Posted on April 9, 2012

Walmart, Walmart Foundation Announce $958.9 Million in 2011-12 Global Giving

Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have announced that during the fiscal year that ended on January 31, they awarded a total of $958.9 million in cash and in-kind gifts to organizations around the globe.

Walmart's charitable giving grew nearly 20 percent in 2011, largely due to increased in-kind donations to local foodbanks from Walmart stores, Sam's Club locations, and distribution centers. In total, the company and its foundation awarded $872.7 million in cash and in-kind gifts in the United States, up from $732 million the previous year, and $86.2 million in cash and in-kind gifts outside the U.S., up from $66.8 million in 2010.

In addition, Sam's Club and the Sam's Club Giving Program awarded a total of $101.3 million in cash and in-kind gifts, including nearly fifty million pounds of food, or more than thirty-eight million meals, while Walmart and Sam's Club customers and associates across the globe raised $140 million through in-store giving programs in support of local charities.

"In the communities we serve across the globe, we want to use our size and scale to positively impact social issues," said Walmart Foundation president Sylvia Burwell. "Whether it's the three hundred thousand people we helped provide nutrition education to or the sixty thousand women factory workers we will help develop career and life skills, what's important [to us] is making change happen."