Wainwright is Considered One of the Leading Socially Responsible Financial Institutions in the Country.

Greater Boston PFLAG Newsletter
By George Clattenburg

May 2002

Wainwright Bank & Trust Company, a small publicly owned bank located in Boston with several branches in surrounding communities, continues to set levels of social justice activism for other corporations to emulate. Wainwright is considered to be one of the leading socially responsible financial institutions in the country. It won national and international awards and recognition from such organizations as the Center for Responsibility in Business, Business Ethics, and the Advocate, and has been profiled for its social activism on the PBS program, American Business Review. Further, Harvard's Business School has developed a case study of Wainwright's outreach to the GLBT community that is being taught on a national level.

Wainwright has demonstrated its commitment to social justice by providing more than $200 million to help finance a variety of socially responsible projects. Among them are homeless shelters, breast cancer research, environmental protection, housing for those living with HIV/AIDS, immigration services, and special needs housing. Closer to home, Greater Boston PFLAG has been a financial beneficiary of Wainwright's Community Card, a program Wainwright initiated in 1994.

The Community Card program, a Master Card that provided for 1% of the gross expenditures charged to the card to be distributed among several non-profits in the Boston area as chosen by the cardholder. The 1% set-aside is considerably higher than that of the other affinity card programs. In addition to Greater Boston PFLAG, other organizations who have benefited from the Community Card are the AIDS Action Committee, AIDS Housing Corporation, BAGLY, Boston Gay Men's Chorus, Boston Women's Fund, Fenway Community Health Center, GLAD, HRC, Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, Pride in Scholarship, Rosie's Place, and Victory Programs. Since the inception of the Community Card program in 1994, Wainwright has distributed over $300,000 to these organizations. More specifically, Greater Boston PFLAG has received over $25,000 or more than $4,000/year.

Unfortunately, economics and regulatory realities of the credit card industry are forcing Wainwright to discontinue the Community Card, one of the most admired and unique affinity cards in the country. In January, Wainwright advised their Community Card holders that the Community Card program would be discontinued after March 31, 2002. However, in typical Wainwright fashion, they also told all nonprofit organizations benefiting from the program that Wainwright would continue to fund them through December 2002, at the same level provided in 2001.

Another unique benefit, provided by Wainwright to all nonprofit organizations, is their offer for free web site hosting on CommunityRoom.net. Wainwright is the only bank in the country offering this service. One benefit of being linked to Wainwright's Community Room is that Greater Boston PFLAG and other nonprofit organizations can accept online donations. We suggest you surf communityroom.net and check out our web page as well as those of the other sister organizations. You can review upcoming events (like our Annual Recognition Dinner), read what experts are saying on various social justice issues and learn how to be an effective donor and how to donate online.

Many of us within the PFLAG community are proud to have a banking relationship with Wainwright Bank and we will continue that relationship despite the termination of the Community Card Program. For those of you who do not currently bank with Wainwright, we urge you to do so. They have a wide array of products and services including deposit accounts, home equity lines, mortgages and online banking. By banking with Wainwright you will be associated with one of the most socially responsible financial institutions in the country. For further information on Wainwright, call 800-444-BANK (2265) or e-mail them at mail@wainwrightbank.com.

At Wainwright, their motto, "BANKING ON VALUES" means a demonstrated financial and moral commitment to social justice issues. PFLAG is proud to have them as a partner in the struggle for equality.

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