Capital One Financial Corporation

Executive Board Leadership Program and Pro Bono Volunteer "Corps" program

Giving back to our communities through employee volunteerism has been a part of Capital One culture since the company's founding. As Capital One continued to expand its involvement in the community, a clear need to address capacity-building among community partners became evident. Furthermore, Capital One recognized the value of going beyond sweat-equity volunteerism to apply our unique business expertise and skills to support the efforts of community-based partners. The company's focus on pro bono volunteerism has grown organically over the past several years as informal volunteer efforts have expanded and Capital One has assumed responsibility for managing these programs.

Capital One's skills-based volunteerism program began in 2002, when the Brand Marketing department at Capital One created a formal service program to manage the numerous pro bono branding requests through a more efficient and streamlined process. This program grew into Brand Corps, the first designated pro bono service group within Capital One. This group of skilled volunteers provides in-kind creative services that deliver new and sustainable branding and marketing tools and capabilities to nonprofit partners. Several years later, Capital One developed Tech Corps to focus on growing the IT skills and capabilities of selected community-based organizations. Through the Tech Corps program, Capital One IT associates build upon and enhance technology capacity of community partners.

Simultaneously, in an effort to provide more community leadership opportunities for senior executives and deepen the company's relationships with key stakeholders in the communities where we operate, Capital One created the Executive Board Leadership Program (EBLP) in 2005.

Capital One invests in areas where our expertise and, most importantly, our talented associates can add value beyond a financial donation and help address the community's most pressing social issues. The company accomplishes this by providing financial support through philanthropic partnerships and by leveraging our human capital through the service of our associates. By engaging associates in pro bono service, Capital One helps to increase the capacity of top grantees, which enables these organizations to expand both the quality and quantity of services and programs they offer.

The Executive Board Leadership Program (EBLP)

The EBLP matches Capital One's most senior executives with the boards of our national and local nonprofit partners and equips these executives for excellent service. The program provides leadership development and personal growth opportunities for senior executives by allowing them to expand their established skill sets to effectively serve a nonprofit.

As part of executive orientation for newly promoted Vice Presidents, associates are briefed on the EBLP and are encouraged to join a targeted nonprofit board to enhance their leadership development plan. Community Affairs (in conjunction with Capital One University) offers an executive training seminar that is recommended for all board members. The seminar—created and co-facilitated by BoardSource—is an introduction to board service and covers a range of topics including legal and financial responsibilities of board members, fundraising and emerging trends in nonprofit governance.

Once an associate expresses interest in the EBLP, a member of the Capital One Community Affairs team conducts an executive interview to learn more about the person's interests and commences organizational research to identify the best potential matches for the executive. Community Affairs guides each executive through the nomination and appointment process and will continue to provide support once his/her term begins. Capital One currently supports 100 matches.

Brand Corps

Through Brand Corps, Capital One Brand Marketing provides in-kind creative services that deliver new and sustainable branding and marketing tools and capabilities to nonprofit partners. Brand Corps projects range from one-time, quick turnaround requests, to comprehensive marketing strategy projects that last up to three years.

Brand Corps partners benefit from a range of services designed to impart knowledge and help them become more efficient and effective in their marketing, eventually leading to self-sufficiency. The most comprehensive partnerships draw on all four tracks of services available:

• Brand Strategy: In-depth research and analysis of the organization's current and desired brand image, personality and identity, as well as the development of a new or refreshed brand and related standards.

• Marketing Strategy: A review and gap analysis of the organization's marketing plans and recommendations for maximizing resources.

• Direct Marketing: Counsel and guidance regarding donor growth strategies and prospecting in both online and offline channels, as well as support for enhancing and improving donor communications tools, such as annual reports and newsletters.

• Event Promotion: Assistance and guidance with development and execution of a comprehensive marketing plan for a fundraiser or brand awareness event. Support includes design of "save the date" postcards and invitations, sponsor mailings, event programs and signage, print ads, posters and banners.

In the first year of the program, Brand Corps served three partners. In 2007, the Corps supported 27 community partners including – for the first time – two national organizations and two nonprofits that serve Washington, D.C., with the balance of the Brand Corps' efforts dedicated to 23 partners in Central and Northern Virginia.

Tech Corps

Tech Corps is focused on growing the IT skills and capabilities of selected community-based organizations. Through the Tech Corps program, Capital One IT associates build upon and enhance technology capacity of community nonprofit partners. IT requests from partners are vetted through Capital One Community Affairs and then assigned to a group of associates from Tech Corps. Like Brand Corps, these projects range from one-time, quick turnaround solutions to more regular, ongoing support from Capital One associates for broader technological needs. Services performed by Tech Corps include software training, computer lab builds, mentoring, and strategic planning.

