Points of Light Institute Honors Booz Allen for Excellence in its Employee Volunteer Efforts

A venerable organization commends the firm’s dedicated volunteers and the programs, policies, and corporate vision that support their philanthropic efforts.

The Points of Light Institute recognized Booz Allen Hamilton on June 2, 2008 for its outstanding workplace volunteer programs with an Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs Award.

This national award honors businesses for their employee philanthropic programs, including the service projects, policies, and visions that support their volunteers.

Chairman and CEO Ralph Shrader accepted the award on behalf of the firm at the Institute’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service in Atlanta.

“When we designed Booz Allen’s Community Relations program, we were deliberate about what we wanted to be and do,” he said. “No matter how worthy the cause, we didn’t want to write ‘standalone’ checks. We wanted our efforts to be driven by the passion of our employees and directed to people in need at a very personal level.”

Booz Allen believes good business and good corporate citizenship go together and has an employee-centric approach to its philanthropic activities. “Employee-centric” means the firm aligns its financial, in-kind, and pro bono resources with the charitable giving and volunteering efforts and interests of its staff and officers. The firm’s support takes the form of corporate initiatives and pro bono activities, community-based initiatives, education partnerships, and employee volunteerism.

“The passion and caring of our employees shine a light of hope much more brightly than money could alone,” Dr. Shrader adds. “I’m convinced that the greatest challenge—and greatest opportunity—for those of us leading corporate volunteerism programs is to keep them personal. We need to scale our impact without losing the individual connection that makes such a difference, one person at a time.”

In 2007, Booz Allen donated more than 8,500 pro bono hours—valued at over $3.1 million—to support 26 major nonprofit organizations on a wide range of projects. Hundreds of employees contributed services such as strategic planning and infrastructure development and used their intellectual capital to help the nonprofits fulfill their missions.

Just a few of the organizations supported by the firm’s employee volunteers include Special Olympics International, American Cancer Society, ALS Association, Rebuilding Together, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and the Girl Scouts.

Established in 1993, the Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs Award recognizes businesses and industries that meet the Principles of Excellence for Workplace Volunteering:

• Acknowledge that effective volunteer programs contribute to a company’s ability to achieve its business goals
• Commitment to establishing and supporting a program that involves all employees and treat volunteering like any other key business requirement
• Target volunteerism to address serious social problems within their communities

Based on how well each company’s programs reflect the Principles, honorees are then selected by business and nonprofit groups.

The Points of Light Institute—formerly the Points of Light & Hands On Network—is a national nonprofit whose mission is to inspire, equip, and mobilize people to take action that changes the world. Its network connects 370 civic hubs that manage millions of volunteers and thousands of volunteer-driven community impact projects each year.

story posted June 19, 2008