Global Giving

One of the great opportunities presented by globalization is the spread of corporate citizenship around the world. Just like we want the right things for our people and our business, we want the right things for our towns, neighborhoods and villages.

The UPS Foundation is responsible for facilitating community involvement on a local, national, and global level. Since launching its global philanthropy program in 2004, The UPS Foundation has invested more than $42 million in charitable activities beyond the borders of the United States through 2008.

That impact can be measured by nearly $47 million in global philanthropy and more than 1.2 million employee volunteer hours in 2008. 

The UPS Foundation directs its giving through four global giving strategies. These strategies leverage all of UPS' resources - financial, human and knowledge.

• Effective Volunteerism
  The UPS Foundation helps to strengthen nonprofit capacity to meet demands for services through more effective recruitment and management of volunteers. Businesses strive to manage their employees' time and talents effectively. Likewise, nonprofit organizations seek to increase both the number of volunteers on their rosters and the impact those volunteers have in their communities.
  
• Leadership
  The UPS Foundation works to improve nonprofit effectiveness through investments that encourage innovation and social entrepreneurship among current and future leaders of nonprofit organizations and agencies. As UPS works to develop a highly skilled, motivated and diverse workforce that responds to the rapidly changing environment around them, the company also seeks to support similar efforts in nonprofit organizations. The Foundation helps to create opportunities for nonprofit and for-profit managers to share best practices with each other so both might better achieve their missions.
  
• Operations
  The UPS Foundation encourages greater efficiency and effectiveness through investments that share knowledge resources, including UPS management and logistics expertise, with nonprofit organizations. While UPS is known best for delivering packages around the world, the company also has significant expertise in logistics and supply chain related services. UPS sells this expertise and knowledge capital to the private sector around the world, and seeks similar opportunities to share useful information with nonprofit organizations. When disaster strikes, logistics plans often create lifelines for those impacted. The Foundation also makes investments to help in disaster response planning as well, including the important roles volunteers play.
  
• Sustainability
  The Foundation helps to promote the long-term effectiveness and financial stability of high-performing non-profits that are delivering outstanding services to their communities. Not only do these exemplary organizations provide important services, but they also have a wealth of knowledge that can help other organizations enhance their abilities to deliver high quality services, helping more people and strengthening more communities.

Grant Strategy

Our expanding global philanthropy brings with it a new and exciting landscape — and it also brings new operating challenges. As UPS grows and expands, so does its capacity to touch lives around the world. As a result, The UPS Foundation must align its assets — financial, human and knowledge — on our primary focus areas: economic and global literacy, environmental sustainability, nonprofit effectiveness, strength from diversity, and community safety. 

Employee Driven Funding

By design, much of The UPS Foundation’s philanthropy is driven locally. UPS operating units around the world have responsibility for managing grant programs — they identify needs in their communities, find suitable charitable organizations to support, and then recommend those organizations for grants.

The local grants typically align with the Foundation’s strategy, as outlined in its five focus areas, and tackle issues at the grass roots level, providing vital support where it is often needed most. This hands-on approach to philanthropy enables local UPSers to participate in the strategic programs of The UPS Foundation and to collectively impact some of the largest issues facing society.

The UPS Foundation sets the guidelines and oversees the approval process.  This allows UPS employees an opportunity to have a direct impact on their community. By focusing on key issues tied to our business and our employee’s involvement, UPS can align with local, national and global giving for greater impact. 

Global Impact Through Local Strategies

Beginning in 2008, The UPS Foundation no longer takes unsolicited corporate grant requests. Instead, we are placing greater emphasis on our local regions and districts managing community needs through grants and charitable sponsorships. This funding strategically links employee Community Involvement Committees with local organizations that fit into the new Focus Areas to create a year-round spending plan.

Each year, roughly one-half of the grants made by The UPS Foundation are awarded to local organizations with the rest going to global or national groups. Most are supplemented by the energy and passion of UPS volunteers.