AMD in the Community 

Putting People First

Approach

AMD is built upon the value of putting people first - our employees, our customers, our shareholders, our neighbors and our communities around the world.  Our first priority is to invest in long-term programs, primarily in education, that promote successful communities and an improved quality of life. We have a long-standing heritage of strategically investing our core assets of time, money, technology, and volunteer expertise in organizations to help solve issues at the local level. As a result, our involvement helps strengthen our communities while enriching the lives of thousands of AMD volunteers around the globe.

Policies and Practices

AMD first recognized the importance of investing in communities more than 25 years ago, when the company's board of directors voted to set aside funds for charitable contributions. Since then, AMD has maintained a strong commitment to our communities worldwide, even during challenging financial times.  

• AMD Foundation
• Corporate Contributions
• Employee Involvement
• University Education

Education is the primary focus for our community support and strategic philanthropy.  As the great equalizer, education improves a community's quality of life by opening doors for its youth and creating a sustainable economic climate for years to come.

AMD strategically invests in all levels of education - primary/secondary and university - to support the development of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills necessary to navigate an ever-increasing technology driven world.  AMD Changing the Game, an initiative of the AMD Foundation, promotes the use of youth game development as a tool to inspire learning and improve STEM skills.

We contribute primarily to organizations that enhance education initiatives but we also support programs in our communities that contribute to their overall quality of life. We use a variety of vehicles to support our commitments to education and quality of life.

AMD Foundation

In 2008, AMD formed the AMD Foundation with a mission to connect and empower individuals with knowledge, thereby opening doors to opportunity. Foundation assets are specifically invested in the following areas through 501(c)(3) nonprofits and schools that are located near a major AMD site.   

AMD Changing the Game - An initiative of the AMD Foundation, AMD Changing the game is designed to help youth harness the power of digital games with social content, while learning critical education and life skills. Through the process of developing and playing their own issue-themed games, AMD Changing the Game participants can improve STEM skills and possibly pursue a career one day in game development or a similar technical field.

In January 2009 AMD announced the availability of Let the Games Begin: A Toolkit 4 Making Social Issue Games. The toolkit is designed to help nonprofit organizations create social issue games on such topics as the environment, energy consumption, poverty and health. Produced by Games for Change with support from the AMD Foundation's AMD Changing the Game initiative, the toolkit includes examples of successful games with social content as well as in-depth presentations by key game-design experts. The toolkit is free of charge and available at www.gamesforchange.org/toolkit. Learn more about AMD Changing the Game.

AMD Employee Giving Program - AMD supports employees' community interests by matching their personal donations of time and money to local organizations and schools.  Through the Grant Incentive for Volunteer Efforts (GIVE) program, AMD contributes a grant to eligible organizations for up to $15 per hour that our U.S.- and Canada-based employees and their spouses spend volunteering.  AMD also matches employee contributions to broaden their impact through the Matching Gifts program.  As part of this program, AMD matches 50 percent of the first $3,000 in charitable contributions made by each employee in a calendar year. Some major AMD sites in locations other than the United States and Canada have also implemented their own employee giving programs that are tailored for their region.

Corporate Contributions

AMD contributes annually through grants and AMD-based technology donations to support critical services administered by nonprofit organizations, schools and universities located near AMD facilities in communities throughout the world. The majority of our donations target existing programs with longstanding community partners. We also proactively seek out new opportunities with local organizations that creatively help support our giving areas.

In some cases, AMD donates goods or products to fulfill a specific charitable need in the community. In 2008, we donated reusable technology, equipment and furniture, as well as other in-kind contributions around the world.

In 2008, our global grants (direct) and in-kind contributions totaled $3.3 million while contributions through the AMD Foundation totaled $330,000.  Approximately 50 percent of our total global contributions in 2008 were directed toward education with the remainder directed toward a variety of quality of life initiatives.  More detailed information and data regarding AMD's contributions, including a breakdown by geographic region and giving category, is available here.

Employee Involvement

An essential element of AMD's approach to community involvement is employee volunteerism. We encourage our employees to volunteer, and AMD supports their efforts in a variety of ways-by coordinating company-sponsored volunteer events, connecting employees with volunteer opportunities in their local communities, and matching employees' charitable gifts of time and money.

In addition to participating in AMD-sponsored volunteer events, many of our employees around the world regularly give their personal money, time, and talents to enrich their local communities. Our employees in the U.S. and Canada can find rewarding volunteer opportunities located near their home, office, or even virtually using AMD's online tool, Volunteer Match, with a database of more than 30,000 activities. In other locations, AMD employees organize volunteer projects with local nonprofit organizations.

In 2008, AMD employees contributed 6522 hours of their personal time in support of education and quality of life initiatives and donated 1592 units of blood through on-site blood drives.  This level of involvement equates to seven percent of the AMD workforce volunteering in one or more initiatives. 

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Volunteer Hours	7167	9476	4305	6852	6522
Units of Blood Donated	2794	2448	1233	1267	1592

University Education

At the university level, AMD funds numerous programs via contributions, faculty endowments, student scholarships and the use of AMD technology.  In 2008, our contributions to university education included more than $690,000 in grants and approximately $10,000 in in-kind contributions. 
 
In North America, we have an active university co-op program, bringing students from local and national universities into the workplace, and AMD employees serve as adjunct faculty, guest lecturers and advisory committee members to bring real-world technology to the classroom. AMD also works with other companies, non-governmental organizations, and governments to support engineering and technical curricula that will help educate and empower the next generation of innovators.