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11. THE BEN & JERRY’S FOUNDATION
The Foundation — Greening the Grass Roots. The Ben & Jerry’s Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable foundation (and a separate entity from the Company) established in 1985 to offer competitive grants to nonprofit, grassroots organizations throughout the United States that facilitate progressive social change by addressing the underlying conditions of societal and environmental problems. In addition to the Foundation’s original endowment, Ben & Jerry’s makes yearly donations based on a formula related to total sales. In 2008, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc. contributed $1,944,700 to the Foundation, a 14 percent increase over the previous year. The Foundation’s funding priorities include organizations that: 1) help ameliorate an unjust or destructive situation by empowering constituents; 2) facilitate leadership development and strengthen the self-empowerment efforts of those who have traditionally been disenfranchised in our society; 3) support community movement-building and collective action.
Employee-Directed Grant-Making Ben & Jerry’s employees are extensively involved in the grant-making activities of the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, in part because Foundation dollars derive from the hard work of the Company’s staff. The Foundation administers four programs under the direction of employees, which collectively awarded grants totaling $1,401,974 in 2008.
National Grant-Making Program A nine-member Employee Grant-Making Committee — representing each of the three Ben & Jerry’s sites in Vermont — makes grants to national and Vermont-based nonprofit organizations to support progressive social change and environmental work. Members volunteer to join the committee, are selected by Foundation staff, and are expected to serve three-year terms. Grants are made ten times a year, and range from $500 to $15,000. In 2008, the National Grant-Making Program distributed $1,145,650 in grants to 118 organizations. A complete list of national grants can be found here. Multi-Year Capacity-Building Grant In 2007, Ben & Jerry’s Foundation piloted our first ever multi-year grant for Vermont-based and Vermont-focused nonprofit organizations that meet our overall mission of working for progressive social change through a grassroots organizing strategy. The grant provides a maximum of $25,000 per year (for up to three years) for capacity-building purposes. In 2008, we awarded our second three-year grant to ALANA Community Organization: a statewide, nonprofit, research, education, and advocacy organization dedicated to building inclusive and equitable communities in Vermont. ALANA provides training, technical assistance, coaching and advocacy services to individuals and institutions in the areas of civil rights, diversity, anti-bias education, and multiracial education. The grant will support its statewide expansion and transition from a direct service provider to an organizer for systemic change within Vermont’s institutions. Employee Matching Gift Program In order to encourage and support employees’ personal generosity, the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation initiated an Employee Matching Gift Program in 1998. When employees make donations to nonprofits of their own choice, the Foundation matches dollar-for-dollar (up to $2,000 per employee annually). In 2008, 12 percent of staff participated in the program, and the Foundation matched $26,074 in employee donations. In addition — and as a reaction to the high cost of food and fuel — the foundation offered to double match donations to local food shelves and programs that help low-income people afford heating fuel. The program ran during the months of November and December, and generated an additional $5,200 to nonprofit organizations for these specific purposes. Community Action Teams Each of the Company’s Vermont sites (Waterbury, St. Albans, and South Burlington) has an employee Community Action Team, or CAT. These teams review and administer small grant requests (generally $100 to $1,000) which support the work of Vermont-based nonprofit organizations. In 2008, the three Community Action Teams distributed a total of $180,250 in grants to organizations such as:
Community Action Teams’ In addition to its grantmaking functions, Community Action Teams also direct the energies of Ben & Jerry’s employees toward community improvement projects. Read more about these projects in 2008 here. Plant Managers’ Discretionary Fund $5,000 is made available each year to the plant managers at the St. Albans and Waterbury sites to be used for corporate citizenship purposes and the support of activities of local civic organizations that may not be eligible for Community Action Team grants. The U Fund A special fund established when Unilever acquired Ben & Jerry’s in 2000, the U Fund makes grants to organizations dedicated to education and activism in matters dealing with globalization and social justice. Managed by Ben & Jerry’s Foundation trustees, the U Fund made three donations in 2008 (totaling $115,000) to the following organizations:
Other Grant Programs The Foundation trustees and staff may make grants to nonprofit organizations in the areas of children and families, environmental restoration, sustainable agriculture, and peace through understanding and/or in support of the Company’s Social Mission initiatives (but not for sponsorships, promotions, or other marketing purposes). In 2008, $100,000 in other grants were distributed to various organizations, including:
Grant Recipient Spotlights Though we don’t have the space to write about all of the groups we fund, these three represent some of the important work that the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation is proud to support.
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