Corporate Social Responsibility

Environmental sustainability

During 2020 the IMF’s primary focus was on helping its members deal with the challenges brought by the pandemic, but the organization continued to incorporate environmental sustainability considerations into its operations. Its total greenhouse gas emissions fell by about 70 percent compared with 2019¹, largely because of the sharp drop in business travel as a result of the pandemic. Emissions from its electricity consumption were down 35 percent, in large part as a result of lower building occupancy. Moreover, the ongoing transition to cloud-based information technology services will enable the IMF to reduce on-premises computing and energy consumption permanently. The IMF will continue to make its operations greener and, in doing so, make some of the pandemic-related gains permanent.

1. Data is for calendar year 2020.

Giving Together

Giving Together, the IMF’s philanthropic program, is supported by donations from employees and retirees and funding from the IMF’s corporate-giving initiatives.

The COVID-19 crisis fundamentally affected the program by transforming in-person into virtual interactions and shining a spotlight on the immense need both within local communities and around the world. Staff and retirees responded with unprecedented support. Total funding from employee and retiree donations, Giving Together grants, and IMF corporate matching and donations resulted in the program providing more than $4.6 million to charitable causes in FY 2021—the largest amount ever.

Giving

This year’s giving campaign raised a total of $2.8 million to support organizations in the Washington, DC, metro area and across the globe, representing a 21 percent year-over-year increase and shattering records for both dollars raised and staff participation. In addition, the Giving Together program organized fundraisers for relief efforts for disasters in Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Lebanon, Nicaragua, the Philippines, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thailand, and Vietnam, with more than $380,000 raised in support of critical relief programs on the ground.

In total, employee and retiree donations, plus matching funds, raised $4.1 million to support charitable causes and humanitarian relief efforts during FY 2021—exceeding the $3.6 million raised the previous year.

Grants

The IMF also awarded $535,000 in grants to charities worldwide in FY 2021. Given the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on nonprofits and the communities they serve, many of this year’s grants were awarded to programs and services that have specific operational support requirements owing to the COVID-19 crisis or support groups disproportionately affected by COVID-19. This included exceptional grants to nonprofits working to advance issues of racial and social justice in the United States, and matching grants to initiatives led by the IMF Staff Association for the WHO and for hospitality workers impacted by the crisis. In total, grants were awarded to 28 organizations across four continents.

Volunteerism

To support their local communities, even—and especially—against the backdrop of COVID-19, the IMF staff found new, creative ways to make an impact through volunteerism. The Giving Together program launched a photo contest in conjunction with this year’s giving campaign, and staff members shared entries that highlighted the breadth of their activities—preparing healthy meals for hungry families, volunteering with their local libraries, supporting elderly neighbors in need, and completing socially distanced fitness challenges for a range of causes.

In addition, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, staff members participated in a virtual volunteering event in partnership with Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop, a Washington, DC, nonprofit that helps incarcerated youth through workforce development, violence prevention, and promotion of the literary arts.