December 11, 2009 | Read Time: 2 minutes
What would you pay for a tour of Bill Gates’s home?
One Microsoft employee recently plunked down $35,101 for the privilege, as part of a company auction to raise money for the United Way in Seattle.
The auction, whose other items included prime parking spaces at Microsoft, flying trapeze lessons, and “the world’s greatest bologna sandwich,” brought in more than $500,000 this year, twice what it raised in 2008.
Over all, the company expects that its employee-giving campaign will generate roughly $82-million in 2009, about $5-million shy of its 2008 total. Fifty-nine percent of employees have participated so far. (The campaign runs in October, but some employees contribute at other times of the year).
Officials at the software giant were pleasantly surprised with those figures, given that the company has about 3,500 fewer employees this year because of layoffs.
And even with a smaller staff, employee volunteerism is up, by about 8 percent.
Akhtar Badshah, senior director of global community affairs, says the company tries to encourage giving by making it creative, competitive, and fun.
“There are lots of small things that we’re continuously trying to do rather than having an executive send out an e-mail saying, ‘Everyone has to donate,’” he says.
Among the strategies employed by Microsoft to spur giving:
- Producing a book of employee photography, which brought in $42,640.
- Providing on its Web site a place where employees could create videos about why they give.
- Holding a “fair” at the company’s headquarters where representatives from nonprofit groups spoke about their work.
- Getting employees involved in organizing the campaign. Microsoft chooses six staff members who take four months away from their regular jobs to plan the campaign. Top executives co-chair the campaign each year.
- Running poker tournaments. Nearly 1,500 employees participated in this year’s tournament, which has raised more than $199,000 so far. In 2008, the tournament raised $171,496. Totals include matching gifts from Microsoft.
- Organizing cook-offs, pie-throwing contests, soccer tournaments, and other events. A soccer clinic for children raised money for a nonprofit group that helps poor children overseas play the sport.
- Designing fun auction items. In addition to touring Mr. Gates’s house, employees had the chance to dump four hours of their work on a top executive, and to enjoy a catered lunch with Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive. But the auction didn’t just have big-ticket items like those: Last year’s bologna sandwich was such a hit that this year, the employee also offered “the world’s greatest spam quesadilla.”
What strategies have you found work well to spur employee giving?
