SAN FRANCISCO — Wells Fargo & Co. recently tabulated that it invested $213.5 million in 19,000 nonprofits last year, giving more than $200 million for the fourth consecutive year.

In addition, Wells Fargo said its team members increased their donations, which totaled more than $63.9 million and 1.5 million volunteer hours to more than 28,000 nonprofits and schools.

For the third year in a row, United Way Worldwide named Wells Fargo's annual Community Support and United Way Campaign the No. 1 Giving Campaign.

"Investing in our communities has been one of Wells Fargo's core values for 160 years," stressed Wells Fargo chairman and chief executive officer John Stumpf.

"We're committed to using our financial resources, as well as the expertise of our team members, to help ensure the long-term well being of the communities we serve," Stumpf continued.

Wells Fargo explained its local decision making model for grants and charitable giving allows team members living and working in the bank's communities to direct resources to those organizations and programs that are vital to the success of the communities they call home.

Through this process, the company thinks national-level resources can be distributed through grassroots giving.

A year ago, Wells Fargo's community investments included $67.8 million to 8,000 educational programs and schools around the U.S., and $63.2 million in grants to nonprofits focused on community development in distressed communities, including affordable housing, homeownership counseling, financial education, workforce development and job creation.

In addition, Wells Fargo contributed to nonprofits serving the following causes:

—Arts and culture: $14.2 million
—Civic: $13.7 million
—Environment: $4.4 million
—Human services: $50.1 million

Wells Fargo went on to highlight that a year ago, 52,665 team members reported more than 1.5 million community involvement and volunteer hours, an increase of 10.8 percent from 2010, and valued at $32.1 million.

Examples of volunteer activities included Habitat for Humanity builds, restoring parks and public land and delivering financial education to 111,975 individuals and families using Wells Fargo's Hands on Banking program.

"Each year our team members prove that we are truly committed to helping the communities where our customers live, work and do business, and this year was no exception," stated Jon Campbell, head of the social responsibility group at Wells Fargo.

"By giving so generously of their time, talent, and even their personal financial resources, our team members are making a lasting impact on the lives of others, and they're doing it in increasing numbers," Campbell added.

In addition to increased levels of volunteer and community service time, Wells Fargo declared that team members continued to set records in terms of their donations to nonprofit organizations.

Last year, Wells Fargo team members contributed $41.6 million to more than 25,000 nonprofits and schools during Wells Fargo's annual Community Support and United Way Campaign.

Combined with other year-round donations to nonprofits, team member donations exceeded $63.9 million, a 15-percent increase over the $55.3 million contributed in 2010 and the ninth straight year of double-digit increases in pledge totals.

The company emphasized that it encouraged team members to donate to any nonprofit, school or religious institution of their choice as 100 percent of team member donations go to the organizations they choose. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo pays all processing costs, and it matches gifts to qualifying schools through the campaign and year-round up to $5,000 per team member.