Volkswagen Foundation – No. 17 December 18, 2014 Germany – £136.2m With overall funding of around £118m a year the Volkswagen Foundation (Volkswagen Stiftung), based in Hanover, is Germany’s largest private science research funding foundation. Since it was founded more than 50 years ago, the foundation has given more than £3.3bn to support over 30,000 projects. While the foundation shares a [...]
Wells Fargo Foundation – No.18 December 18, 2014 USA – £119.6m ‘Our company’s vision and values have always included a focus on promoting long-term economic prosperity and quality of life for everyone in our communities,” says Jon Campbell, head of Wells Fargo’s Government and Community Relations team. The American financial services firm traces its roots back to 1852 when the first Wells [...]
Bank of America Charitable Foundation – No.19 December 18, 2014 USA – £114.5m Like Wells Fargo, Bank of America’s charitable focus is on helping out local communities. For 2014 it concentrated on three main issues: housing, education and basic human services such as hunger. Last year, the foundation contributed over £114m to address various issues within communities. One of the charities it has [...]
W.K. Kellogg Foundation – No. 20 December 18, 2014 USA – £110m “If I am successful in getting out of debt, and become prosperous, I expect to make good use of any wealth that may come to me,” wrote Will Keith Kellogg in 1909 – and he was as good as his word. The breakfast cereal pioneer went on to become one of [...]
Philanthropy is like sex – every generation thinks they discovered it December 18, 2014 Two comments overheard in the last month or so indicate that in its own eyes, the City is becoming more philanthropic. Both came from 40 somethings, involved in the many giving networks for young professionals that are springing up around the Square Mile. In quiet conversation at after-event networking sessions they both commented, almost [...]
People’s Postcode Lottery: A gamble where everybody wins December 18, 2014 Players of People’s Postcode Lottery have raised over £56m for charity and they aim to raise even more next year. Fancy your luck this Christmas? Well, deciding to play People’s Postcode Lottery (PPL) isn’t a gamble at all when you know that the money you pay is being used to support some of the UK’s [...]
Unlocking potential in developing nations December 18, 2014 City Index is working with Opportunity International this Christmas to ensure there’s a bright future for small businesses in Africa. Securing funding for your small business can be difficult in the UK, but it’s a lot harder in the developing world. Opportunity International, a UK-based charity, is trying to change that because it thinks that [...]
How companies can help communities December 18, 2014 Organisations should think outside the box to achieve more social good. Let’s say that a single individual, employed at a major financial company or a large corporation, wants to improve the way their organisation contributes to society. She wants to make sure it achieves more “social good”. It’s an ambitious aim, and not unheard of. [...]
Patron Capital boss Keith Breslauer’s charitable voyage across the Channel December 18, 2014 Patron Capital boss Keith Breslauer raised over a quarter of a million for wounded servicemen and women. Most people relax with wine, theatre, a movie perhaps. Not Keith Breslauer. When he’s not in the office managing more than £2bn as head of Patron Capital, Breslauer can be found scaling mountains, sailing the seven seas and [...]
André Villas-Boas: The former Tottenham and Chelsea manager on charity, football and coaching in Saint Petersburg December 18, 2014 How have you found being an ambassador for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation? I have been an ambassador since 2011. I’m very grateful for the opportunity they have given me to reach out to people who have suffered from all kinds of problems, from social exclusion, to poverty, to disabilities. As a citizen you [...]
