UniCredit chairman Giuseppe Vita and chair of the UniCredit Foundation Maurizio Carrara last night presented awards to the highest achievers in the initiative promoted by UniCredit employees within the Gift Matching Programme at a ceremony in the UniCredit Tower in Milan.
The Gift Matching Program is organised by the banking group's corporate foundation in support ofnon-profit projects benefiting social cohesion, research and international cooperation. The 2014 programme involved 15 nations (Austria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine and Hungary) and attracted donations totalling 1,815,000 euros which, when matched by the UniCredit Foundation, rose to over 3.6 million euros. All this was thanks to the direct commitment of the 15,500 Group employees who supported the 473 projects.
The Gift Matching Program started in 2003, allowing the UniCredit Foundation to back the employees who are personally committed to these projects by doubling the donations they raise. This represents a pioneering initiative in the Italian and European business world, reinforcing the high degree of solidarity and commitment of the participating employees, whose number has continued to grow over the last twelve years.
"UniCredit Foundation relies a great deal on the commitment of the employees," said Maurizio Carrara, the chairman of UniCredit Foundation, "and since 2003 it has dedicated the Gift Matching Programme to them, along the lines of the great corporate foundations in the English-speakingcountries. During 2003-2014 the funds donated jointly with the employees in all geographical areas totalled 39.4 million, in support of around 4,400 projects. In Italy alone in 2014, almost 6,000 employees were involved in various ways in solidarity projects, collecting 1.1 million euros in support of 240 projects. Impressive figures, in terms both of the number of countries involved and the active participation of the employees, who have shown such commitment and solidarity."
Milan, 10 March 2015