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Wells Fargo Community Investments Continue to Grow; Rises 9% to $219 million; Volunteer Hours Top 1.3 million

^{Published on 2011-02-15 08:05:26 - Market Wire}
 

SAN FRANCISCO--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) announced today that it invested a record $219 million in 19,000 nonprofits in 2010, up 9 percent over 2009. In addition, Wells Fargo team members contributed more than $55.3 million and 1.3 million volunteer hours to 25,000 nonprofits and schools to help their neighborhoods and communities succeed.

"I continue to be amazed each year at the growing response, participation, and compassion our team members show by generously investing their time, talent, and personal financial resources to support their communities, neighbors and even fellow team members"

aEveryone has been touched in some way by the current economic challenges, so I couldna™t be more proud of our company and the generosity of our team members,a said John Stumpf, chairman, president and CEO of Wells Fargo. aOur company continues to be committed to using our financial resources and expertise, working closely with nonprofits and other stakeholders, to create long-term economic growth and quality of life for everyone in the communities we serve.a

As part of its giving, Wells Fargo invested $66.4 million in 8,000 educational programs and schools around the U.S. Wells Fargo also provided $61.1 million in grants to nonprofits focused on community development in distressed communities, including affordable housing, homeownership counseling, financial education, workforce development and job creation. In addition, Wells Fargo contributed:

aI continue to be amazed each year at the growing response, participation, and compassion our team members show by generously investing their time, talent, and personal financial resources to support their communities, neighbors and even fellow team members,a said Jon Campbell, head of the Social Responsibility Group at Wells Fargo. aOur team members truly recognize the important role we play in helping advance social, economic, and environmental opportunities in the communities where we work, live, and do business.a

Corporate Social Responsibility Report

Wells Fargo also announced its latest Corporate Social Responsibility Report aWorking Together for the Common Gooda is now available at[ www.wellsfargo.com/about/csr ].In this report, the company provides an update on its progress to integrate social and environmental responsibility into its business practices, operations and culture.

Team Member Giving and Volunteerism

In 2010, 39,386 team members recorded 1.3 million volunteer hours, up 10 percent from 2009. According to Independent Sector, a U.S. coalition of more than 550 philanthropic organizations, the value of one volunteer hour is $20.85, so our team members contributed $28.2 million in volunteer time.

Each fall, the annual Community Support and United Way Campaign encourages team members to donate to any nonprofit, school or religious institution of their choice. One hundred percent of team member donations go to the organizations they choose. Wells Fargo pays all processing costs, and gifts to qualifying schools through the campaign a" and year-around a" are matched up to $5,000 per team member.

In 2010, Wells Fargo team members contributed more than $36.7 million to more than 25,000 nonprofits and schools during the campaign. Combined with other year-round donations to nonprofits, team member donations exceeded $55.3 million, a 31.7 percent increase over the $41.9 million contributed by team members in 2009, and the eighth straight year of double-digit increases in pledge totals.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.3 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, the Internet (wellsfargo.com and wachovia.com), and other distribution channels across North America and internationally. We want to help all of our customers succeed financially and create long-term economic growth and quality of life for everyone in our communities. In 2010, the Company invested a record $219 million in grants in 19,000 nonprofits, and team members contributed more than 1.3 million volunteer hours around the country. For more information, please visit: [ www.wellsfargo.com/about/csr ].