The employees of Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield participate in determining where charitable contributions are distributed in Iowa and South Dakota through this signature initiative of The Wellmark Foundation.

Wellmark employees volunteer more than 36,000 hours on their own time each year with qualifying organizations in Iowa and South Dakota. The Foundation matches these hours with monetary contributions to the employees’ designated charitable or educational organizations. For every four hours an employee volunteers, the employee can designate funding to the qualifying nonprofit of his or her choice.

The Wellmark Foundation also matches Wellmark employees’ personal contributions to eligible nonprofit organizations through the ongoing Matching Gifts Program and the annual Payroll Deduction Campaign. The annual maximum amount per employee for both volunteer designations and matching gifts is $10,000.

In order for Wellmark employees’ personal volunteer time (PVT) and matching gifts to be approved for BluesCare Giving, the nonprofit organization must certify that it does not exclude individuals or groups from agency services, or volunteer participation on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, ancestry, marital status, veteran status, age, physical disability, sexual orientation or gender identification.

More than $7 million has been distributed to nonprofits in Iowa and South Dakota through BluesCare Giving since 2011. Just as important to the nonprofits is the volunteer time provided by Wellmark employees valued at $20.93 per hour for Iowa and $19.04 for South Dakota by Independent Sector.

Because our philanthropic program is driven by our employees, The Wellmark Foundation does not provide unsolicited corporate contributions. Find out more information about corporate sponsorship.