Supporting the Third sector

For Funding is the social crowdfunding platform of the Group aimed at organisations, non-profit associations and foundations which want to launch a fundraising campaign. The initiatives are selected by an internal team which assesses the beneficiary organisation and the type of projects so as to enhance the value of the most deserving.

Each transaction is free for both the donor and the beneficiary. For Funding is a unique and distinctive model in the world of social crowdfunding and for loans to non-profit projects.In 2022, For Funding raised about 12.5 million euro in donations, confirming a continuous growth in volumes on an annual basis after being ranked in 2020 as the leading Italian Donation Crowdfunding platform.

As part of the For Funding platform, the FORMULA programme dedicated to environmental sustainability, social inclusion and access to the labour market for people in hardship continued throughout 2022. Since the launch of the programme, every three months the Bank’s territorial structures identify excellent non-profit organisations at local level which carry out interventions that are essential for the assistance and development of communities in their area, with which the Bank defines a dedicated project and launches a fundraising to support the programme through the For Funding platform. In 2022, a total of about 6.7 million euro was raised (including donations from the Bank and customers) under the FORMULA programme, partly for the implementation of 36 projects at local level (around 4 million euro) and partly to support environmental sustainability programmes throughout Italy promoted through the Ri-Party-Amo initiative (about 2.7 million euro).

For some products subscribed by customers, the Bank donates part of its margins to For Funding projects with a mission consistent with that of the products themselves; in particular:

• 30 euro for each Green Mortgage disbursed and 10 euro for some types of loans are donated to environmental sustainability projects. In 2022 these donations supported the project “Ri-party-amo”, in partnership with WWF Italia and Jova Beach Party and the project “Forestami - Dona per un futuro più verde” (Forestami - Donations for a greener future) of the Fondazione di Comunità Milano;
• 200 euros for each S-Loan subscribed by customer companies  are donated to projects with a high social impact. In 2022, donations helped to support the project “A Scuola di Inclusione: giocando si impara” (School of Inclusion: Learning through play) promoted by the Unione Italiana Lotta alla Distrofia Muscolare - National Department (UILDM);
• 50% of Exclusive credit card interchange fees support projects to help social vulnerabilities. In 2022, the contributions were allocated to the project “Prendersi cura non ha scadenza” (Caring has no expiry date) of the Fondazione Don Gino Rigoldi and the project “Percorsi per Ripartire insieme” (Pathways for Starting Over Together) of the Comunità S. Egidio.

The Bank has developed a rating model of social businesses that integrates the traditional methods of bank analysis with important elements for the non-profit organizations, such as the ability to fund raising, success in projects funded by Public bodies and Foundations.
In this way, we assess clients on elements of debt sustainability and social projects, that also take into account the peculiarities of the non-profit world and of its specific "intangible asset".