tagged w/ Corporate Giving
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When you visit a Microsoft office and discover that it’s been transformed from a place of work to an amphitheater for a keenly contested rock-paper-scissors contest, or when you overhear people discussing an ongoing bidding war for the world’s best baloney sandwich, then chances are you’re witnessing Microsoft’s employee giving at first hand.
Each year as part of our Giving campaign every full time Microsoft employee in the United States can take advantage of corporate matching for the donations they make to nonprofit and community organizations, up to $12,000. They also have the opportunity to volunteer their time and have those hours matched with a per hour payment to the chosen organization.
It would be fair to say that employee giving is an inherent part of life at Microsoft. Since the inception of the company our employees have wanted to give something back. The continued success of our employee giving isn’t solely about people’s generosity - it’s also about their creativity and passion. As the co-chairs of the 2010 Giving campaign we have had the opportunity to see an incredible array of initiatives to raise funds and awareness. This past year we had over 300 fundraising events including a 5K run with 1,700 employee participants, national poker competitions, an album of employee music, photo books, soccer clinics, and our internal auction site which continues to grow in both the breadth of items offered and the money it raises.
So, how did we do in the United States in 2010? Here are some of the top line figures:
Microsoft employee giving raised $96 million in 2010 – the most ever
Nearly 35,000 people around Microsoft participated
Over 4,000 people volunteered over 350,000 hours of their time – generating $6 million in funds for the recipient organizations
Over 16,000 organizations benefitted from funds raised as part of the Giving campaign.
These funds make a real difference in our communities. For example, Microsoft employees are the single largest, active source of ongoing donors for the Seattle Children’s Hospital, which received over $800,000 in 2010. The majority of the donated funds go toward uncompensated care so that no one who comes to Seattle Children’s is turned away for insurance or financial reasons. The donated funds will assist around 1,000 families with uncompensated care. It’s something we’re very proud of.
2010 was an outstanding year for our employee Giving campaign and we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that the success of the campaign isn’t solely due to the incredible generosity of our people, but is also the result of the hard work and energy of an army of volunteers across the company who commit their time to the Giving campaign, driving participation, helping organize events and supporting initiatives. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their efforts.
There is one downside to these results: it creates a formidable target for 2011! However, we’re confident, that as in years past, our employees will rise to the challenge.
We’re already underway. Thank you for your support in 2010!
http://www.microsoftupblog.com/post/2010-The-biggest-year-of-employee-giving-so-far.aspxWhen you visit a Microsoft office and discover that it’s been transformed from a... more
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Target’s defense – that it was seeking to promote pro-business candidates – is unsatisfying, at best. If you’ve paid the slightest bit of attention to the American political scene in recent years you know it’s a minefield. The public has perhaps never been more polarized and we have certainly not seen partisan emotions running this high in our lifetimes. You had to know that news of this donation would become public. And you couldn’t possibly believe that it would be evaluated only in the economic terms you intended.Target’s defense – that it was seeking to promote pro-business candidates... more
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I was less than pleased with last week's Supreme Court decision to allow corporate money to flood into political races. Not that I'm anti-business, I just think there's too much money in the mix as it stands and more money means more screaming advertisements means more voter apathy.
So what can we do? Sure we can watch corporate money as it gets funneled into political causes - but honestly, a lot of that giving isn't transparent. It comes as gifts. Like a weekend of golfing, or a really nice dinner, or...a trip to the Super Bowl to see the Saints defeat play the Colts.
And it's with that in mind that ProPublica has launched their Super Bowl Blitz - asking people to help them identify which Congressmen are getting Super Bowl perks this year.
The Super Bowl is America’s most expensive sports spectacle, and it has long been used to rub shoulders, gain influence and form ties that help congressional candidates raise the approximately $1 billion they spend on their campaigns every two years. While most of us can’t afford a ticket to the Super Bowl, we know the NFL sets aside a large number of them for public officials and corporations to buy at face value (the cheapest tickets are going for as much as $1,799 on StubHub). Politicians use the tickets to reward big donors, and corporations use them to reward politicians.
They need your help. They want you to help them call all 535 members of Congress and find out if they're going to the Super Bowl. Here are the instructions.
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- Hillary creates China kerfuffle over internet freedom speechI was less than pleased with last week's Supreme Court decision to allow... more
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I was less than pleased with last week's Supreme Court decision to allow corporate money to flood into political races. Not that I'm anti-business, I just think there's too much money in the mix as it stands and more money means more screaming advertisements means more voter apathy.
So what can we do? Sure we can watch corporate money as it gets funneled into political causes - but honestly, a lot of that giving isn't transparent. It comes as gifts. Like a weekend of golfing, or a really nice dinner, or...a trip to the Super Bowl to see the Saints defeat play the Colts.
And it's with that in mind that ProPublica has launched their Super Bowl Blitz - asking people to help them identify which Congressmen are getting Super Bowl perks this year. From their site:
"The Super Bowl is America’s most expensive sports spectacle, and it has long been used to rub shoulders, gain influence and form ties that help congressional candidates raise the approximately $1 billion they spend on their campaigns every two years. While most of us can’t afford a ticket to the Super Bowl, we know the NFL sets aside a large number of them for public officials and corporations to buy at face value (the cheapest tickets are going for as much as $1,799 on StubHub). Politicians use the tickets to reward big donors, and corporations use them to reward politicians."
They need your help. They want you to help them call all 535 members of Congress and find out if they're going to the Super Bowl. Here are the instructions.
Instructions: http://projects.propublica.org/tables/superbowlblitz
More about the program: http://www.propublica.org/ion/reporting-network/item/super-bowl-blitz-which-congressmen-are-getting-super-bowl-perks-126I was less than pleased with last week's Supreme Court decision to allow... more
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Learn who the Best 2008 Corporate citizens are.
Quick peek: In the nine years that 100 Best has been tabulated, just three companies—Intel, Cisco (No. 14) and Starbucks (No. 35)—have appeared on the list every year.
Kudos to the top 100!Learn who the Best 2008 Corporate citizens are.
Quick peek: In the nine years that... more
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