Over the next several years, Capital One plans to formalize our pro bono program across the company's business lines to create three distinct Corps programs: Brand Corps, Tech Corps and Finance Corps. Capital One is working to extend Brand Corps into the company's banking markets and will continue to grow the scope of work handled by Tech Corps. Finance Corps will begin with the Richmond market and then expand to other Capital One people centers.

By engaging associates and executives in pro bono service, Capital One helps to increase the capacity of top grantees, enabling these organizations to expand both the quality and quantity of services and programs they offer. Leveraging our executives' business skills in the community adds real value to our nonprofit partners' infrastructure and enhances their efficiency, helping them to better serve their constituents and communities. These partnerships provide community organizations with business counsel and leadership, as well as valuable networking opportunities and visibility for the organization and its mission.

From a core business standpoint, our work with community organizations helps us cultivate new markets while improving the business environment for future growth. Through our support for educational and community development programs that help foster economic security, we help to cultivate a prepared and capable workforce as well as a strong, educated consumer base.

Working closely within the community helps us strengthen relationships with our customers and our communities and helps us better understand their needs. Our senior executives serve as community liaisons, helping foster a one-on-one connection with the community, providing access to national and local decision makers, and demonstrating our commitment to community to internal and external audiences. Engagement in the community through the EBLP also supports the professional and personal development goals of our executives.

A recent internal study showed that Capital One's commitment to community enhances associate pride and loyalty and is one of the top three drivers in both associate engagement and retention. Internally, we also see the positive impact that our culture of volunteerism has on employee morale, motivation and loyalty. In fact, 79 percent of our associates report that their volunteerism makes them feel good about working for Capital One.

At this time, we can report that since Brand Corps' inception in 2002, the program's members have contributed 9,733 associate hours – valued at $875,000 – and have provided $472,969 in donated goods (e.g. printing). In 2007, Corps members donated approximately 1,500 volunteer hours, while total value of services provided reached was $215,000.

In 2007, a team led by Jay Liverman, Senior Director, IT, provided strategic IT assessment and planning to Goodwill of Greater Washington. "The input and value they provided was worth more money than we could afford," raved Catherine Meloy, President and CEO of Goodwill of Greater Washington.

"Plus," she added, "we would not have gotten the impartial and unbiased thought process that they provided. Jay has led the team and has been an incredible asset. What I liked the most from the meeting was their statement that this was not the last time we have seen them and that they would be glad to continue to walk us through the process. They are truly terrific partners and it is an incredible asset to the organization, and this organization will grow because of this exact participation from Capital One… [T]hey did not just give a report and then walk out the door, instead they gave us the report and wanted to continue to be partners. I just want to say thank you for all that Capital One has done for Goodwill of Greater Washington."

Through a partnership with St. Joseph's Villa (SJV), a Richmond residential facility and school for at-risk children, Capital One has focused on helping to increase SJV's operational capacity by developing engagement opportunities that draw on Capital One's core strengths.

Drawing on Capital One's extensive direct mail experience, Brand Corps worked with SJV development staff to create a more engaging and efficient direct mail program aimed at increasing the number of donors and improving responses from donors. After the first year of this new program, revenue from SJV's existing donors increased by 41 percent, and overall response to SJV direct mail increased by 51 percent. In addition, the prospecting strategy developed by Corps members has helped SJV access new sources for donors and aided SJV in stemming donor attrition.

The partnership has extended to improving efficiency in other operational areas. SJV has received extensive technical support from Capital One's IT team, including training 150 staff members on new technologies and the donation of 250 computers. These efforts have significantly improved SJV's ability and capacity to implement technology-based, efficient solutions to daily operational challenges.

Eighty-four of our most senior executives currently serve on 55 nonprofit boards on both a national and local level; and last year, volunteers in the Brand and Tech Corps provided a combined 1,860 hours of volunteer service, reaching 33 community partners with pro bono expertise. Many community-based partners receive multiple types of pro bono service from Capital One. For example, Junior Achievement Worldwide (JA), a nonprofit partner that works with young people on issues of financial literacy and work readiness, received visual branding assistance from Capital One Brand Corps, while Richard Woods, Senior Vice President for Community Affairs, serves on JA's Board. St. Joseph's Villa, located in Richmond, Virginia, benefits from board service from Karl Werwath, Capital One's senior vice president of operations in U.S. Card, as well as the support of Capital One associates across the U.S. Card division – from information technology, brand, human resources and regulatory operations. Across the United States, multiple chapters of Communities in Schools have Capital One senior executives on their boards.

In 2006, Capital One received the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Corporate Citizenship Award in recognition for our financial education initiatives. More information on our efforts to build strong and healthy communities can be found here.

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Snapshot

Industry

Financial Services

Headquarters

McLean, VA

Employees

31,800

Revenue

$15.19 billion

Contact

Carolyn Berkowitz, Vice President, Community Affairs
Capital One
Carolyn.Berkowitz@capitalone.com