BofA’s Giving Record ‘Mediocre,’ Goldman’s Is ‘Miserly’: Charity Watchdog

The report also criticized the megabank foundations for poor transparency and verifiability for failing to say exactly which charities received grants. “Thus, the grantmaking of all four banks suffers from the same lack of transparency that afflicts most corporate philanthropy.”

In terms of grantmaking process, NCRP gave all the foundations a good grade for board governance, but said they all were substandard in terms of transparency and philanthropic codes of conduct.

NCRP explained its gloves-off scrutiny of megabank foundations. After acknowledging that for-profit corporations are not legally obligated to engage in philanthropy, it said it holds those that do to a lower standard of grantmaking effectiveness than it does nonprofit foundations.

“But the four megabanks invite tougher scrutiny than most corporate grantmakers because of their massive lawbreaking and because their aggressive PR campaigns to repair their public reputations boast generous and effective philanthropy,” the group said in a statement.

In comments to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, the banks pushed back, disputing the NCRP report’s criticisms. Bank of America said some three-fifths of its grantmaking last year went to general support.

JPMorgan Chase said its foundations give more that $200 million a year to worthy causes globally.