Microsoft Corp. recently commemorated its 30th Employee Giving Campaign with an announcement that US employees have raised $1 billion in cash since 1983 for more than 31,000 nonprofits and community organizations around the world. Many of these organizations, like World Vision International and UNICEF, have operations and projects outside of the US, impacting communities in more than a hundred countries worldwide.
“I’m incredibly proud of our employees and this is truly a time to celebrate, not just because we’ve raised a record amount of funds, but because together with our nonprofit partners we have impacted and improved the lives of hundreds of millions of people,” said CEO Steve Ballmer.
Microsoft Employee Giving Program
Each year, Microsoft matches US employee volunteer time at $17 per hour and dollar-for-dollar charitable contributions to all eligible nonprofits up to a total of $12,000 per employee. When the Microsoft giving program began in 1983, approximately 200 employees raised $17,000 for nonprofits. Today, more than 35,000 employees participate, which is approximately 65% of Microsoft’s total US workforce, and the company predicts its employees will raise more than $100 million in 2012 for nonprofits around the world.
“From its earliest days, Microsoft employees have been involved in their communities and have helped contribute to their vitality and growth,” added Microsoft Chairman and Founder Bill Gates. “Thirty years and $1 billion later, that impact can be felt around the world.”
A Passion for Giving Globally
Outside the U.S., each employee receives a minimum of three paid days a year to volunteer in their community. Microsoft employees donate volunteer hours, donate and raise money and lend their skills to local and international nonprofits year-round.
A range of volunteer activities throughout Asia have helped support many non-profit and community organizations, including the following:
“Year over year, Microsoft employees have increased their generosity of time, talent and resources, which has led to the continuous growth of the Give Campaign during the past three decades,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft Executive Vice President and General Counsel. “As our campaign has grown, we’ve been honored to stand alongside a long list of nonprofit partners and support their invaluable service to communities around the world.”
Microsoft Total Giving by the Numbers
Since 1983, Microsoft and its employees have provided more than $6.5 billion in cash, services and software to nonprofits around the world through localized, company-sponsored giving and volunteer campaigns. This includes in-kind donations.
Now in its 11th year, Microsoft’s Imagine Cup is the premier student technology competition that encourages students to form a team and build an application, with the opportunity to win cash prizes and travel. More than 350 students from 75 countries traveled to Sydney, Australia, for the 2012 Worldwide Finals in July.
Proving the journey doesn’t end after the Worldwide Finals, over 40 teams submitted applications for the Imagine Cup Grant program. The caliber of applications was impressive, and we strongly believe each team that submitted an application has the potential to change the world through their innovative solutions.
In its second year, the Imagine Cup grants is a three-year, $3 million competitive programme that enables Imagine Cup participants to take their innovative projects to market as the next step in their business development. Imagine Cup and the grants are part of Microsoft’s YouthSpark program, which is the company’s commitment toreach 300 million youths in the next three years through technology, training and experiences that empower them to imagine and realize their full potential. Last year, students from Croatia, Ecuador, Jordan and the United States won the grants and received funding and other support in the first year of the grants program.
Among the 2012 applicants, the 13 teams selected as finalists received the highest marks based on a combination of criteria: impact & viability, team quality & motivation, solution design & motivation and problem definition. The winning grant applicants will be announced in December 2012 at the Social Innovation Summit in the Silicon Valley, and awarded with a grant package in the form of cash, software, resources and other on the ground support to help them establish a nonprofit or for-profit organization to bring their idea to reality.
After many hours of review and much consideration, the Imagine Cup team is pleased to announce the 2012 grant finalists:
Find more information on the projects developed by the 2012 Imagine Grant Final.
This blog was originally posted 3 October by Andrew Schmidt on Skype's Big Blog.
When I was a kid, I had some very big dreams. My imagination would run wild with all the possibilities of answering the question, "What do I want to be when I grow up?" On any given day, I would have given you wildly different answers: I wanted to be a firefighter, an astronaut, a ship captain, a writer, amongst many, many others. One of the reasons I love my job is because Skype in the Classroom allows students to experience first-hand what these careers are really like from professionals doing them every day.
In celebration of World Teacher's Day on Friday, we're taking one more step to help make kids' dreams become more of a reality. We're excited to announce that we're adding six fantastic organizations to Skype in the Classroom: NASA's Digital Learning Network™, The National Museum of the Royal Navy and HMS Victory, British Council, Woodland Trust, VerbalizeIt, Action Aid, Education through Expedition and Choose2Matter. These organizations will join our many existing affiliates to help enrich the educational experiences of teachers and students worldwide.
Claire Jordan, Learning Officer for the National Museum of the Royal Navy and HMS Victory, said, "Skype provides a brilliant way of making contact with schools all over the world that otherwise wouldn't know that we offer interesting workshops."
"The reach of the Royal Navy is global and there is a real interest in its history throughout the world. However, despite this interest, the geographical constraints mean that the vast majority of schools (even those in Great Britain) will never get a chance to actually visit us. To be able to bring our collections to more people and give the opportunity to learn more about the National Museum of the Royal Navy or HMS Victory via Skype is great."
As one example of how these organizations will participate in Skype in the classroom, NASA's Digital Learning Center will feature various projects where students can learn how to prepare a space vehicle for liftoff, help scientists and engineers explore the basic principles of matter and design their own spacesuit mission patch. Participating classrooms will also discover what it is like to live and work in space as well as be introduced to basic robotics.
These new organizations will join more than 38,000 teachers already working together on 2,000 live global educational projects. Teachers can take advantage of these valuable resources by signing up for free on the Skype in the Classroom website. Once registered, educators will be able to explore the Skype in the Classroom collaboration spaces, access a variety of content from these organizations, learn about new and exciting ways to utilize Skype video calling in their schools, and connect their students with a global selection of guest experts.
Please visit the Skype in the Classroom website for more information.