Community Impact & Philanthropy
With more than 41,000 restaurants globally as of the end of 2023, McDonald’s has a unique connection with communities the world over. We believe that comes with a responsibility to help support the people within them.
It’s a responsibility we take seriously ‒ because we believe that when our communities thrive, so does McDonald’s. By thinking globally and acting locally, we can be better equipped to effectively support anyone who works at or enters a McDonald’s restaurant and the communities we are all a part of.
McDonald's has repeatedly acted as a resource during times of need – showing up to help support people in the communities it serves.
Our Recent Progress
- Met the goal of reducing barriers to employment for 2 million young people in 2023, two years ahead of the 2025 target, reaching 2.2 million young people with training programs and/or employment opportunities in McDonald’s or participating Franchisee restaurants by the end of 2023.1
- Donated $500,000 in 2023 to support those impacted by the earthquake in Turkey.
- Recommitted our investment in Chicago by supporting a multimillion dollar grants program, which helps neighborhood organizations working to advance youth employment and education opportunities in the city.
- McDonald’s Corporation and its employees, in partnership with the Asian McDonald’s Operator Association and other Franchisees, donated over $143,000 to support relief efforts following the Maui wildfires.
- Provided over $13,000 in 2023 in financial assistance to U.S.-based Company Restaurant Staff (people who work in a McDonald’s restaurant that is owned and operated by the Company) experiencing hardship through the McDonald’s Operated Company (McOpCo) Employee Relief Program.
- Renewed our commitment to the American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) to proactively support disaster relief efforts with an annual pledge of $1 million.
- Donated one penny from every Happy Meal sold at participating McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S. to Ronald McDonald House Charities® (RMHC®), totaling over $5.8 million in 2023.
See our latest Purpose & Impact Report on the Goal Performance & Reporting page for our 2023 progress and performance.
Our Strategy
We aim to build strong and inclusive connections that deliver on the needs of the communities McDonald’s serves, because we believe that doing so is consistent with the Company’s business objectives and values. We are focused on partnering with organizations that share our Company’s core values, harnessing our size and influence to help maximize collective impact, while also strengthening relationships with the communities we serve.
Our Community Impact & Philanthropy strategy focuses on three key strategic outcome areas:
- Supporting families: Help address the needs of families and their well-being through the support of Ronald McDonald House Charities.
- Times of need: Help respond to the needs of people and communities in the face of crisis and hardship.
- Opportunity employment: Help reduce systemic barriers to employment.
Through our meaningful connections with community-based organizations we gain direct insights into the issues and challenges our communities face – not only where the Company has its corporate headquarters and other offices but also where Franchisees are both neighbors and business owners.
We updated the Community Impact Strategy in 2021 to consolidate and enhance the Company’s community support efforts. Our aim is to create opportunities that encourage Company employees, Franchisees and their employees, and customers to also get involved in meaningful campaigns and volunteering.
Tracking Philanthropic Investments
We want to create meaningful opportunities and convenient resources for Company employees to participate in supporting communities, including seeking out ways to make charitable contributions to locally relevant causes.
Our internal platform for organizing corporate contributions and employees’ philanthropic investments, launched in 2022, is used to track positive impact. The platform helps Company employees create, manage and report on volunteer events, and to donate to causes. The platform collates gift matching options for U.S.-based Corporate and Restaurant Staff and volunteer activities for global Corporate and Restaurant Staff in one central location.
Volunteerism
Our Global Volunteer Program, which was formalized in 2019, helps match volunteers with community needs. Through the program, individuals volunteer for various causes related to our key strategic outcome areas.
Giving back is a celebrated part of McDonald’s culture. All around the world, Company employees, Franchisees and their employees, and suppliers volunteer their time, skills and energy to support local communities through our Global Volunteer Program. We provide a volunteer framework and offer resources to help make it easy to give back. Full-time Company employees in the U.S. are eligible for up to three paid workdays (up to 22.5 hours) per year for approved volunteer activities during normal working hours with their manager’s approval.
Global Volunteer Month, launched in 2022, is an opportunity for Company, Franchisee and supplier employees around the world to get involved in their communities and give back by volunteering their time to important causes. The initiative is a testament of the Company’s purpose to feed and foster communities.
Families and Their Well-Being
Supporting Ronald McDonald House Charities
Our Community Impact & Philanthropy strategy includes McDonald’s continued support of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). The McDonald’s community – Company employees, customers, Franchisees and suppliers – donates to RMHC, including time, funds and in-kind services.
Find out more on our dedicated RMHC page.
Support During Times of Need
The Company supports charitable efforts for communities impacted by hardship and disaster, which we believe is a key part of helping to make a positive impact on those in need.
Disaster Response
The Company helps strengthen vulnerable populations across the globe through its support for community preparedness and capacity-building programs. We keep up to date with evolving global events so that we can proactively deliver aid where appropriate and necessary. Primarily, we work through the American Red Cross, providing donations that help it prepare to meet the needs of people affected by disasters, both big and small, around the world.
Locally Driven Needs
The Company has programs designed to help deliver long-term community support through focused grants and volunteer support. The Company’s established community programs and scale help support the locally relevant needs of Franchisees and the individuals they serve around the world.
In Chicago, where McDonald’s global headquarters is located, we take a multifaceted approach – combining philanthropic investments in local community organizations, Company employee volunteerism and leadership engagement.
Youth Opportunity
In 2018, the Company set a goal of reducing barriers to employment for 2 million young people by the end of 2025. The Youth Opportunity program, in collaboration with the International Youth Foundation (IYF), helps participants overcome barriers through preemployment job readiness training, employment opportunities and workplace development programs.
We surpassed this goal ahead of our target year, with 2.2 million young people having participated in training programs and/or been hired in Company-owned or participating Franchisee restaurants by the end of 2023.1
We recognize many populations face barriers to employment around the world, including but not limited to youth, refugees, senior citizens and people with disabilities. As we look to the future, we will assess potential new opportunities to build on the opportunity employment progress we have made so far.
Please see our latest Purpose & Impact Report (PDF – 6 MB) for recent examples of our global efforts.
Food Donations
The Company’s Global Food Disposition Policy aims to help ensure, as much as possible, that safe and quality food doesn’t go to waste, with surplus instead being redirected to help feed people and communities. We work with restaurants (both Company and Franchisee owned/operated) and our supply chain to donate meals and excess ingredients to families in need.
There are over 41,000 McDonald’s restaurants in over 100 countries as of the end of 2023. This means that donating food or supplies isn’t always straightforward, but with guidance from partners such as Food Donation Connection (FDC) and The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN), the Company, its Franchisees and suppliers have taken steps to help reduce food going to waste by redistributing it to people in need.
Find out more about our efforts to reduce food waste on our Packaging, Toys & Waste page.
Footnotes
1 This figure is based on actual and, in some cases, extrapolated hiring data for the following participating markets: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Mexico, NE India, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S. McDonald’s collects data from McOpCo and participating Franchisees, but extrapolates where it does not have access to the underlying data globally. Additional markets that provide training data include Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Mexico, NE India, the Netherlands, Panama, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S.
