Community Engagement & Philanthropy

Harnessing our resources, expertise and passion to strengthen local communities.

Click through to learn about our 2024 impact in action. For detailed community engagement & philanthropy data, please see our corporate responsibility KPI webpage.

When it comes to considering potential employers, 75% of Gen Zers and millennials say an organization’s community engagement and societal impact is an important factor. This is supported by our own internal research, which shows that employees who participate in community engagement programs are more likely to recommend AT&T as a great place to work, feel empowered to make a difference and stay with AT&T long term. But community engagement isn’t just about the business case; it’s about the social case, too. When communities are strong and resilient, people thrive.

We’re taking action to help strengthen communities, bridge the digital divide, protect the environment and support people during times of need. To ensure we’re always delivering effective, locally relevant support, we tailor our efforts through:

• Philanthropic giving¹
• Employee volunteering and giving
• Disaster relief support

Fueling Progress with Philanthropic Giving

As a telecommunications company, we leverage our philanthropic giving to support digital inclusion, digital literacy and learning, and employee solutions that help connect people with skills, resources and opportunities for success in school and life. We focus primarily on underserved and low-income communities.

Find more information about our funding priorities in our Philanthropy Policy.

Inspiring Employee Engagement

Our employees share our passion for positive community impact. We empower them to turn that passion into action by getting involved with AT&T Believes®, our company-wide volunteering and giving program that empowers employees to unleash their spirit of service, year-round, within their local communities.

Through the AT&T Believes Volunteering and Giving portal, employees around the world can support the causes they care most about. They can also participate in company-sponsored volunteering and giving opportunities that focus on the two priorities of our wider corporate responsibility strategy:

• Bridging the digital divide
• Addressing environmental sustainability

Our flexible, year-round giving program enables all employees to donate to the causes they care about most. Through a dedicated platform, employees can donate to over 1.5 million charities, with eligible donations matched 100%, up to the value of $1,000 per employee per year.

We also offer Volunteer Rewards — grants based on time spent volunteering in the community — that can be directed to any eligible 501(c)(3) charity, up to the value of $1,000 per employee per year. We also provide many volunteer opportunities aligned with our two priority areas that select employees can participate in during working hours. In addition, we offer management employees a paid personal Community Day each year to encourage them to volunteer with nonprofits aligned with their personal interests.

Recognizing Community Dedication

We believe in celebrating employees who go above and beyond for their communities, recognizing outstanding commitment through our AT&T Believes Impact Award (previously our Community Impact Award). This award reinforces our core values and celebrates our culture by recognizing the efforts of our employees in making a significant impact in their local communities. Winners receive a charity award, which they can donate to a nonprofit of their choice, as well as a personalized gift in appreciation of their efforts.

Providing Disaster Relief

We want to be there for our local communities, including responding quickly when disaster strikes. We work with strategic nonprofit partners — such as Information Technology Disaster Resource Center (ITDRC), SBP, Télécoms Sans Frontières and Salvation Army — to provide solutions across all phases of disaster preparation and recovery, including:

• Resilience
• Preparedness
• Immediate relief
• Long-term recovery

Our employees globally play an active role in AT&T’s disaster relief efforts through volunteering.

Helping Those on the Front Line

Through our partnership with the federal government, we are honored to deliver America’s public safety network, FirstNet®, built with AT&T, covering more first responders than any other network nationwide. Recognizing the toll disaster response can have on first responders, we also helped establish the FirstNet Health and Wellness Coalition to coordinate a holistic first responder health and wellness approach. Additionally, through our therapy dog program, “ROG the DOG,” we support first responder wellness during times of crisis. 

Learn more about how we support first responders and network resilience in our Network Resilience issue brief.

Supporting Employees in Need

We created and oversee the AT&T Employee Relief Fund, which provides financial support to employees experiencing challenges beyond their control, including natural disasters, house fires or unexpected personal hardships. It’s funded by donations from our employees and matching grants from the AT&T Foundation.

