Working together for the well-being of the community
Volunteers raise record sum for charities.
A team of volunteers from Siemens Medical Solutions in the United States, in partnership with the celebrated charitable organization United Way, managed to raise a record $705,993 for charities in 2006 alone – an amount that demonstrates the success of the collaboration and makes the volunteers deservedly proud.
Strengthening the communities where Siemens employees live and work is the goal pursued by a team of co-workers from Siemens Medical Solutions in the United States through their project submission for the 2007 Siemens Corporate Responsibility Award. The team took on this task against a serious backdrop: 12% of US citizens live below the poverty level, and 47 million Americans can not afford health insurance.
Happy and proud are employees of Siemens Medical Solutions, USA, because their team collected in 2006 the record sum of $705,993.
The project team approached this monumental challenge – to improve the lives of so many of its fellow citizens – with the support of a solid foundation: The 15,000 employees of Siemens Medical Solutions in the US provide a vast pool of volunteers, and the company already has a long tradition of volunteerism.
In cooperation with the large, nationwide charitable organization United Way and under the auspices of the Siemens-wide aid organization Caring Hands, the team began by creating a company-wide network to unite and magnify the effect of the many individual aid programs. The idea was to use and expand synergies and motivate as many employees as possible to take part in the annual charity campaign.
Resourceful and persistent collected the team money for charitable donations
The team employed a series of measures to reach its goal: It bolstered the network of campaign coordinators and supplied a steady stream of information. It used all available in-house media to reach employees and generate enthusiasm for participating in the charity campaign. It created simple donation opportunities such as online registration and automatic payroll deductions and developed a broad spectrum of opportunities for contributing time and money.
The result was worth the effort: Siemens Medical Solutions employees contributed a record $705,993 in 2006 for health and human service agencies in 47 states. 2,571 employees signed up for recurring payroll deductions and 271 first-time donors were brought on board. 2,022 employees actively participated in fundraising initiatives such as Days of Caring, Sponsor a Child or Breast Cancer Walk.
The real achievement of the project team was mobilizing so many co-workers. Success was based primarily on the ever-growing network of volunteers, regular training of coordinators and ongoing publicity in the in-house media.