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Washington, D.C. - Although many in the nonprofit community expect bank mergers to result in significant decreases in charitable giving, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy's (NCRP) recent report, Banking on Philanthropy: Impact of Bank Mergers on Charitable Giving, concludes otherwise. Philanthropy dollars of seven major financial institutions have actually quadrupled since the late-1980s following a wave of national bank mergers.

The report examines giving levels of Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, SunTrust, Wachovia, Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo, comparing them to levels prior to their mergers.

"This substantial expansion in bank giving is unexpected because many people predicted that mergers would result in a decline," said Becky Sherblom, research consultant at NCRP and report author.

NCRP found that bank philanthropy grew dramatically during a period of consolidation in the banking industry. In the late-1980s, total annual giving for the bank "constellations" studied was around $100 million, growing exponentially to more than $400 million annually by 2001.

As competition increased among a handful of national banks, executives embraced philanthropy as a means for attracting and retaining more business and employees. Community advocates and a robust philanthropic culture in one or both banks prior to a merger or acquisition also helped to boost charitable giving programs after the merger.

The study revealed a hefty boost of charitable dollars to the South, and a shift toward funding national organizations as post-merge banks expanded their geographic footprint.

"Despite the increase in available funding from these banks, we see clear winners and losers as a result of this restructured landscape," said Aaron Dorfman, executive director of NCRP.

One concern the report raises, however, is that little standardization exists for determining what constitutes as legitimate philanthropy.

NCRP also found that a majority of bank foundations violate IRS rules regarding the quality and amount of information they include in their 990-PFs. Many claims by banks regarding their philanthropic giving are not externally verifiable, and a lack of standardization exists for defining what counts as "philanthropy." The lack of clarity and external verification provides banks significant leeway to claim how much they give back to the community.

In other findings, NCRP noted the importance of community advocates and a robust philanthropic culture in one or both banks prior to a merger or acquisition in continuing charitable giving programs after the merger.

Banking on Philanthropy and an executive summary are available for free download on the NCRP Web site. For media interviews, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

NCRP is a national watchdog, research and advocacy organization that promotes public accountability and accessibility among foundations, corporate grantmakers, individual donors and workplace giving programs. For more information on NCRP or to join, please visit www.ncrp.org or call (202) 387-9177.

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