Community Engagement & Philanthropy Governance

We encourage a spirit of service, guided from the top and overseen by various internal groups:

• Board of Directors’ Governance and Policy Committee: Oversees policies and procedures for philanthropic giving, including allocation parameters of corporate giving. Reviews all corporate and foundation contributions annually.
• AT&T Corporate Contributions Council: Comprises senior executives with responsibility for authorizing and facilitating philanthropic investments, as well as supporting qualifying organizations. Approves all corporate contributions.
• AT&T Foundation: Led by a board of directors that comprises company officers, with responsibility for supervising philanthropic investments. Approves foundation grants.
• Community Engagement Team: Responsible for managing all AT&T community engagement activities, including the AT&T Believes program.

Driving Philanthropy

Throughout 2024, we supported various organizations focused on the digital divide, social impact and environmental sustainability. In total, AT&T and the AT&T Foundation contributed $75.1 million, including in cash and $2.6 million in in-kind giving.

As well as working with the National Parent Teacher Association’s “Ready, Tech, Go!” program and the Older Adults Technology Services, we delivered philanthropic support to the American Library Association to expand digital literacy courses and workshops to underserved adults nationwide while increasing digital navigation services in public libraries. Collectively, these efforts helped engage an additional 15,750 learners. Read more in our Digital Divide issue brief.

We supported the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) by renewing the existing licensing agreement for the PhoneReady Quiz and providing AAP Chapter grants to increase knowledge and awareness of healthy digital habits. To increase awareness of the PhoneReady Quiz and AAP Family Media Plan, we managed multichannel promotional campaigns and created healthy digital habit toolkit materials to provide members with the tools they need to educate families on the importance of establishing healthy digital habits.

During the year, we also extended philanthropic support to organizations focused on environmental sustainability. For example, we teamed up with the Arbor Day Foundation to promote e-waste recycling through a tree planting initiative (read more in our Natural Resources issue brief). We also continue to support Third Derivative, a program developed by the Rocky Mountain Institute to accelerate sustainable technology innovation (read more in our Efficiency & Emissions issue brief).

Uplifting Communities Through Employee Action

In 2024, 35% of AT&T employees volunteered with, or gave to, causes close to their hearts. This includes over 19,000 employees contributing more than 395,000 volunteer hours, equivalent to more than $13.2 million in volunteered time.³⁴ More than 38,000 employees donated $11.5 million to 16,500 worthy causes.⁵ More than 38,000 employees earned Matching Gifts and Volunteer Rewards.

Through AT&T Believes, employees continued supporting community action across our focus areas.

Digital Divide

We offer various programs to engage employee volunteers in AT&T’s work to bridge the digital divide through our Connected Learning Centers. Tutoring and mentoring programs, delivered both online and in-person, connect employees directly with underserved learners to provide vital support. We deliver them in partnership with organizations such as The Dream Opportunity, CareerVillage and UPchieve.

Additionally, AT&T volunteers provide support to organizations like the Public Library Association as digital literacy workshop facilitators to help parents, families and seniors build the skills and confidence to use technology safely and responsibly.

Employees can also support our work with nonprofit device refurbishment partners to provide technology directly to learners who need it most. In 2024, through our free laptop efforts, volunteers helped distribute more than 40,000 devices to students and families across 47 states.

Additionally, 2024 marked the second year for our signature employee digital divide initiative — a three-month campaign that rallies employees across the company to take action toward closing the digital divide. We exceeded last year’s progress, with 13,000 AT&T employees volunteering to write 38,100 personal notes of encouragement that were packed with school supplies into 23,000 backpacks and donated — along with 23,000 laptops — to more than 125 nonprofit organizations serving students across 28 states. Our volunteers also helped distribute backpacks and laptops at 98 back-to-school community events.

