Our mission at the World Bank Group is to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity around the world. Through the Community Connections program, we live these twin goals in our own communities via employee and corporate philanthropy, volunteerism, in-kind donations, and an internship program for students from local public high schools. Together, these programs leverage a motivated, highly educated and international workforce for the betterment of communities around the world, particularly in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region, where we are based. Our programs have been recognized by the Washington Business Journal. Learn more about what we do in the Workplace Giving, Strategic Grants, and Volunteerism tabs.
Corporate Philanthropy Strategy
Our giving is informed by our mission, the values of our staff, and the needs of the organizations we support. Our goal is to maintain diverse funding streams that complement one another. In our fiscal year 2022, we gave over $14 million through these channels. We primarily fund our community through:
1) General operations support: Approximately 80% of our giving each year is provided through our workplace giving program, the Community Connections Campaign (CCC), which collects staff and retiree donations that are matched by the World Bank Group. In keeping with the needs of nonprofits and philanthropy best practices, those gifts support general operations of organizations. More information about the CCC can be found in the Workplace Giving tab.
2) Contributions to capital projects: During the CCC, staff can also donate to our General Fund, which usually finances one-time capital projects in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region. In 2022, capital grants were approved for Horton's Kids, to expand their presence through their new Community Resource Hub, and Good Shepherd Housing, to acquire additional units for vulnerable families at a housing complex in Richmond Highway. Additionally, the fund also supported organizations that are fighting the employment crisis that was intensified by COVID-19, disbursing grants to CASA, Jubilee Jobs, La Cocina and New Futures.
The General Fund also provides grants to nonprofits where large numbers of staff volunteer.
3) Measurement & Data Grants: To meet nonprofit demand for building capacity around performance measurement and evaluation, we partnered with the Urban Institute to create Measure4Change to provide grants, technical assistance, knowledge briefs, and a community of practice for nonprofit performance measurement professionals in the D.C. region. This project is supported by Community Connections Funding. Learn more about it in the Evaluation Grants tab.
4) Funding Collaboratives: Our work has been enhanced by collaborating with other funders. These partnerships allow us to benefit from others’ expertise, share our own, and work in partnership to greater effect. We are currently part of the Washington AIDS Partnership and the Washington Area Women’s Foundation Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative. In 2020, we partnered with other local funders in the Greater Washington Community Foundation’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, a collaborative mechanism to provide a coordinated and ongoing response to the pandemic crisis.
5) Disaster relief drives: During large international disasters, our staff often want to be part of the global humanitarian response. We help them create vehicles to make contributions to NGOs on the ground in the affected areas. These gifts may also be matched by the World Bank Group. In 2022, over $1.7 million was raised to local and international organizations.
Last Updated: May 04, 2023