• Ford COO Mark Fields and United Way for Southeastern Michigan President and CEO Michael J. Brennan announce that the 2013-2014 community campaign tops $40 million goal

• With Fields as campaign chair, the organization raised $40,006,284 – a 14 percent increase from the previous year and the largest year-over-year increase for United Way for Southeastern Michigan in 17 years

• Ford contributed $7.4 million to United Way for Southeastern Michigan for the 2013-2014 community giving initiative; the company has contributed more than any other corporation since the organization was founded in 1949

• Fields passes the United Way torch to General Motors President Dan Ammann, who is named United Way for Southeastern Michigan campaign chair for 2014-2015

Ford Motor Company Chief Operating Officer Mark Fields, who also serves as United Way for Southeastern Michigan campaign chair, and United Way for Southeastern Michigan President and CEO Michael J. Brennan announced today that more than $40 million was raised in the 2013-2014 campaign to benefit the greater Detroit communities the nonprofit organization supports.

Fields also passed the torch to General Motors President Dan Ammann, who will serve as United Way campaign chair for 2014-2015.

Fields led the campaign to a net of $40,006,284 – a 14 percent increase from the previous year and the largest year-over-year increase for United Way for Southeastern Michigan in 17 years.

The funds aid United Way’s efforts to support education, boost financial self-sufficiency and reduce hunger.

Fields’ role as campaign chair was built on the thriving, long-term partnership between Ford and United Way. Ford has contributed more to United Way for Southeastern Michigan than any other corporation since the organization was founded in 1949. Ford contributed $7.4 million to the organization for the 2013-2014 community giving initiative, including employee, UAW, retiree and corporate contributions. In addition, the number of Ford members of the United Way Alexis de Tocqueville Society of leading philanthropists increased by nearly 70 percent.

“It has been such a tremendous honor to lead United Way for Southeastern Michigan for the past year,” Fields said. “This campaign reinforced the incredible power of giving back to the community and the positive, lasting change we can make here in Southeast Michigan.”

Fields led the effort with a campaign cabinet of business and community leaders who provide leadership support to existing Southeast Michigan campaigns and help recruit new corporations. Cabinet members include business and community leaders from across the Detroit metro area.

The 2013-2014 campaign cabinet instituted a more data-driven, collaborative work process, Fields said. The result was greater reach and organization in fundraising and engagement efforts, which are expected to become part of the template for future campaigns.

“One of Ford’s core values is to do our part in building a better world, including supporting strong communities everywhere our employees live and work,” Fields said. “We are proud of our legacy of support to the United Way, and we look forward to building on that success in the years to come.”

Brennan said work will begin in the summer on the 2014-2015 campaign, led by Ammann.

“We are looking ahead, and we thank incoming campaign chair Dan Ammann for agreeing to carry the torch forward with a visionary approach to meeting our next annual goal,” Brennan said. “We are grateful for his enthusiasm for and dedication to United Way’s mission.”

“I am honored to serve this great organization and look forward to contributing to a successful campaign,” said Ammann. “On behalf of the GM team, we are deeply committed to our long-standing relationship with United Way and fully support all of its caring efforts to those in need in our community.”

The General Motors Foundation’s largest grant ever – $27.1 million to United Way for Southeastern Michigan – was pledged in 2010 to create a Network of Excellence in seven Detroit-area high schools. The grant provides necessary resources to help the schools reach their goal of increasing graduation rates from 50 percent to 80 percent by 2015. Additionally, it helps to sustain 65 Early Learning Centers in 10 of Detroit’s most challenged neighborhoods.