Gretchen

Like a lot of other companies, Microsoft has an employee matching program where employees can give cash, stock, or Microsoft products to the charities of their choice, and Microsoft matches the contribution, dollar for dollar, in an additional cash donation.  It’s a fantastic matching program, and along with the assistance from the program, Microsoft employees donate millions of dollars to the charities of their choice each year. 

But I’ve got to be honest.  Lots of companies have similar programs.  It’s a wonderful benefit (don’t get me wrong), but it’s not necessarily innovative and different.

Until now.

At the company meeting in September, Microsoft announced a new volunteer matching program.  For every hour a Microsoft employee volunteers with the eligible organizations of their choice (usually 501(c)(3) organizations), Microsoft will donate $17 per hour toward that charity. 

Wow.

Now, I don’t know . . .  I’m sure a few other companies have this benefit, but I’ve never heard of it before . . . especially in the tech space.  But this new addition has made me really proud to be a Microsoft employee. 

As many of you know, I volunteer ~5 hours per month (not tons … but a bit) with the Reading with Rover program.  So does Josh.  That means that in a year’s time, Microsoft will donate over $2000 to the program on our combined behalf.  And they’ll still match the money that we donate to that organization and the other organizations of our choice.

So, as an employee, I just want to say thank you to Microsoft for encouraging and rewarding its employees to donate their time toward making a difference.  I’m really excited.

gretchen