Case Study: Aligning workplace giving, corporate philanthropy, and volunteering at KPMG

The following is excerpted from the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship’s most recent research report, the Community Involvement Study 2015. KPMG_Corporate_Giving.jpgTo learn more about corporate giving, consider joining us for Corporate Giving: An Introduction to Corporate and Foundation Giving

To most effectively address social issues through community involvement efforts, many companies take a holistic approach, developing efforts that work in tandem to achieve the greatest possible business and social value. Workplace giving efforts are an important component of these efforts, and are often used by companies to augment the more traditional corporate giving and volunteer initiatives.

The 2015 Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship Community Involvement Study finds that more than 80 percent of companies offer workplace giving programs, and nearly 80 percent of companies provide a match to employee contributions. These programs can help companies harness employee passion to create lasting change.

KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax, and advisory firm, has developed strategic relationships to build an education continuum that impacts a student’s education from early childhood through adult learning. The first step on the continuum is KPMG’s Family for Literacy (KFFL) program, which focuses on prekindergarten to fifth grade in an effort to help eradicate childhood illiteracy.

Working with First Book, KPMG partners and professionals, spouses, and “extended family”—retirees, alumni, and interns— raise money, visit classrooms, read to children, and personally put new books into their hands.

Since its inception in 2008, KPMG has distributed more than 2.5 million new books to children in need in more than 100 communities across the United States. Global expansion has begun in India, Mexico, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

The company recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of the program with events at schools and organizations that serve children from low-income families (watch the video below for more on the program).

 
 
 
 
 
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Wistia video thumbnail - KPMG's Family for Literacy Celebrates Fifth Anniversary

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KPMG people and their families volunteered their time to transform classrooms and libraries into scenes from popular children’s books, read to kids, and gave each student five new books to take home.

“We’re extremely proud of KPMG’s people and their families who have worked together for five years to fight childhood illiteracy. They have enabled KFFL to put more than 2.5 million new books in the hands of children in need, helping to overcome the number one obstacle to literacy—a lack of access to books,” said John Veihmeyer, global chairman of KPMG. “Over the next five years and beyond, we hope to provide millions more new books to children from low-income families, so we can encourage their love of reading and put them on a path of lifelong learning.”

KPMG’s focus then moves to middle school, collaborating with Junior Achievement USA® (JA) on the JA Finance Park program. In addition to the more than 50 KPMG professionals serving on local JA boards across the country, professionals from almost 60 KPMG U.S. offices donated more than 15,000 hours, and the firm and its employees contributed more than $685,000 to JA through corporate philanthropy and fundraising events in fiscal year 2014. These efforts complement major financial support provided by the KPMG Foundation.

KPMG played an integral role in supporting the redevelopment of the JA Finance Park program featuring digital curriculum and technology, which allows students to engage in real-world financial activities, such as online banking and paying bills via tablet PCs, while learning about concepts like insurance, credit, and long-term investments.

At the high-school level, KPMG teams with the National Academy Foundation (NAF), a national network of career-themed high schools whose curriculum is developed with input from industry and educational experts with a focus on workforce readiness. KPMG supports NAF’s Academies of Finance by helping to shape its accounting curriculum. In addition, KPMG employees share their knowledge and experience with students through work-based learning experiences, including job shadowing, mock interviews, resume reviews, and paid internships. In fiscal year 2014, KPMG hired more than 20 NAF interns, and KPMG professionals served on local NAF Advisory Boards. A KPMG partner also serves on NAF’s National STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) Advisory Committee.

To learn more about how you can develop and implement workplace giving and corporate giving programs that are aligned with overall corporate citizenship strategy and business objectives, consider joining us for our Corporate Giving: An Introduction to Corporate and Foundation Giving course. 

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