Trane Technologies is committed to good corporate citizenship in all of the communities in which we are located. Through the actions of our business operations and the involvement of our dedicated employees, Trane Technologies seeks to be a source of uplift to individuals and communities.
The work of our foundation is overseen by a select team of cross-functional leaders who serve on a Foundation Council. They are tasked with ensuring consistent execution of best practice, and alignment with our corporate citizenship goals.
Our Foundation Council Charter
The Council makes recommendations that focus resources on areas where Trane Technologies can make a difference.
It selects philanthropic partners according to criteria that include employee involvement, affinity with our business mission, demonstrated need, shared values, and financial stewardship. It directs support in a manner that delivers consequential and sustained benefits to, and appreciably improves the lives of, people within our communities.
The Council will recommend and create programs and policies that encourage our employees to actively support the communities where we live and work, and that support their personal involvement in volunteer and philanthropic activities. It will encourage leadership connectedness within our communities by advocating memberships on philanthropic boards. It will establish, support, and promote volunteer programs that encourage the involvement of all employees and recognize outstanding employee volunteer efforts.
The Council is not specifically focused on coordinating the company’s response to catastrophic events; however, the Council will work with Trane Technologies’ Enterprise Leadership Team (ELT) to ensure that the company is prepared to appropriately and rapidly deploy its resources when these events occur.
Council Role
Our Foundation Council is established as an advisory board to the ELT to develop recommendations to guide our strategic business units and all employees in the application of company resources in support of global, regional, or local causes of interest to our employee population, or requiring special support due to the significance of the issue and its potential impact on our communities.
Council Composition
Our Council will be composed of selected members of the Strategic Business Unit Leadership Team (SBU-LT), representatives of SBU leadership teams, and other, selected Trane Technologies employees. The Director of External and Executive Communications will chair the Council.
Other designated SBU and functional members may be asked to serve on the Council to assist its efforts. Members from SBU leadership teams shall be recommended by each SBU president and/or segment executive vice president, and corporate officers shall serve as liaisons between the Council and Corporate Center. Other Council participants may be appointed at the recommendation of the Council Chair.
Council Service
All Council representatives serve a two-year and may be re-appointed by the Council Chair to seek continuity of Council efforts. SBU presidents will nominate a replacement from their leadership team upon the end of a representative’s service.
The Council will meet quarterly or as dictated by the volume of requests to review programs, policies, and requests; to make recommendations as appropriate to the ELT; and to conduct any business that falls within the Council’s charter.
Business Unit and Function representatives shall be responsible for establishing and maintaining a reporting mechanism within their SBUs and Functions for the purpose of collecting data and sharing information across the company and with external audiences about Trane Technologies’ global citizenship activities.
Scope of the Council
Our Foundation Council will develop a framework that will guide the company’s business units and Corporate Center in:
- Selecting areas of long-term interest and developing examples of successful support for those areas of interest.
- Focusing corporate resources on those activities, which will bring sustained benefit to our communities.
- Coordinating with Corporate Communications to link with all communities of employees to seek maximum leverage from the energy, enthusiasm and commitment of our employees.
Selected areas of interest will be carefully evaluated and recommended by the Council based on demonstrated need and potential benefit to the communities in which we live and work.
Our Foundation Council will be called upon by the ELT to develop guidelines for sustainable support of core areas. These guidelines are to be submitted to the ELT for review and approval, and then communicated to the business units and Corporate Center locations. Selected guidelines are intended to be tools to assist each business unit in the thoughtful consideration of community support.
The Council will review all contribution requests above $10,000. Prospective contributions below $10,000 will be managed by our Foundation administrators or within the business units.
The Council shall review the annual activities of the business units to evaluate the company’s performance against our corporate citizenship goals and report our progress to the ELT. Additionally, the Council will be responsible for recommending, coordinating and leveraging the company’s global or regional citizenship programs, such as the United Way campaign.
Our Foundation Council Guidelines
All employees are encouraged to support causes within the focus areas recommended by the Global Citizenship Council, as well as to recommend other areas to be considered and endorsed by the ELT in the future. In fact, the company’s support of a cause often is predicated on the involvement of Trane Technologies employees. To be selected, areas of focus should:
- Represent demonstrated need and potential benefit to the communities in which we live and work.
- Offer opportunities for the active involvement of Trane Technologies employees in communities through-out the globe.
- Represent areas that will benefit from the long-term support and commitment of Trane Technologies.
- Align with Trane Technologies’ values and our company’s business mission.
Individual causes or institutions within the recommended areas of focus also should:
- Demonstrate sound financial stewardship and high ethical standards.
- Achieve high ratings from organizations that evaluate philanthropic institutions.
- Have direct and active employee involvement, such as membership on boards of directors or other volunteer capacity.
- Consider in-kind contributions of Trane Technologies products, services or obsolete capital equipment and supplies.
It will be the policy of Trane Technologies to focus corporate charitable contributions on those areas recommended by our Foundation Council and approved by the ELT. The company will not support contributions to, nor will it sponsor employee involvement with, political organizations, candidates, public office holders, fraternal or labor organizations, or any cause that is inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the company’s code of conduct and values.
Areas of Focus
Our Foundation Council established a strategy focused on uplifting underrepresented students by providing them access to education and pathways to green and STEM careers. This strategy informs the focus of both the company’s giving and volunteer efforts.
Guidelines and examples of giving will be developed by our Foundation Council and communicated to all employees and business units as they are developed for each focus area.
Contribution Request Process
All employees are encouraged to work with the prospective organization to complete the entire grant application within the areas of focus identified by our Foundation Council, and which meet the company’s citizenship guidelines. The process to request a grant is as follows:
- Individual employees seeking contributions to an appropriate institution or philanthropy above $2,500 should submit their requests to our Foundation. Individual employees seeking contributions below $2,500 should submit their requests to their local managers. Charitable contributions in this case will come from local budgets.
- Each facility or business unit will be empowered to approve contribution requests up to a funding level determined by their segment/SBU leadership, but in no instances above $10,000 per request. All approved requests must be documented by the function/segment/SBU’s Human Resources function. Each quarter, all approved requests shall be reported to the foundation’s chair, coordinator and Corporate Communications.
- All requests of $10,000 or more must be submitted to our Foundation Council for review. The Council subsequently will submit any recommendation to the ELT for final approval. These approved requests shall be reported to Corporate Communications.
- All contributions should be made in the name of our Foundation Council, either exclusively or in affiliation with the business unit.
Community Relief
The council recognizes that many of our neighbors require relief due to unexpected events and hardships, or assistance to improve their living conditions. As a result, the Council has identified Community Relief as a focus area for the company’s philanthropic activities.
- The Council generally supports direct contributions to nonprofit organizations that address community relief. However, the Council believes that the company’s ongoing support of the United Way, Red Cross, and Helping Hand are the most effective vehicles for directing resources to the many and diverse organizations and causes related to community relief.
- The company will be judicious about contributions to hospitals, clinics, and medical organizations. The company already is expending significant funds on employee medical care, and these funds represent the company’s fair share of support for these organizations.
- The Council will conduct a periodic review of nonprofit organizations related to community relief and may establish strategic partnerships with selected organizations as appropriate. This approach ensures that our company’s finite resources will deliver consequential and sustained benefits for our communities.
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