Global Giving
We contribute to the well-being of the communities in which we operate through charitable giving, employee volunteerism and civic leadership. We believe the most effective charitable investments are made through strategic relationships with organizations dedicated to serving our communities, day in and day out.
Our global giving budget is balanced across our signature programs, local contributions and employee programs. The budget is approved annually by the Public Policy Committee of the Board of Directors.
Input and insight from business units are overlaid by uniform, global processes and policies to provide:
- Due diligence scrutiny of potential partners.
- Consistent project selection criteria and focus wherever we operate.
- Appropriate audits and document retention.
- Tracking and assessment of performance metrics and impact.
Signature Programs
Signature programs help unify our global giving around relevant themes and make our charitable investments program significantly more impactful.
Species and habitat preservation remain a primary focus of our global biodiversity signature program. In 2019, in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the ConocoPhillips SPIRIT of Conservation program hit a milestone goal. Program investments since 2005 have resulted in conservation of more than 300,000 acres of critical fish and wildlife habitat. Efforts to better understand, track and protect animal migration efforts continued to advance through several partnership programs including NFWF’s Big Game Migration program, eight Migratory Bird Joint Venture grassland conservation efforts, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Migratory Bird Center. Groundbreaking research findings by the Smithsonian were also featured on PBS as part of a three-day live migration television event.
Our Houston Signature Program continued to build on its math teacher development and student enrichment program success in 2019. Kicking off its third year, TORO’s Math Drills reached more than 1,800 teachers and 15,000 students. The Rice Applied Math Program (AMP!) and Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering (TAME) programs also provided creative and engaging learning experiences to improve students’ math scores.
Local Community Giving
In communities across the globe our taxes and investments contribute to economic growth and we also work to determine ways to be good neighbors. This includes working with community members and partners to meaningfully and measurably contribute to each community’s unique needs by identifying and addressing areas of local concern through charitable investments and volunteerism in support of education, health and safety, the environment, the arts, civic and social services and disaster relief. In 2019, efforts ranged from supporting the National Geographic Live speaker series in Canada and the U.S. to the Qatar National Public Safety Campaign.
Through the Heart for Heart project in China, we fund surgeries for children from low-income families who suffer from congenital heart diseases. To build long-term capacity, ConocoPhillips China worked with Children’s HeartLink and hospitals in China to develop the Creating Hope for Hearts project, which funds and supports overseas training for medical professionals from different provinces. Read more about the effort.
ConocoPhillips sponsors the Nordland Music Festival (Nordland Musikkfestuke), one of Norway’s largest music festivals, which includes jazz, contemporary music, folk music, musical theater, dance and pop/rock concerts. In addition to performances in churches and concert venues around the city, the festival is famous for its spectacular and nontraditional outdoor concerts.
Read more about some of our efforts.