Environmental Sustainability

Throughout April 2024, we hosted an Earth Month campaign centered around the theme of Connecting for a Cleaner Future. Employees were encouraged to support efforts in three areas:

• Giving Old Tech a New Life: Employees donated 11,070 pounds of e-waste — helping avoid approximately 15,545 pounds of carbon emissions by diverting tech from landfill. Additionally, funds were raised to keep tech out of landfills through a 2:1 donation match drive.
• Helping Keep America Beautiful: Clean-up kits were distributed to support environmental clean-up events. Additionally, employees participated in a fundraiser through the Charity Miles app in support of Keep America Beautiful and joined Earth Month-themed “walking webinars” to learn more about conservation.
• Taking a Journey to Carbon Neutrality: Employees attended an internal Lunch & Learn event about AT&T’s environmental leadership strategy.

Beyond Earth Month, we partnered with Keep America Beautiful to beautify Martin Luther King corridors in Dallas and Atlanta. Across several events, employee volunteers cleared litter, planted flowers and created more sustainable environments for the community.

AT&T Believes International

AT&T Believes International continues to increase levels of employee participation, supported by the launch of the AT&T Believes Volunteering and Giving portal for over 13,000 AT&T Mexico Mobility employees, enabling them to more easily track volunteer time and donate to causes. All registered employees also received a one-time credit for giving activities.

Across Mexico and India, we expanded and adapted our network of mobile classrooms and labs. In India, we adapted two existing mobile labs to support dark sky, as well as blue sky, scenarios. In Mexico, we approved expansion for a mobile classroom which, once launched, will be the first in Mexico to support dark sky scenarios.

We also maintain another AT&T Believes program — Revive Tu Cancha. Originally an AT&T Mexico initiative, this program is a cornerstone of our efforts to positively impact communities through the power of sport. Throughout 2024, we expanded Revive Tu Cancha into areas of the U.S., revitalizing sports courts while fostering community spirit and engagement. We also aim to build trust and drive brand loyalty, creating lasting relationships with the communities and reinforcing our presence in the market.

We completed eight projects to revive multipurpose courts across the U.S. In the run up to the 2026 World Cup, we have set a goal to revitalize 100 courts across the U.S. and Mexico.

Celebrating Standout Commitment

Having relaunched the former AT&T Community Impact Award as the AT&T Believes Impact Award in 2024, six employees received an AT&T Believes Impact Award in April. They were selected based on their outstanding community engagement efforts as tracked via our internal AT&T Believes Volunteering and Giving portal. One of the six recipients was named “Volunteer of the Year,” the highest honor available through this program. 

Supporting People in Times of Need

During 2024, we gave nearly $3.5 million in corporate disaster relief. As a result of our ongoing commitment, we were honored to be recognized for the Best Community Resilience and Disaster Response Program by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation in its 25th Annual Citizens Awards.

Following Hurricane Helene, AT&T employees came together to donate nearly $132,000, including matching grants from the AT&T Foundation, to support those impacted. Additionally, following Hurricane Milton, our people donated over $27,000, including matching grants, to disaster relief efforts.

We continue to show up for each other when it matters most and, in 2024, the Employee Relief Fund provided nearly $1.2 million in relief to nearly 1,200 AT&T employees recovering from personal hardships. 

Bringing Connectivity to Where It’s Needed Most

As part of our ongoing efforts to advance connectivity to underserved neighborhoods, in 2024, we partnered with the ITDRC to develop and deploy a Mobile Connectivity Center™ (MCC) — a 48-foot trailer equipped with devices and wireless internet connectivity. The MCC features 16 workstations with room for 20 people and includes air conditioning and heating. It has been designed to help expand access to connectivity, digital skills trainings and other resources across the United States. It can also be deployed as a vital resource following natural disasters — for example the 2024 hurricanes in Florida, North Carolina and Texas — helping communities get online, charge devices and remain connected with their loved ones.

Learn more about how the MCC is helping get more communities connected in our Digital Divide issue brief.