The Verizon Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, donating about $70 million per year to nonprofit organizations, with a focus on education, domestic violence prevention, and energy management.[1][2] As of September 2014[update], the
Foundation Center ranked the Verizon Foundation as the 16th largest corporate foundation by total giving.[3] Between 2000 and 2012, it awarded a total of more than half a billion dollars in grants[4] to over 50,000 nonprofits.[5] Verizon has been involved in a number of education initiatives, especially related to
STEM fields,[4] including: a national competition for students to develop mobile application concepts;[4] the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program, providing professional development for teachers in underserved areas;[6] and pledging $100 million in cash and in-kind services as part of President Obama's ConnectED program to provide students with wireless service, software, and electronic devices.[7] The company also runs HopeLine, which provides used
mobile phones to victims of domestic violence,[8] and a program that offers grants for victims of domestic violence to start or grow home-based businesses.[9] As of October 2014, HopeLine had given over $21 million to organizations in the U.S. and approximately 180,000 devices to victims.[10] As part of an initiative to reduce the company's carbon intensity metrics by 50 percent by 2020,[11] Verizon announced planned investment of $100 million in 2013,[12] and a further $40 million in 2014 to install solar panels and natural gas fuel cells at its facilities.[11] The increased capacity would make Verizon the leading solar power producer among U.S. communications companies.[11]