Investing in Communities

Ford Motor Company has a long legacy of compassion. More than 100 years after the company began, we continue to touch lives. Our commitment to supporting local communities through strategic investments and volunteer efforts has remained unwavering.

Investing in communities is more than the right thing to do; it’s also smart business. Our global company is only as strong as the local communities in which our employees and customers live and work, so it is in our mutual interest that we work with communities to make meaningful contributions to improve the quality of life. For example, our volunteer efforts help to build stronger communities, which in turn strengthen local economies. In addition, community projects help to strengthen the name of Ford and enhance purchase consideration for future buyers. Supporting volunteerism among our employees also helps to build workplace morale.

We invest in communities in three primary ways: through direct corporate charitable giving, through our company’s community relations arm (formally known as Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services), and through the Ford Volunteer Corps, which organizes the volunteering efforts of thousands of Ford employees and retirees across our global operations.

The Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services

The Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services (or Ford Fund) is a nonprofit organization responsible for the company’s philanthropy and volunteer efforts. It is funded by contributions from Ford Motor Company. The goals of the Ford Fund today are the same as they were when Henry Ford II founded it 60 years ago: to support programs that effect change in our communities and improve the quality of life in the communities in which Ford does business. It supports organizations in four strategic areas: driver safety, education, community life and corporate volunteerism. In 2013, we increased our focus on water-related projects in support of Ford’s overall water strategy. For examples of the Ford Fund’s programs and projects in 2013, please see Ford’s Community Projects Around the World. (The Ford Foundation, meanwhile, is a separate entity from the Ford Motor Company. No member of the Ford family nor Ford Motor Company management is on the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees.)

Ford Volunteer Corps

We encourage our employees to participate in programs that build stronger communities through the Ford Volunteer Corps. Volunteerism has been an integral part of Ford Motor Company since its creation in 1903. The Ford Volunteer Corps operates across six continents to strengthen the communities in which our employees and customers live and work. Ford Motor Company offers its salaried employees two paid workdays per year to volunteer in the community. Since 2012, the Volunteer Corps has included both salaried and hourly employees. We are in the process of expanding the Ford Volunteer Corps program to include Ford’s UAW¹-represented work force, adding another avenue to these employees who already have a long tradition of volunteering through other channels.

The Ford Volunteer Corps sponsors activities all year, and around the globe. However, we also seek to focus our efforts through two intense volunteer programs: Ford’s Global Week of Caring and our four annual Accelerated Action Days.

Global Week of Caring

Ford’s Global Week of Caring is one of the cornerstone programs of the Ford Volunteer Corps. It includes a week of volunteer events across all of Ford’s operating regions. In 2013, our eighth year with this program, over 13,000 Ford employee and retiree volunteers participated in nearly 300 projects in 31 countries and 16 U.S. states. Ford contributed $315,000 in grants to help fund supplies needed by volunteers to complete their projects. This year’s Global Week of Caring included building temporary shelters for homeless children in China, renovating a community youth center in Germany, providing clean drinking water facilities in disadvantaged parts of India and South Africa, participating in environmental restoration activities in Australia, as well as a range of community, education and environmental projects in the U.S. Specific projects are described by region in the interactive project map above. For examples of some of our Global Week of Caring projects in 2013, please see Ford’s Community Projects Around the World.

Accelerated Action Days

Accelerated Action Days (AAD), another key program of the Ford Volunteer Corps, are concentrated one-day volunteer efforts to meet critical needs identified by our nonprofit partners. In 2013, we held four Accelerated Action Days that included over 1,000 Ford volunteers in 12 states and approximately $200,000 in donations to support their projects. Additional highlights of the 2013 Accelerated Action Days include the following:

• On our hunger-focused AAD, more than 600 Ford volunteers cooked and served meals, sorted food and stocked shelves, and made deliveries to feed individuals in need in partnership with nonprofit food banks, shelters and care centers. This day also included a coat and jacket collection drive for children.
• During our community and environment AAD, Ford volunteers planted community gardens, restored natural areas for wildlife habitat, and assisted in environmental education projects. This day also included an e-waste collection drive.
• As part of the children and families AAD, more than 600 Ford volunteers painted shelters, renovated homes and family centers, and built storage facilities for a wide range of nonprofit organizations among other activities. This day also included a drive to collect disposable diapers and formula for families in need.

On our community-building AAD, Ford volunteers refurbished parks and public spaces, built and rehabilitated homes and residential facilities, constructed playground equipment and play spaces, and did other community-building projects at partner nonprofit organizations.

In addition, we help to maximize the effectiveness of our volunteering efforts and facilitate employee volunteering through a “volunteer matchmaking” software system designed and launched by the Ford Volunteer Corps. Through this system, our nonprofit partners can tell us when they need help and what help they need most, and employees sign up online for volunteer opportunities based on their interests and availability. We are continuing to expand the system to strengthen data-collection capabilities – especially in our non-U.S. operating regions – and to enhance the employee user experience.