Washington, D.C. (December 16, 2009) - D.C. United and its charitable arm, United for D.C., today announced a partnership with the Spanish bank Caja Navarra (CAN), a pioneer in Banca Civica (Civic Banking). The partnership aims to expand United for D.C.’s three signature programs: United Reads, Kicks for Kids and United Soccer Club.
“We are very excited about this partnership,” said Stephen Zack, President of the Board of United for D.C. and D.C. United’s Executive Vice President. “It will create great opportunities to help our community.”
CAN is expanding its revolutionary “Banca Civica” concept to the U.S. In order to do so, CAN is developing strategic alliances with a very selective number of U.S. non-profit groups, such as United for D.C. United for D.C. will present projects within CAN’s social platform to attain support from CAN’s citizens, U.S. corporations operating in Spain and U.S. citizens. Through the bank’s civic banking model, customers get to decide which social projects or charities will be the recipient of 30% of the profit that their accounts generate in the bank.
“We combine commercial and financial benefit; it’s a win-win situation,” said Enrique Goñi, CAN’s CEO. “United for D.C. wins because they get additional funding without investing resources. Washington D.C.-area youth win because they obtain more resources for the programs they participate in. Thus, CAN establishes a long-term relationship with United for D.C. and its supporters, building the foundations for our development in the United States of America.”
About Caja Navarra
As one of the fastest growing and most reputable financial institutions in Spain, Caja Navarra (CAN) has a unique and revolutionary model, Banca Civica, where the customers are called citizens because they have rights. CAN tells its citizens how much the bank earns with them and then the citizens decide which, among over 5,500 social projects (www.cajanavarra.es/es/tus-derechos/tu-eliges-tu-decides/elige-tus-proyectos/), will be the recipient of 30% of the profit that their accounts generate in the bank. This model has been carried out successfully in Spain for six years. For more information visit the CAN website at www.cajanavarra.com
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About United for D.C.
United For D.C., Inc. was founded on January 8, 2002 as the charitable arm of Major League Soccer’s D.C. United. United For D.C. is a 501(c) 3 organization chartered to serve the Washington, D.C. community through the creation or support of programs, events and organizations that advance educational and social welfare opportunities (primarily health and recreational) for the area’s youth, particularly those who may be economically, physically or mentally disadvantaged.
Broadcasting and P.A. Request: When speaking of the organization, please refer to the team as either “D.C. United” or “United,” but not “the D.C. United” or “the United.” We appreciate your cooperation.
Doug Hicks,
dhicks@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5448,
Boris Flores,
bflores@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5452,
Kyle Sheldon,
ksheldon@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5450 or
Cristina Cruz,
ccruz@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5440
