About the Awards
The Awards for Excellence are designed to honor a business' overall employee/retiree volunteer effort, including the actual community service projects and the program policies and corporate vision that support those volunteer activities. We invite your participation in nominating businesses that have exceptional workplace volunteer programs — self-nomination is permissible.

The 2008 Awards will be presented in front of thousands of nonprofit, business and public sector representatives at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in Atlanta, Georgia, June 1 – 3, 2008.

2007 Conference Videos

2007 Honorees

AAA of Northern California, Nevada, and Utah, San Francisco, CA
As a company who’s CEO believes that “Volunteerism is in our DNA,” workplace volunteering is a natural fit for AAA of Northern California, Nevada, and Utah. In 2004, AAA formalized its community commitment with the launch of its employee volunteer program. The program focuses on three core areas: safety, environment and wellness, and just three years into the program, the company has full participation by senior management staff and sixty-five percent of all employees volunteered through the program. Employees serve their communities by performing safety-related activities such as installing car seats for small children; participating in park and beach clean-ups; and taking part in health related walks. AAA is committed to continual program evaluation and seeks opportunities for improvement through surveying partner organizations and incorporating their feedback. Major volunteer program partners include Habitat for Humanity, Junior Achievement, local food banks and soup kitchens. Learn more >

Citi, New York, NY
Citi, a leading global financial services company, operates with a set of shared responsibilities to clients, colleagues, and the franchise. These responsibilities include taking an active role in the communities where employees work and live through the company’s volunteer program. Tapping into its staff’s financial expertise, Citi has trained more than 5,300 employees and nonprofit partner staff to deliver financial education to youth and adults. Employees also volunteer in other areas, including environmental projects, school revitalization, park restoration, nonprofit board memberships, and more. Individuals drive most of this participation, but increasingly groups of employees work together on community projects which has the added benefit of building stronger Citi teams across business lines. In 2006, nearly 46,000 Citi employee volunteers and their families in 100 countries gave the gift of their time for the company’s first annual Global Community Day. Learn more >

Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA
Through its Employee Community Engagement program (ECE), Microsoft demonstrates its commitment to corporate citizenship and taps the creativity and innovation that are the hallmark of the company. Using skills-based programs, the company connects employees and communities through long-term professional and leadership volunteering. For example, Microsoft’s Leaders in Service pilot program prepares senior leadership teams to address key community challenges while the Loaned Executive program assists United Way with fundraising. Meanwhile, in response to local or global crises, Microsoft utilizes its expertise to leverage technology to aid relief efforts. The company matches employees’ volunteer time with a $17 donation for each volunteer hour, up to $12,000 per year. In international regions, employees receive a minimum of 3 days off a year to volunteer. Employees can search and register for volunteer opportunities worldwide and track their service online through the Microsoft Volunteer Connection System. Last year, employees logged nearly 110,000 volunteer hours. In September 2006, Microsoft celebrated the ECE program’s one-year anniversary with a marketing campaign and a weeklong series of events, including a nonprofit volunteer fair, a brown bag luncheon on women’s community leadership, and a board training session . The celebration concluded with over 3,600 employees volunteering in the United Way of King County Day of Caring – Microsoft’s most successful participation yet. Learn more >

SRP (Salt River Project), Phoenix, AZ
SRP has a passion for community service that spans 100 years and SRP employees take their “service” jobs personally. Beyond keeping the water and power flowing to their communities, eighty-five percent of SRP employees share their time with their neighbors through hands-on help, serving on nonprofit boards, and volunteering on their own time at an estimated rate of 3.3 hours per person per week. SRP focuses its energy on programs and projects that employee volunteers and nonprofits have identified as most important (education, water safety and human services). Employee volunteers have had a tremendous impact on Tempe youth through SRP’s Tempe Tutors and Sports Buddies programs, now in their successful third year of operation. In response to needs within the Tempe Elementary School District, Tempe Tutors worked to improve students’ math and reading skills. Results show the average improvement was +6 points, almost a year’s growth in one semester. Sports Buddies, developed with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Arizona to attract much-needed male volunteers, has increased the recruitment rate for male mentors from 25 to 40 percent. To address the high rate of child drowning, SRP hosted a water safety day for children with the Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Learn more >

The McGraw-Hill Companies, New York, NY
McGraw-Hill is working to build a strong network of community service teams across the corporation and around the globe. The employee volunteer program – Community Partners – coordinates an annual Global Volunteer Day. In 2006, this annual service day engaged more than 2,300 employees located in 40 cities and 14 countries in local volunteer activities. Service projects ranged from a village development project in India and a wetlands clean-up project in Australia, to introducing interview skills to women returning to the workforce in New York City, and a community beautification project in Ohio. McGraw-Hill has also successfully leveraged its employee core competencies to benefit the community through the company’s award winning Writers to the Rescue program. Writers, editors and communication specialists from the company have shared their skills with countless nonprofits, helping them create promotional materials, develop Web site content, edit grant applications, and much more. Learn more >