Wells Fargo Named #3 Most Generous Company of the Fortune 500

Jun 23, 2016 9:00 AM ET

Fortune magazine has named Wells Fargo No. 3 on its Top 20 Most Generous Companies in the Fortune 500 for 2015. It is also the highest ranked financial services company on the list of corporate donors.

Wells Fargo donated $281.3 million to 16,300 nonprofits in 2015. In its profiles of Wells Fargo, the magazine’s editors wrote, “The bank aims to donate between 1.2% and 1.5% of its earnings each year. It does that through two primary philanthropic portfolios: one that’s distributed at the local level, by senior leaders in markets where the bank operates, and a second that is national and more tightly tied to the firm’s business expertise. For example, in 2015, Wells Fargo WFC -0.44% gave a total of $25 million to the nonprofit NeighborWorks, to support financial education and down payments on homes. Employees receive two days of paid leave per year to volunteer; they can also apply to spend six weeks working with a nonprofit of their choice.”

According to Fortune, the survey included the top 150 companies in the Fortune 500 and data collected from public documents filed with the IRS and SEC. In total, the 20 most generous companies donated $3.5 billion in cash in 2015.

Wells Fargo recently announced a new 2020 Corporate Social Responsibility commitment, which includes priorities and goals to help address economic, environmental, and social issues through products and services, culture and operations, and more than $665 million in corporate philanthropy.