The lack of opportunities and social injustice mark millions of lives worldwide. From our position, companies have the power to have an impact on people and help the most needy. Santander Social Projects are our way of promoting initiatives that improve society.
 

One of our main commitments is to help people prosper. With the “Euros from your salary” programme, our employees in Spain donate part of their salary to charitable causes to support a total of 12 social projects. The proposals are chosen by the bank’s employees and receive more than EUR 40,000 each. In addition, Santander matches the amounts donated by employees to ensure that the projects have a greater impact on society. 
 

Since the launch of this programme 11 years ago, more than EUR three million has been distributed among 82 NGOs, helping over 45,000 people. In fact, the latest edition of “Euros from your salary” raised EUR 484,412, a 24% increase in the last five years, during which employee donations have been gradually growing, and therefore so has the bank's contribution. Of the more than 300 projects presented during the latest edition, a committee of experts selected 30 finalists, of which the bank's workers chose the winning projects for each of the five categories: international cooperation, disability, health, social exclusion and early childhood education. 

Initiatives to make the world a better place

We have turned corporate volunteering into a tool to drive inclusive and sustainable growth in society. We strive to have an impact on all sectors, whether by improving the medical care provided to the elderly or by ensuring quality education for younger generations. We want to be part of those teams that put every effort into ending malnutrition in the most disadvantaged countries, into conducting research on diseases and their cures, or into preventing school bullying.

“All this would not be possible without the leadership of our sponsors, without the solidarity of the employees that donate euros from their payslip every month and, of course, without the organisations leading the projects, because they are the ones working every day to tackle the inequalities and injustices in our societies, they are the ones that help the most vulnerable groups,” emphasises our Group executive chairman in the latest edition of Social Projects. Although these initiatives have helped thousands of people, there is still a long way to go. We need do no more than take the first step.

Social projects winners 2019