Community Voting on Projects Requesting Bank Funding.

• Position: Community Service - Brief article

Institution: PNC Bank, N.A., Pittsburgh

Asset size: $292 billion

PNC Bank is an example of a bank that allows the Facebook community to vote on which of a group of community projects the bank should fund.

The program is called the PNC Neighborhood Wishlist. Individuals or groups in the communities served by PNC submit requests for up to $500 in funding for grassroots projects. The bank vets the submissions and selects 100 finalists. The Facebook community is then given the opportunity to vote on the projects that they would like to see funded. Each project that receives votes at least equal to the dollar amount requested is funded. This will be the program's third year of operation.

Those fans of the bank's Facebook page whose projects have been selected as finalists can solicit votes from friends, have their friends "like" the PNC page and vote for their project. The Facebook page includes a link to a dedicated microsite where fans can vote for one of the projects. Each participant is allotted three votes. He or she can use all three votes for one project or spread them around...