Civic involvement reports

In this section:

Civic Involvement Reports

2016 Calendar Year General Mills political expenditures
As a corporate citizen, we occasionally support the legislative process by contributing prudently to state and local candidates and political organizations when such expenditures are permitted by federal, state and local law.

We recognize the importance of accountability and transparency for our political expenditures. Our policy describes our approval process for using corporate funds for political expenditures. The Public Responsibility Committee of our Board of Directors reviews our policy, and a list of our political expenditures is made available during the last calendar year, and we disclose the list here: 

First Half (January-June)
 Date Recipient Office / purpose State Amount
 6/14/16 Mike Chamberlain Mayor, City of Belvidere Illinois $500.00
 6/30/16 Defeat the Tax on Oregon Sales Ballot measure Oregon $25,000.00
    Total first half   $25,500.00
Second Half (July-December)
8/12/16 Defeat the Tax on Oregon Sales Ballot measure Oregon $25,000
10/19/16 Defeat the Tax on Oregon Sales Ballot measure Oregon $25,000
11/16/16 Grocery Manufacturers Association
Political Education Fund 		 Political education fund   $5,000
    Total second half   $55,000.00

Notes

We have made no known expenditures for political purposes to any 527, 501c4, “super PACs” or independent expenditure committees to date – and have no current plans to do so.

Trade Associations

Purpose of Trade Association Memberships

General Mills advances its mission by partnering with others that share our goals. Trade associations and other independent groups help advance these goals, and provide many other benefits including professional development, best-practice sharing, and business support services. For these reasons, we belong to many associations worldwide, and are active members of the associations to which we belong.

Reporting on Major U.S. Trade Association Memberships

We provide an annual report of our leading U.S. trade association memberships for lobbying purposes. Each group is required to provide a breakout of the portion of dues or payments made that are used for lobbying purposes and thus non-deductible for tax purposes. Below is a list of groups to which the portion of our payments for the reported calendar year allocated for lobbying purposes is $25,000 or greater. This list does not include groups of which we are members solely for business or marketing purposes rather than public policy, lobbying or advocacy.

  • Grocery Manufacturers Association
  • Business Roundtable
  • Alliance for American Advertising 
  • Minnesota Business Partnership 
  • Minnesota Chamber of Commerce
Compliance Statement The Company was in compliance with the General Mills Civic Policy for the time period covered by the report.