Wells Fargo & Co.: Top giver four years in a row - San Francisco Business Times:

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Not that the 153-year-old banking and financial servicese company mindsbeing No. 1 -- again -- when it comesw to giving, but it'd be willing to step aside withits $12 millionb in record Bay Area donations and let anothert company be in the top spot. "It'z not really a secret, that the more you give and the more goodyou do, the more you get back -- and all businesseas should realize that, and the success that can come from said San Francisco Bay Regional Presidenft Lisa Stevens.
"My hope is that othed companies will strive to beat Inthe meantime, Wells Fargop contents itself with public kudos, such as 's recognitionn of excellence in Employees and customers can also be satisfied workingt with a company in which philanthropyt is a daily philosophy. "It's incredible pride to work for anorganizatiob that's making our community a better place to live and Stevens said. "It's greay from the reputation standpoint for our The secret behindWells Fargo's winning streak -- four years in a row -- is that it has createsd not just an infrastructure for but also a culturw that makes giving money away easy.
Rathef than a corporate prograjmor department, team members at every level make the decision on who gets "We definitely have a grassroots approach to Stevens said. Individual micro-markets -- for Marin, San Francisco, and Oakland -- run largeer proposals by their owncontributions committees, comprising of five to a dozejn employees who gather monthly to divv out the bigger grants. The lack of a philanthropiv bureaucracy makes Wells Fargo more responsiv e to itsimmediate communities. "The decisions are not made by someon e sitting in an ivory Stevens said.
"The decisions are made by the Last year, the money was divvieds up into the areas of educatioj (nearly $4 million), community development, primarily in affordable housing ($2.6 million), human services like job traininh ($2.5 million), and civic and arts programs ($2.8 million). Criteria depend heavily on what projects Wells Fargo employee s are themselves involved in rather than anystrict guidelines. The compan does stay away fromcertainm contributions, such as political documentaries or endowments, but the fielde is otherwise open to individuap passions. "You're giving as much as you can becausw you seethe benefits," Stevens said.
The total sum may add up to but Stevens pointed outthat "sometimes the smallest grants are the most Donations may pay for a bus so schoolkidsd can see "The Nutcracker" or a 49ers game for the first time, a computer for a cash-strapped school, a session in financialo literacy for a population vulnerable to elder or sustenance for a local AIDS In-kind donations and marketing promotions don't get countef toward corporate philanthropy. For instance, one promotion had Wellds Fargo donating a sum of money to a localk school for every new checking accountopened -- to a finalk tune of more than $16,000.
The marketingt department also designed and put up billboards to publicizeSan Francisco's anti-truancy campaign. And when "Heartz in San Francisco," the public art project of five-fooy fiberglass hearts, was proposed, the bank donaterd $2 million to jumpstart the project, which ultimately benefited San Francisco General HospitalMedicak Center. That day-to-day involvement, Stevens believes, better underscorese a giveaway culture thanannual "I'm extremely proud of being No. 1, but I'k just as proud of the humanh capital that's tied to it," she said.
"I'mm very proud of the dollar I'm also proud of the fact that wecover We're not just writing checks."