IBM, the leading multinational technology and consulting corporation in the United States believes in playing a responsible role in society, according to its Corporate Social Responsibility policy. It has a focus on specific societal issues such as the environment, community economic development, education, health, literacy, language and culture.
Environment remains a key area for IBM where it seeks to achieve results consistent with environmental leadership and ensure that it is vigilant in protecting the environment across all of its operations worldwide. It also issues its environment report annually. Its Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs team work to address local needs and help improve the communities where IBM centers are based worldwide. It also has volunteer programs for its employees.
The IBM grant program is where the company provides direct grants to NGOs and communities worldwide. As an IT-oriented group, its Services Grants provide support to educational institutions and NGOs for enhancing their IT infrastructure and leadership and technology skills. Besides this, there are other types of grants such as IBM Community Grants and Matching Grants which are mostly available for US-based nonprofits.
However, the Smarter Cities Challenge is an international competition organized by IBM on annual basis offering support of up to $50 million worth of services and technology. But this Challenge is only for local governing bodies, not for NGOs.
You can learn more about this Challenge at this link.
