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Many big banks have been stepping up their philanthropic efforts, zeroing in on efforts to combat the devastating effects of the recession — but not necessarily with dollars.
March 22
Some banks are giving their customers more of a role in their charitable giving.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has created a social network initiative through Facebook that lets consumers elect charities to receive grants from Chase.
Since its establishment in November 2009, the Chase Community Giving initiative has donated $10 million to 300 charities, and its Facebook page has nearly 2.5 million "fans."
More than 500,000 local charities are registered on the Facebook site, giving them a national platform to promote their missions and gain supporters. After a designated voting period, the charities with the most votes share in a pool of grants. A $1 million grand-prize donation was given after the first contest period; in the second run of the initiative, the grand prize was $250,000.
"We did it as a way to feel the heartbeat of the community," said Erich Timmerman, a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase.
"We wanted to know what was most important to our consumers, and we felt this was a great way to help out the community and allocate some money to charities that might not necessarily get grants like this," Timmerman said.
Bank of America Corp. started a program this past holiday season to encourage customers to donate to two organizations it works closely with, the Boys and Girls Club of America and Feeding America. The company promised to match any donations that customers made.
"That was a way to demonstrate what we're doing in the community," said Kerry Sullivan, president of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. "It was something that … signaled to the public that we're trying to help."
