Community Impact
We are often one of the largest employers in the communities where we operate. We embrace our responsibility to support the communities where we live and work.
Global Social Responsibility Strategy
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an integral part of our strategic imperatives and operating priorities, deeply embedded in our vision and values. We believe that sound corporate citizenship is simply good business, and we are in constant pursuit of improving life at home through our products and social responsibility programs.
The need for decent, affordable housing worldwide is at the heart of our CSR strategy. The United Nations estimates that 3 billion people — 40% of the world’s population — will require new housing and basic urban infrastructure by 2030. Through our House+Home social responsibility strategy and relationships, we help provide comfortable, nurturing places to live and support resilient, thriving and sustainable communities through educational programs.
House
Focused on helping people find a place to live that is comfortable and nurturing, where families can make healthy choices and build their best lives. Employees volunteer to build houses and improve housing adequacy alongside world-leading organizations like Habitat for Humanity®.
Home
Focused on developing resilient, vibrant communities through education and community development. Together with local businesses, government and nonprofits, we help to improve quality of life for community members. To achieve these objectives, we work with organizations like United Way, The Washing Machine Project, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Consulado da Mulher® in Brazil.
Our House+Home program is supported by the Whirlpool Foundation, established in 1957, with the mission to reinvest in and improve quality of life in the communities where we operate. Whirlpool Foundation prioritizes grants using our House+Home strategy and creates greater impact in our communities through a focus on Inclusion and Diversity.
To learn more about our programs and community support, see the Whirlpool Foundation page.
Habitat for Humanity®
Whirlpool Corporation and Foundation have partnered with Habitat for Humanity International for more than a quarter century, supporting their efforts to help people around the world build or improve a place to call home. In the first 25 years of our support of Habitat, we donated $150 million in funding and 250,000 appliances, helping more than 1 million people in the U.S. and around the world gain access to affordable housing. Our CEO, Marc Bitzer, was elected to serve on Habitat’s board of directors in 2025.
Impact of our first 25 years of support for Habitat for Humanity:
- $150 million in funding
- 250,000 appliances donated
- 1 million people impacted
BuildBetter with Whirlpool
Climate change disproportionately impacts underserved communities due to their locations, access to resources and services, and decision-making power. Habitat for Humanity's BuildBetter with Whirlpool initiative was designed to support the construction of climate-resilient, energy-efficient homes and to scale and implement best practices across the U.S.
Sustainability features may include:
We continue to learn from our progress to date and evolve the program to build even more efficient homes, demonstrating that constructing energy-efficient homes isn’t just for the luxury market. This initiative, which launched in June 2021, expands upon Habitat’s efforts to help homeowners mitigate the impact of climate change with more energy-efficient and climate-resilient homes. The program aims to reduce operating costs for the long term by making homes up to 45% more energy efficient, compared to those built to current local government code. Dollars saved on water and energy bills can be used to help with the cost of food, medical expenses and other household expenses or as savings for the future.
Product Donations
Whirlpool Corporation supports every Habitat for Humanity home built in the U.S. and Canada by providing a range, refrigerator and garbage disposal. Globally, we also supply appliances for builds supported by employee volunteers.
Donated products save $ for homeowners by
Saving on major
home appliance
purchases
Save money on food expenses by
reducing the need to eat out, often
driven by inadequate appliances
Lower utility costs with
new, energy-efficient
appliances
We support a number of Habitat for Humanity programs:
- Cost of Home: Habitat’s U.S. housing affordability advocacy campaign; changing policies at local, state and national levels and increasing access to affordable homes
- Project T: a self-sustaining community with various housing options designed to support the elevation of families out of poverty and toward financial independence in Benton Harbor, Michigan, our headquarters community
Learn more about our work with Habitat for Humanity and the BuildBetter with Whirlpool program at WhirlpoolCorp.com/hfh.
United Way
Whirlpool Corporation and Foundation support United Way in the U.S. and Canada through a variety of programs and initiatives that focus on education, income, health and basic needs. Whirlpool Foundation matches employee giving in support of United Way chapters in the communities in which we operate. In 2021, United Way Worldwide appointed our Chairman and CEO Marc Bitzer as Trustees Chair of the company’s Worldwide Board, where he served from 2018 to 2024.
The Washing Machine Project
Research suggests that up to 50% of the world’s population, around 4 billion people, rely on washing clothes by hand, a burden predominantly placed on women and girls. To help save time and improve quality of life, the Whirlpool Foundation supports The Washing Machine Project, a grassroots organization that provides off-grid manual washing machines to people in low-income and displaced communities who don’t have access to stable electricity and/or running water. The machine, named the Divya washing machine after the founder’s neighbor in India, has a simple design and has the potential to save the user up to 75% of the time and 50% of the water it takes to hand wash clothes. Whirlpool engineers volunteer to help refine the design of the machine and employee volunteers assemble units.
Launched in 2024, our collective goal is to bring the Divya manual washing machine to 150,000 people worldwide, improving quality of life and saving time for learning, income-generating efforts and family activities.
Learn more about our support of The Washing Machine Project.
The Divya washing machines save users up to 75% of the time and 50% of the water required to hand wash clothes.
Community Collaborations
In Brazil, our Consulado da Mulher® program invests in
underserved female entrepreneurs with business
education and support.
Each year, thousands of children miss school because they don’t have clean clothes to wear, and elementary students who are frequently absent risk falling behind. Our Whirlpool brand seeks to help end the dropout cycle by giving kids access to clean clothes through the Care Counts Laundry Program. In collaboration with Teach for America, the Whirlpool brand has been donating washers, dryers and laundry supplies to schools since 2015.
Our Maytag Brand has supported Boys & Girls Clubs of America for more than 20 years. Initiatives include a Feel Good Fridge program for Boys & Girls Clubs across the country to support Club members and their families, as well as annual Dependable Leader Awards recognizing exceptional mentors in the organization.
Through our Feel Good Fridge program, we’re helping fight food insecurity in a sustainable way. Refurbished refrigerators are distributed across the country to provide fresh, free food for anyone in need.
Hosted in our global headquarters in Southwest Michigan, this annual golf event raises money for local charities with a focus on youth education. Recipients of the funds include: Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Southwest Michigan, First Tee of Benton Harbor and the local public school foundations of Benton Harbor, Lakeshore and St. Joseph.