New York and Palo Alto, Calif., December 16, 2009 – Chase and Facebook today announced the 100 small and local charities that each will receive a $25,000 grant from Chase and now have a chance to receive a Million Dollar Grant, following Facebook users’ voting in Round One of Chase Community Giving.
More than 1 million fans signed up for Chase Community Giving in Round One of the program. Eligible charities included 501(c)(3) charities with an operating budget of $10 million or less, serving the general public in designated areas. Round One ended at midnight on Dec. 12 and culminated with a surge of voting in the last week.
“We were pleased to see the level of enthusiasm and support that Round One generated. Interestingly, only two of the 100 organizations overlapped with our existing giving portfolio, which confirmed our early view that this method of giving would indeed complement our traditional giving, while sparking innovation,” said Kim Davis, president of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.
“This has been one of the most popular crowdsourcing campaigns in Facebook history. Millions of people using Facebook have taken up the Chase challenge to demonstrate the power of crowdsourcing for philanthropic giving,” said Elliot Schrage, vice president of global communications and policy at Facebook. “The program is unique in that a person can leverage their vote on Facebook — in addition to their wallet — to collectively help those in need during the holidays or support a cause important to them.”
The 100 charities announced today span 31 states and serve the public in a variety of areas such as:
- supporting families and children battling Autism, Muscular Dystrophy, heart disease, cancer, infectious disease and many other illnesses;
- improving the lives of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans and their families;
- providing the homeless with basic human needs and services;
- helping families displaced by Hurricane Katrina move back into their homes;
- international aid for the underserved in rural China, Turkey, Sri Lanka and other locations;
- rebuilding communities ravaged by war;
- providing greater access to college for disadvantaged students; and
- supporting local music, theater and creative and performing arts groups.
“Chase Community Giving provided benefits to all of the small and local charities throughout the country that mobilized their supporters and spread their message,” said NBA hall-of-famer and Chase Community Giving Advisory Board Member David Robinson. “Even for charities that are not among today’s top 100, the program offered all participating organizations a national platform to promote their missions, attract new supporters and gain visibility.”
Chase Community Giving, a grassroots campaign launched November 16 to inspire a new way of corporate philanthropy, allowed Facebook’s 350 million users to chose from more than 500,000 of their favorite small and local charities and vote for them to win their share of $5 million. Throughout the campaign, Chase Community Giving fans nominated tens of thousands of charities from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Throughout the nearly four weeks of Round One voting, thousands of local charities created their own grassroots campaigns to encourage supporters to get out the vote, using e-mail campaigns, appearances on the local evening news, Facebook status updates and Wall posts and many other methods.
In Round Two, the 100 organizations from Round One will have the option to submit a Million Dollar Grant proposal to Facebook users, detailing the difference they would make in their local community with the significant extra resources. Facebook users will vote starting January 15, and on or around February 1, one organization will receive $1 million from Chase, provided all eligibility requirements and standards have been met and reviewed by the Chase Community Giving Advisory Board. Five additional organizations will receive $100,000 each. Also, the Advisory Board will select additional nominated charities from either round to share in another $1 million.
In addition to the donations made through the program, Chase will provide a $25,000 honorarium to each Board member who does not work for Chase or Facebook, which will be donated by Chase to the charity of the member’s personal choice.
JPMorgan Chase donates a total of more than $100 million annually to more than 3,000 non-profit organizations in local communities, nationally and abroad. This $5 million Facebook effort is in addition to the bank’s traditional philanthropic giving, and if successful, the bank hopes to commit more of its annual philanthropy funds using this innovative method of giving.