Beyond Caterpillar: Investing in Communities
Building resilient communities is a core priority for Caterpillar’s philanthropic organization, the Caterpillar Foundation. The Foundation provides resources to organizations around the world to help build stronger, more sustainable communities. Caterpillar employees generously volunteer in the communities where they live and work — whether at a youth soccer game, in food pantries or through STEM education in programs like FIRST Robotics.
Since its creation in 1952, the Caterpillar Foundation has granted more than $935 million to organizations to help build resilient communities. The Foundation’s global work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, workforce readiness, natural infrastructure, access to basic services and disaster relief has helped communities achieve sustainable progress and improve the lives of people around the world.
Caterpillar employees and retirees demonstrated remarkable generosity in 2023 with a record-breaking $14.8 million in pledges to United Way chapters across the United States, Mexico, Canada and Panama — placing Caterpillar among the top ten companies that have contributed to United Way. Additionally, via the Foundation’s Matching Gifts and new Volunteer Service Match programs, $10.8 million and over 109,000 hours of volunteer time were given to thousands of charities across the globe. In times of crisis, Caterpillar, employees, dealers and the Foundation swiftly responded to global disasters by supporting response organizations.
Caterpillar Foundation Highlights in 2023
$43.5M
granted
$10.3M
employee matching gifts
$3.7M
disaster response
56K
projected
individuals gained
industry-recognized credentials
546
water systems
projected to be
installed
4,351
community partners
$514K
volunteer service match
465K
acres to be restored
93K
projected individuals
with access to STEM
education programs
47
countries supported
Creating the Workforce of the 21st Century
The Caterpillar Foundation understands the importance of preparing the next generation for the challenges of today and tomorrow through STEM, technical and vocational education and training. The Foundation donated nearly $13 million across 30 countries in 2023 to equip individuals and communities with the skills, resources and services they need to thrive in our changing world.
Through collaboration with the International Youth Foundation’s EquipYouth program, young individuals in Latin America are provided with manufacturing and IT skills training. The program has set many of its participants on a path to success, with an 85% completion rate and 63% of graduates securing employment.
Establishing Natural Infrastructure
Over the past two decades, the Foundation’s innovative approaches to nature-based solutions help create resilient, more sustainable communities that thrive in a rapidly changing world. In 2023, the Foundation supported 20 organizations in 21 countries in building basic infrastructure services, like water and energy, and restoring natural ecosystems to withstand natural disasters and environmental challenges.
One organization the Foundation supports is Asociacion Reforesta, a Spanish organization devoted to natural restoration. Volunteers for Reforesta have planted more than 6,000 native seedlings in several drove roads in the Madrid region. These reforestations strengthen the ecological corridor function along these historical livestock routes to fight against habitat fragmentation and soil erosion, and provide food and shelter to several species.
Disaster Relief
Lives are turned upside down when disasters strike. That is why the Caterpillar Foundation donated $3.7 million to support disaster preparedness and response efforts in 2023.
The Caterpillar Foundation is a long-standing member of the American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program. The Foundation’s annual donation of $1 million helps ensure that the American Red Cross is able to pre-position supplies and personnel and be on the ground immediately after disasters big and small, including floods, storms and countless other crises across the United States. This support also aided in alleviating suffering around the world through the global Red Cross and Red Crescent network, including providing relief to those affected by the Türkiye earthquake and Middle East Humanitarian Crisis. Through this support, the Red Cross can help communities prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters big and small around the globe.
China Foundation for Rural Development (CFRD) is another organization the Foundation supports to assist those impacted by disasters. In 2023, CFRD successfully provided support for multiple disasters — from flooding and mudslides to power outages. The Foundation’s support helped CFRD distribute essentials such as drinking water, blankets, insect repellent, flashlights and power banks for phones to many communities.
Diversity & Inclusion
Communities are strongest when there is equality for all.
Access to clean water and safe sanitation impacts every facet of life, from health to education to economic outcomes. Vulnerable populations, including low-income communities and people of color, are most impacted. The Navajo Nation is one of the hardest-hit pockets of water poverty in the United States.
DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project is an innovative Indigenous-led field team working to get clean water to homes without access to piped water or sewer lines. With the help of the Caterpillar Foundation’s funding, DigDeep has committed to serving more than 1,000 individuals on the Navajo Nation through off-grid water and sanitation solutions that bring clean, running water and safe sanitation into homes across the Navajo Nation. Not only does the program provide much-needed water, but the community-managed approach creates meaningful employment opportunities with benefits, including employer-paid health coverage, a sanitation and septic installation program and the Navajo Nation’s first-ever plumbing certification training program.
Caterpillar Foundation and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)
The Caterpillar Foundation’s investments align with several of the UN SDGs. The Caterpillar Foundation works to build resilient communities in the places where Caterpillar employees live and work and where there is need.
