For the first time ever, BBVA has launched ’Territorios solidarios‘ (‘Regional Solidarity’ Project), an initiative that will give the bank’s employees a leading role in deciding which projects BBVA will sponsor in Spain as part of its Corporate Responsibility (CR) policy. Here it is the employees who propose various projects in their regions, and who also vote on which of the selected projects will be sponsored financially by the bank. BBVA has set aside €1.8Mn for ‘Territorios solidarios‘ whereby each project can receive a maximum of €10,000, meaning that at least 180 projects from across the country can be sponsored. With this initiative, BBVA aims to involve its employees to detect community needs on a local level, “democratize” the process of staff participation in its CR policy, decentralize the process of decision making for project funding, and atomize how proposals are processed to optimize regional coverage.
‘Territorios solidarios‘ was conceived as a social project by all and for all, in which BBVA’s employees in Spain will be the driving fulcrum of this solidarity effort which seamlessly dovetails with the bank’s Corporate Responsibility (CR) policy: “Working for a better future,” and with its strategy in this area, based on three pillars: Principles, Innovation and People.
With the goal of better coordinating its CR activities with its branches and employees in the various regions where it is present, BBVA has launched this initiative in Spain, with the following objectives:
- Funding projects with social purposes
- Detecting community needs on a local level, using the Bank’s own employees as the project’s vehicle throughout the country
- “Democratizing” the process of staff participation, involving all employees in the project, and the funding process resulting in a greater number of solidarity projects
- Atomizing how proposals are processed to optimize regional coverage
- To bring corporate responsibility closer to the local level
Groups benefitted
‘Territorios solidarios‘ encompasses all national not-for-profit organizations recommended by BBVA employees which are subject to the requirements established in Law 49/2002 regulating not-for-profit organizations and tax incentives for patronage. Projects with these characteristics include projects for education, health and social care, sports and free time, developmental cooperation, humanitarian emergencies and alerts, human rights, culture, the environment or communities at risk of exclusion, any type of activity that can be performed through foundations, public service agencies, NGOs or not-for-profit federations, associations or organizations with a common goal.
The communities that may benefit from this initiative are: children and adolescents, senior citizens, immigrants, the disabled, the unemployed, ethnic minorities, communities at risk of exclusion and local or rural communities.
Those solidarity projects that receive the most votes in each of the bank’s seven Regional Directorates in Spain will be the ones to receive financial backing from the Bank. BBVA will set aside €1.8Mn for this initiative, divided between the seven Regional Directorates based on the number of clients each one has. Each project can receive a maximum of €10,000, meaning that at least 180 projects from across the country can be sponsored.
Widespread participation
‘Territorios solidarios‘ was launched internally by BBVA in early November and has four phases of execution:
1. Invitation. Employees in Spain who have detected a social need in their geographical region (Regional Directorate or Main Office) eligible for funding from the Bank, sponsor the project and invite the not-for-profit organizations behind it to apply for support from BBVA. Employees may invite as many organizations as they would like.
2. Application. The organizations that have been invited by an employee to participate were required to register their projects in an electronic platform created specifically for this initiative, where they were able to fill out an application. This second phase ended on December 16, and the figures show that the project has been a resounding success with widespread participation: 2,642 solidarity projects have been invited to participate, 848 of which have completed their applications in the ’Territorios solidarios‘ platform.
3. Review. The projects presented in the ’Territorios solidarios‘ platform have been reviewed and verified by an external auditor – PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) -. The projects that were approved were registered and then proceeded to the final phase. Finally, 559 projects were selected that comply with all of the required criteria.
4. Voting. Between January 2 and 20, BBVA’s employees in Spain will vote on the 559 selected projects using the electronic platform. Each employee can vote for up to three projects located in their Regional Directorate.
The profiles of the selected projects, which will now be voted on by the employees of BBVA Spain, will all contribute to achieving the objectives set forth in the initiative. 68% of these projects are focused on the local or regional level; 60% will help over 100 people; and 86% of the selected initiatives are from associations declared as public service agencies or foundations, while the remainder are development cooperation NGOs, not-for-profit associations or federations.
