News Details

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP) recently completed its final charitable funding cycle for 2008, awarding more than $648,000 to nonprofit organizations. Forty-eight grants were made under the company's three funding platforms: Meeting Basic Needs, Supporting Community Vitality and Volunteer Driven Causes.

"The current economic environment has vastly increased the demands for programs that help people meet their basic needs of food, shelter and self-sufficiency," said Brian Pietsch, head of community relations at Ameriprise Financial. "We are committed to supporting organizations that bring these vital resources to the people and communities who need them most."

Highlights from the company's third funding cycle include:

     Supporting Women's Initiative for Self Employment. A grant from Ameriprise
     Financial will help the organization continue to provide business training,
   > support and financial services to lower-income women in the San Francisco
     Bay area. These programs, which are provided in English and Spanish, enable
     women to obtain the skills necessary to start their own business and become
     self-sufficient.

     Promoting affordable housing for all Minnesotans. According to the
     Minnesota Housing Partnership, nearly 300,000 low-income families in
   > Minnesota currently pay more than they can afford for housing. Funding from
     Ameriprise Financial will help the organization continue to offer essential
     resources that support the planning and implementation of affordable
     housing projects across the state.

2008 Community Giving Summary

Together with its employees, advisors and retirees, Ameriprise Financial contributed more than $12 million to nonprofit organizations during 2008. Specific highlights of the company's community relations activities include:

   > Funding more than 160 programs nationwide through corporate grantmaking.

   > Helping protect more than 7,200 acres of coastal wetlands outside New
     Orleans through a grant to the Conservation Fund.

     Achieving a record 76% participation rate in the 2008 Employee Giving
   > Campaign. Combined with a dollar-for-dollar match from Ameriprise
     Financial, our employees and advisors pledged over $4.5 million to
     nonprofits during the campaign.

   > Matching $1.4 million in contributions made by employees and advisors
     outside the annual campaign.

   > Providing financial and volunteer support to Habitat for Humanity in the
     Twin Cities and Green Bay.

     Matching $25,000 in cash and food donations collected for the Emergency
   > Foodshelf Network during the Target Holidazzle Parade in downtown
     Minneapolis.

   > Partnering with employees and retirees who contributed more than 26,500
     volunteer hours to nonprofit organizations.

   > Being recognized by the Jefferson Awards and Minneapolis/St. Paul Business
     Journal for corporate volunteerism.

Ameriprise Financial is currently accepting grant applications for 2009 funding. The next application deadline is May 1, 2009.

About Ameriprise Financial Community Relations

Ameriprise Financial is dedicated to utilizing the firm's resources, talents and volunteer time to improve the lives of individuals and build strong communities. Through grantmaking, volunteerism and employee and advisor gift matching programs, the company supports a diverse group of over 5,000 nonprofits across the country. Additional information on the company and its Community Relations initiatives can be found at ameriprise.com.

About Ameriprise Financial

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. is a diversified financial services company serving the comprehensive financial planning needs of the mass affluent and affluent. For more information, visit ameriprise.com.

(C) 2009 Ameriprise Financial, Inc. All rights reserved.

Grants Awarded: 3^rd Cycle 2008

Meeting Basic Needs - 20 grants: Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Minnesota; Boys & Girls Clubs Of Sarasota County, Inc.; Chester County Futures, Inc.; Cleveland Saves; Courage Center; Dunwoody College of Technology; Freeport West, Inc.; Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys; Habitat for Humanity International, Inc.; HIRED; HIV & AIDS Legal Services Alliance, Inc.; Lifetrack Resources, Inc.; Minnesota Housing Partnership; Northwest Youth and Family Services; Project Women, Inc.; Summit Academy OIC; Tabor Community Services, Inc.; The Bridge For Runaway Youth, Inc.; Women's Initiative for Self Employment; Women's Foundation of Minnesota

Supporting Community Vitality - 12 grants: Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, Inc.; Beaches Fine Arts Series, Inc.; Carnegie Hall Society, Inc.; Des Moines Metro Opera, Inc.; Girls Incorporated; Hands on Twin Cities; Indiana Symphony Society, Inc.; Interval House; Junior Achievement of Wisconsin - Brown County District; MacPhail Center for Music; National Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorale of Montgomery County, Inc; The Shakespeare Theatre

Volunteer Driven Causes - 16 grants: AIDS Service Foundation of Greater Kansas City; Communities in Schools of Miami, Inc.; Everybody Wins Metro Boston, Inc.; Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches; Habitat for Humanity International, Inc.; Iowa Dollars for Scholars; Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International; Leukemia Society - Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter; Memorial Blood Centers; Michael Magro Foundation; Minnesota AIDS Project; Minnesota Special Olympics, Inc.; National Multiple Sclerosis Society; Open Arms Of Minnesota, Inc.; Sifma Foundation for Investor Education; Wild Canid Survival & Research Center, Inc.

    Source: Ameriprise Financial