Collaborating for a Cause
In October 2020, a Discover-led philanthropic collaborative earned the James H. Sills, Jr. CRA Leadership Award after coming together in just two weeks to deploy more than $10 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to Delaware nonprofits. Discover joined the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund, Longwood Foundation and Welfare Foundation to provide a total of $120,000 in grant funding to the National Development Council (NDC). The grant enabled NDC to distribute $10 million in loans to nonprofits addressing critical community needs.
Additionally, Discover employees volunteered in a leadership capacity for a Delaware-based COVID-19 relief fund launched in March 2020 and provided $100,000 in grants directly to the fund and $175,000 in matching grants to 7 nonprofit organizations. Over 150 nonprofits benefited from weekly grants, and in the first eight weeks of the program, approximately 343,000 meals were served, 685 people received emergency shelter, approximately 14,000 people received housing assistance, approximately 18,000 people received counseling services, and approximately 6,000 people received direct healthcare services.
Throughout 2020 and 2021, we took special efforts to support communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Our matching gift campaign for COVID-19 relief efforts included a 100 percent, no-cap employee match to support organizations engaging in national and international response efforts, as well as local food banks in communities where we operate. Together, our company and employees raised nearly $300,000 in employee donations and matches for covid-19 relief, which we combined with $1.29 million in one-time donations for a total of nearly $1.6 million in pandemic relief.
We also provided grants, volunteer hours, and philanthropic leadership to support our communities during the pandemic. These efforts included:
Capital Good Fund
Our $175,000 in grants to the Capital Good Fund—a nonprofit community development financial institution—provided emergency relief loans to individuals experiencing economic hardships related to the pandemic.
NERDiT Foundation
Our $75,000 grant to the NERDiT Foundation provided nearly 300 computers to 29 nonprofits supporting employees—along with some students from low-income families—in the transition to virtual work and school. Discover employees in Delaware virtually volunteered more than 1,800 hours to help various nonprofits provide support services including youth mentoring, afterschool programs, and mental health and social support.
Eat It Forward
Businesses throughout the U.S. are still recovering from the impact of the pandemic, and among those most hard-hit are Black-owned restaurants. In 2020, we leveraged Discover’s social media channels to support these businesses through a $5 million Eat It Forward campaign. We invited consumers to nominate their favorite Black-owned restaurants and allowed restaurant owners to promote their businesses on our pages. Based on these nominations, we awarded $25,000 each to 200 randomly selected winners.
