What’s Next? A Major Lender’s New Pledge Builds on COVID and Racial Justice Responses
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New york office of capital one bank holding company. Isabelle OHara/shutterstock
This year, as communities were rocked by a global pandemic, corporate philanthropy earned its place as a first responder. Firms across all sectors were among the earliest and largest donors when the coronavirus hit, racking up $9 billion in giving—almost 64% of the $14 billion raised globally through all sources, according to data from Candid.
When a rising racial justice movement emerged just a few months later, many companies made a genuine push, albeit after a few false starts, to advance the issue within their own spheres of influence.
The question philanthropy faces now is what comes next—as the fallout from COVID-19 and the challenge of making real progress on entrenched racial inequity continue to loom large.
One financial services company, Capital One, is keeping its foot on the gas, recently launching its Capital One Impact Initiative, designed to help close equity gaps and build on-ramps to economic and social opportunity in sustainable ways.
The five-year, $200 million commitment is intended to spur economic growth in low- and moderate-income communities, winnowing disparities in housing, business opportunities, employment, racial equity and access to capital. The commitment will build upon two other major funding initiatives it launched this year, a $10 million commitment to racial equity, and a $50 million response to COVID-19.
The Present and the Future
Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One was founded more than 25 years ago by current Chairman and CEO Richard Fairbank. A financial holding company with credit card, consumer and commercial banking businesses, its physical footprint primarily spans New York and New Jersey, Louisiana, Texas, Maryland, Virginia and D.C. It has a workforce of roughly 52,000 employees, and reported revenues topping $33 million in its last fiscal year. Capital One has appeared on the Fortune 500 list 21 times, most recently last year, when it ranked 97.
When making the Impact Initiative announcement, the company drew a clear line between its new philanthropic investments and its core business activities, which it describes as supporting financial well-being through socioeconomic mobility, fostering a diverse workforce, increasing digital access and helping to create small businesses and affordable places to live.
Building Social and Economic Opportunity
Capital One Impact Initiative tactics center on three pillars: building thriving communities, advocating for an inclusive society, and creating tools to build financial wealth.
In Houston, that translates to supporting the Good Life Outcomes program of regional nonprofit Change Happens!, which advances social and racial justice through “awareness, advocacy and action” on behalf of Harris County’s education, healthcare and criminal justice systems. In the U.S. capitol, it means partnering with Empower D.C.’s grassroots planning efforts to shape equitable development in two neighborhoods, Barry Farm and Ivy City. And in New York City, the initiative will support the Vera Institute of Justice’s efforts to make the city a model for ending mass incarceration and criminalizing communities of color.
The initiative’s work aligns with the goals of the company’s separate Capital One Foundation, which supports a range of community initiatives, from education to workforce development.
The strategies also align with other financial institutions whose philanthropy typically gravitates toward bolstering the community development work they do to meet regulatory requirements, and allow growth. Much of Citibank’s recent pledge of $250 million toward building an inclusive recovery supports the same goals.
Building on a Social Justice Response
In June, Capital One made a $10 million commitment to advancing social justice for Black communities by establishing a program that will make dollar-for-dollar matches on employee gifts. Six selected organizations were eligible for support. Four work in the U.S., one works in Canada, and one works in the U.K.
Organizations in the states include Campaign Zero, which works to reduce police violence; the Equal Justice Initiative, which works to end mass incarceration and challenges excessive punishment; and the National Urban League, a civil rights leader since 1910. In Canada, the company will match gifts made to the Black Health Alliance, which addresses the health issues that impact Black communities. And in the U.K., Capital One supports Runnymede Trust, a racial equity think tank.
The company also made two new investments in national organizations, building on an existing relationship with the National Urban League and developing a new partnership with the Obama Foundation.
In a message to employees, Richard Fairbank rejected “racism in all its forms,” and expressed the hope that “together, we can harness the sadness, anger and energy of these difficult times to elevate the discussion, drive positive change, and create a greater sense of shared purpose and understanding.”
Building on a Pandemic Response
Capital One’s initial $50 million response to combating the pandemic focused on the “health, safety and well-being of its customers, employees and communities through relief funding, digital resources and assets it considers unique to the company, like virtual volunteerism, mentorships, employment readiness programs for job seekers, and the talents of matching learning and AI experts.”
Grants initially focused on helping organizations supporting food and hunger relief, housing security, small businesses and low-income individuals. The company and the Capital One Foundation combined to provide more than $1 million to Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization. A $25,000 grant helped support the children of impacted restaurant workers in the D.C., Southern Maryland and Northern Virginia area through CORE.
Representative support for small businesses included a $1 million grant to Opportunity Finance Network, a national network of community development financial institutions, and support for Accion, a lending organization serving small businesses on the East Coast, Chicago and San Diego.
Along with social justice, it also established an employee matching gifts program for COVID-19 relief. As community needs evolve, the company expects support to focus on digital education, supporting and educating students, and financial stability.
“For many segments of our society, the economic dislocation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the social inequities exposed by the killings of many Black Americans may be different in their proximate cause, but they are certainly not new,” says Andy Navarrete, Capital One executive vice president and head of external affairs.
“Instead, these events offer another window into the disparities of risks, opportunities and outcomes that persist in our society and reinforce what we know to be true: that we have much work to do to close the substantial gaps in racial justice, equality and wealth, and to ensure that everyone has a fair shot to live without fear and to achieve financial stability and well-being.”
