCC has helped small
business owners retain and create 36,000 jobs, according to
Opportunity Finance Network.

As part of the DCC program,
the Carolina Small Business Development Fund is working with
Historically Black Colleges and Universities as one of nearly 45
Community Development Financial Institutions that received grants
across 25 states and Washington D.C. in 2018. In San Francisco, La
Cocina tapped its grant to nurture women food entrepreneurs and
aspiring restaurant owners with technical training and access to its
commercial kitchen.

Economic equity and inclusion with $216 million allocated to
nonprofits that serve diverse and historically underserved groups,
including African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans and American
Indian/Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. A
total of $90 million advanced inclusion across the LGBTQ community,
veterans and people with disabilities.

With funding from
Wells Fargo, including a $5 million commitment to seed a Tribal
Solar Accelerator Fund, GRID Alternatives has provided 2,000
low-income and tribal households with solar power to decrease energy
bills and trained 3,500 individuals in solar installation.

Educational
programs through the Urban League Entrepreneurship Center in
Philadelphia and small business training for people of color,
immigrants and low-income individuals through the Ventures program in
Seattle are other ways funding works toward economic inclusion.

Access to education with $90 million allocated to education in
local communities, including K-12 support, scholarships
and financial education. Projects like a new technology center and
library renovation for an elementary school in Vallejo, Calif.,
college preparation for low-income students in Miami and Los Angeles,
a holistic reading and virtual volunteer tutoring program with Read by
4^th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, teacher innovation
grants in San Antonio, Texas, financial training in Nebraska and solar
energy education in Charlotte, North Carolina help increase learning.

Beyond
scholarships, the Hands
On Banking^®program is a public service offered by
Wells Fargo. This free, non-commercial financial education program,
available in English and Spanish, teaches people of all ages about
responsible money management – including specific modules for youth,
adults, veterans, seniors, and entrepreneurs. In 2018, more than 1.7
million people learned about money management through the Hands on
Banking program, with adult participants reporting a 14% increase
in knowledge about managing their expenses, 24% increased intention to
save for emergencies, and a 22% boost in confidence that they can gain
control of their financial situation.

Enabling a low-carbon economy with $16 million to support the
work of nonprofits helping communities become more resilient through
environmental education, resiliency
planning, green infrastructure, bringing renewable energy to
low-income communities and advancing clean technology.

The Wells
Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²), a collaboration with
the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
is a clean-technology incubator and platform whose mission is to speed
the path to market for early-stage, clean energy and agriculture
technologies. To date, the 25 participating companies have raised more
than $122 million in follow-on funding from external sources beyond
the $250,000 in non-dilutive funding provided to each by IN²;
six have conducted beta tests at Wells Fargo or National Renewable
Energy Laboratory facilities; and four have successfully exited the
program via mergers or acquisitions.

“We are living in an unprecedented time in which people need to come
together to solve challenges,” said Jon R. Campbell, president of the
Wells Fargo Foundation. “With so many Americans working to make ends
meet, there’s an increased urgency for immediate assistance as well as
strategic, long-term action to address systemic challenges like poverty,
affordable housing and sustainable neighborhoods. Part of what makes
Wells Fargo’s philanthropy unique is our local approach, a commitment
extended by the volunteerism of our team members.”

Recognizing team member philanthropy and volunteerism

In 2019, for the 10th consecutive year, United Way Worldwide has
recognized Wells Fargo for having the No.
1 team member giving campaign in the U.S. This distinction comes
from team members who collectively pledged $75.4 million in 2018 during
Wells Fargo’s internal Community Support Campaign, which aims to lift
communities and take on challenges like economic disparity, hunger,
homelessness, animal welfare and more.

Wells Fargo team members also donated 2 million hours of volunteer time
in 2018. More than 96,000 team members across the U.S. volunteered at
local schools, food
pantries, homes
for veterans and underserved families, animal shelters and more.
Wells Fargo offers 16 hours of paid volunteer time annually.

Supporting team members during times of need

Wells Fargo has a long tradition of helping its team members during
times of financial hardship. In 2018, $6 million in emergency grants for
team members were made available in the company’s WE
Care Fund. The fund was established in 2001 to help team members
suffering unexpected medical issues, natural disasters and other
life-changing events. The Wells Fargo Team Member Dependent Children
Scholarship Fund is another employee resource that helps cover college
costs so parents and students can worry less and enjoy the college years
more.

About Wells Fargo

Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo &
Company (NYSE:WFC) provides banking, investment and mortgage products
and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through 7,800
locations, more than 13,000 ATMs, and the internet (wellsfargo.com).
Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy customers’ financial needs and help
them succeed financially. With approximately 259,000 team members, Wells
Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo &
Company was ranked No. 26 on Fortune’s 2018 rankings of America’s
largest corporations. In 2018, Wells Fargo donated $444 million to
nearly 11,000 nonprofits in support of affordable housing, small
business growth, financial education, and sustainability, among other
community needs. For 10 consecutive years, Wells Fargo has held the
honor of No. 1 in workplace giving by United Way Worldwide. Wells Fargo
team members also make a difference by donating more than 2 million
hours of volunteer time in the last year. News, insights and more
information on the company’s corporate responsibility are available at Wells
Fargo Stories.