2001 SEAR report

Social Mission & Philanthropy

Ben & Jerry’s contributes a minimum of $1.1 million dollars to the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, adjusted upward annually for sales growth and inflation. The Ben & Jerry’s Foundation is a separate entity from the company. For 2001 this contribution amounted to $1.2 million dollars. In addition, a significant amount of product is donated by the company annually to community groups and nonprofits in Vermont and across the nation. The Foundation trustees are Jerry Greenfield (company co-founder), Jeff Furman (board member), and Liz Bankowski (former Director of Social Mission). Since these significant dollars for philanthropy are the result of the hard work of the company’s staff, employees are extensively involved in the Foundation’s grantmaking. (Grants are subject to final approval by the trustees and administered by the Foundation.) In general, the purpose of Ben & Jerry’s philanthropy is to support the founding values of the company: economic and social justice; environmental restoration and peace through understanding; and our Vermont communities.

The Foundation administers the following programs:

A nine-member board representing each of the Ben & Jerry’s sites in Vermont makes grants to national-and Vermont-based nonprofit organizations to support progressive social change and environmental work. Members are chosen by their peers and serve three-year terms. Grants are made three times a year and range from $500 to $15,000. In 2001 the Employee Advisory Grantmaking Board distributed $755,900 in grants. These included: $10,000 to the Institute for Social Ecology for biotechnology education and organizing project; $10,000 to the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition to support their work of organizing broad-based opposition to mountaintop removal/valley fill coal mining practices, as well as unsafe coal waste ponds; and $15,000 to Sweatshop Watch for support of their continued efforts to hold retailers and manufacturers accountable for the wages of the workers who sew their clothes and the conditions of the contractors’ sweatshops.

A complete list of grants can be found on our website at www.benjerry.com/foundation/.

Each of the company’s Vermont sites has an employee community action team or CAT. Members are chosen by their peers and serve for three-year terms. The teams review and decide on small grant requests, generally $100 to $1000 for local nonprofit organizations. These grants are intended to express both employees’ concerns and the company’s intent to be a good neighbor. The teams generally meet monthly. In addition to the grant-making program, the teams working with their site management, identify, undertake and underwrite community enhancement projects. Projects must be undertaken with a 501c(3) approved nonprofit or a municipal entity. (There are guidelines used for determining appropriate projects.) In 2001 the five Community Action Teams distributed $193,320 in grants to organizations such as the Good News Garage, Fresh Air Fund, Green Mountain Club and Focus on Film. In 2001 the Vermont community projects included restoration of two nature trails in Ripton, a little league playing field in Bellows Falls and the refurbishing of two playgrounds in Springfield and Perkinsville.

$5,000 is made available to the plant managers at each of the Vermont sites for corporate citizenship purposes. This fund supports activities of local civic organizations that may not be eligible for CAT grants. Examples of grants made in 2001: the Springfield Fourth of July Celebration and the Vermont Maple Festival, Inc.

The Foundation matches up to $1,000 annually per staff member for gifts to nonprofit organizations. This program has a cap of $50,000. In 2001, 13% of staff participated and $30,880 was matched in grants.

In 2000, with the Unilever merger, the Foundation trustees and company management approved a one-time large gift to each of the Vermont communities with a Ben & Jerry’s facility. These gifts were intended to support recreational facilities for the enjoyment of the entire community. The decisions were made by site management, with employee input, and were approved by the Foundation trustees. In 2001, $40,000 was granted for the construction of the Burlington Skateboard Park and $40,000 was granted for the Waterbury community skating rink initial capital campaign.

The Foundation trustees may make grants to nonprofit organizations in the areas of children and families, environmental restoration, sustainable agriculture and peace through understanding and in support of the company’s social mission initiatives. Grants to support the company’s social mission programs are not used for sponsorships, promotions or other marketing purposes. Recognizing that part of the company profits come from international sales, the foundation trustees, in discussion with company management, allocates funds annually for grants to registered non-governmental organizations operating outside the United States. In 2001, $80,620 was distributed in support of the company’s activities, including $30,000 for the Vermont Dairy Farm Sustainability Project and $10,000 for Grounds for Health, Inc. Also, $88,889 was distributed in international grants in Great Britain. These included $14,000 to The Children’s Society, $11,000 to ChildLine and $14,000 to the National Missing Person’s Helpline.

In addition to the funds allocated to the Foundation for a 10-year period under the merger agreement (8/2000 - 8/2010) the Foundation trustees oversee and administer a one-time, $5 Million dollar gift that resulted from the merger. These funds are granted proactively to nonprofit organizations that support citizen education and activism around globalization issues and social justice. In 2001 the Trustees distributed $710,000 in grants that included $150,000 to Global Exchange a multicultural human rights organization dedicated to promoting environmental, political and social justice around the world, $150,000 to United for a Fair Economy an organization drawing attention to the dangerous consequences of growing income and wealth inequality and who advocates for public policies and private sector practices to share prosperity and $100,000 to the Ruckus Society an organization that provides training in the skills of non-violent civil disobedience to help environmental and human rights organizations achieve their goals.