Microsoft's Annual Employee Giving Campaign Reaches New High

Nov 4, 2014 4:45 PM ET

Campaign: Microsoft Employee Giving

Several thousand employees and their families raised more than $320k during the annual 5K Run/Walk around our corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The event is one of the more than 300 events occurring during the annual Employee Giving Campaign, the cornerstone of Microsoft’s Employee Giving Program.

24 employees planted more than 300 trees and cleared invasive species using their volunteer hours. This is just one example of how employees can give back – in time and money – to their favorite causes. Microsoft’s Employee Giving Program is one of the world’s largest. Pictured here are Microsoft employees Rene Bouw and Nick Caldwell.

Microsoft and Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder came together to give epidermylosis bullosa (EB) research a boost by raising money for the rare genetic skin disorder affecting thousands of children. Eddie performed a private benefit concert last Thursday on campus for 90 employees who secured their spot through the Employee Giving Campaign auction. One of those was employee Tom Moran, who walked his bride Valeria Cole down the aisle four years ago to the Pearl Jam song “Just Breathe” and through the online auction tool secured the experience of having Eddie sing it for them on stage.

Leanne Toth, left, and Eli Sheldon, right, contributed to the Employee Giving Campaign through their role as a Loaned Professional. Each fall, approximately seven Puget Sound-based Microsoft employees are loaned from their divisions for four months to work full time on the Employee Giving Campaign where they have the opportunity to learn about and raise awareness of community needs, drive corporate fundraising strategies at Microsoft, and work on special community projects.

This month, Microsoft released the fourth volume of the award-winning Microsoft Cookbook, filled with delicious employee-contributed recipes from all over the world. As of May 2014, $250,000 was raised for FareStart, a culinary job training and placement program for homeless and disadvantaged individuals, and we expect that to reach over $300,000 with the sales of this year’s cookbook. The cookbook will be available for purchase in mid-November for $35 on MSN and Amazon.com.

During a soccer game with former Seattle Sounders players on Microsoft’s Redmond campus, Microsoft announced a three-year, multimillion dollar partnership with the Special Olympics. The new partnership aims to modernize the nonprofit’s technology and elevate it to the cloud, while also pledging to raise additional $1 million over the life of the partnership in the spirit of Microsoft’s Employee Giving Campaign.

Employees joined forces for a 28-hour Tech for Good Hackathon to develop mobile apps and websites to help address social good issues related to human rights, youth unemployment, and more. The group raised thousands of dollars through Microsoft’s cash donation match of their volunteer hours. Pictured is James Rooney, Senior Program Manager, Citizenship and Public Affairs, who helped kick off the event.

Throughout October, tens of thousands of Microsoft people passionately participated in the annual Employee Giving Campaign – a month-long, employee-led effort in the U.S. which raises money to enable nonprofits better serve their beneficiaries at home and around the world.

Microsoft matches employee nonprofit donations and volunteering year round up to $15,000 per employee and our people have generously donated more than $1 billion, inclusive of the corporate match, since 1983. That drive to raise money to help others less fortunate do more and be more is stronger than ever and the online auction passed $1 million for the first time this year!

Here are some of the highlights from this year’s campaign.

Microsoft's Annual Employee Giving Campaign Reaches New High

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