Our community relations
Ameriprise Financial is committed to giving back to our communities by supporting organizations whose shared goal is to improve the lives of individuals.
More than a century of giving
Ameriprise Financial has a rich heritage of supporting communities across the nation where our clients, advisors and employees live and work. We take pride in this leadership role and carry out our mission by initiating innovative programs as well as supporting existing ones. From funding innovative workforce development initiatives, to providing meals to the hungry, giving back is an integral part of our history and our future.
Ameriprise Financial Community Relations Grantmaking Priorities
At Ameriprise Financial, the mission of our Community Relations program is to use our resources and talents to improve the lives of individuals and build strong communities. We believe our community involvement enables us to actively live our company's values and communicate the spirit of our brand.
Our community outreach focuses on three key priorities:
- Meeting Basic Needs
- Supporting Community Vitality
- Volunteer Driven Causes
Ameriprise Financial provides support to a diverse group of nonprofit organizations whose missions align with our philanthropic priorities. By targeting our giving in this way, we are able to make the most of the resources we have, and in turn, have a greater impact on our communities. We prefer to direct our funding resources to specific projects that can demonstrate innovative approaches with measurable results or capacity building.
The following guidelines are designed to help you determine whether your organization may be eligible for funding. Please carefully read the following information before moving forward with the application process to ensure that your organization is eligible for support from Ameriprise Financial.
Giving Priorities
Ameriprise Financial focuses its funding in three key areas, supporting organizations across the nation where our employees, advisors and retirees live and work. These giving priorities are:
1. Meeting Basic Needs
We support programs and services that help at-risk populations stabilize their lives and become more self-sufficient. Consideration will be given to applications that address the following:
Food
- Food shelves, emergency food banks/pantries
- Capacity building grants allowing organizations to expand their services
- Unique hunger programs addressing specific community or population needs, e.g. school brown bag lunches taken home for the weekend, food drives at community special events
Shelter
- Securing transitional housing
- Achieving and maintaining homeownership
- Ending long-term homelessness
Self Sufficiency
- Preparing for work readiness and job transitions
- Gaining financial life skills, focus is on underserved adult populations
2. Supporting Community Vitality
Our company supports programs and services that build strong communities by creating economic vitality and cultural enrichment through the following activities:
Community Development
- Improving the vitality and livability of neighborhoods, especially those of the underserved
- Supporting small business development, especially minority populations
Cultural Enrichment
- Supporting the arts through extended community outreach and access
- Enhancing cultural awareness and understanding through arts education
Civic Leadership
- Demonstrating the company's commitment to communities where we have a presence through participation in civic organizations, events, projects, etc.
3. Volunteer Driven Causes
We believe that our employees and advisors are our greatest asset so we want them to help determine where and how a portion of our support is directed. Grants in this category are intended to recognize the many nonprofit organizations that serve our communities and have captured the interest of our people.
Through Volunteer Driven Causes we have created a number of ways to support employees and advisors as they bring our corporate value of "Respect for individuals and the communities in which we live and work" to life.
Volunteer Driven Cause Grants
Please Note: Funding is strictly driven by Ameriprise Financial employee and advisor volunteerism. Proposals must be from the nonprofit organizations where employees and/or advisors volunteer. In general, funding will increase in proportion to the number of Ameriprise Financial volunteers. The minimum request amount is $3,000. Proposals will be evaluated based on the merit of the request and level of Ameriprise Financial volunteer involvement.
How to apply for a grant
- Please review the Community Relations Giving Guidelines document and carefully read our eligibility, funding criteria and application requirements.
- Apply for a grant now
Ameriprise Financial Disaster Relief Support
Ameriprise Financial does not accept grant applications for disaster relief. Ameriprise annually contributes a sizeable donation to the American Red Cross Disaster-Relief Fund, providing immediate access to vital funding when disasters strike.
Ameriprise Financial Volunteer Program
Our advisors and employees across the country also are very involved in their local communities sharing their talents and time. In 2012, advisors and employees donated more than 50,000 volunteer hours.
Ameriprise Financial Employee and Advisor Gift Matching Programs
Ameriprise Financial currently matches employee contributions to all eligible nonprofit organizations up to an annual maximum of $2,000 per employee. We also recognize the volunteer service and monetary donations made by our advisors through the Advisor Gift Matching Program. Eligible advisors who serve as board members or volunteer more than 50 hours a year receive a gift match to the organization where they volunteer up to $2,000 annually.
Environmental Stewardship
From the construction and operation of our corporate buildings to the initiatives we encourage employees, advisors and clients to implement, Ameriprise Financial is committed to responsible environmental practices. The following are some of our key initiatives and progress to date:
Buildings
- In 2008, the Ameriprise Financial Center and Client Service Center in Minneapolis earned the Energy Star designation and have achieved this designation every year since.
- In 2009, the Ameriprise Financial Center was the first building in Minneapolis to receive the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-Existing Building certification. The Financial Center received LEED “Silver” Certification. Our Client Service Center received LEED “Gold” Certification.
- 7 World Trade Center, the location for our corporate offices in New York, NY, was the first commercial office building in the city to receive the LEED "Gold" Certification.
- We work with Xcel Energy in Minnesota to coordinate electrical loads at our Client Service Center during high peak demand days (generally 90 + degree days) to reduce overall demand.
- Our standards for new advisor office construction incorporate sustainable building materials.
- We have multiple programs that have led to considerable reduction in energy in our headquarters building, including installing automatic shut-off lights, reducing heating and cooling in the evenings and over weekends, and replacing light bulbs to lowerwattage bulbs.
Commuting:
- We have been a long-term supporter of public transportation for our employees, and in 2008 we were recognized for a Commuter Choice Award by the city of Minneapolis.
- In partnership with Minneapolis metro transit, we created and have continued to subsidize the Metropass system to encourage employees to use public transportation and reduce commuter traffic, and we offer free carpooling, scooter and bicycle parking in multiple office locations.
- We are a sponsor and leading participant in the city of Minneapolis’ annual Bike and Walk to Work Day events.
Recycling and Waste
- Reducing paper usage is a company-wide initiative. We are committed to helping clients switch from paper to electronic delivery of their documents, developing systems that allow financial advisors to submit business online in a secure fashion, and providing proxy materials online for Ameriprise shareholders. For example, since 2008 we’ve helped over 620,000 clients switch from paper to electronic delivery of numerous documents, meaning that every year we use significantly less paper to communicate with and serve our clients.
- We collaborate with our vendors and partners to reduce and eliminate waste, including recycling toner and using environmentally friendly cleaning products. In addition, we have worked with our food service vendors to incorporate sustainable and local food sourcing, recycle food waste through partnerships with local farmers and eliminate the use of Styrofoam.
