Accenture: Rapid action in adapting programs to help nonprofit partners

FROM THE JUDGES:

MakingADifference – the one-stop platform for workplace giving and volunteering.”

Accenture has achieved 50% of employees participating in volunteering efforts in 2020, and increased pro bono participation by 75% on the previous year. Despite the challenges of COVID, employees have contributed 9,133 hours of pro bono work and 15,440 hours of volunteering to more than 150 different community organisations.
Accenture delivered on the promise of technology and human ingenuity by using technology to engage their people. In response to the bushfires, they quickly built a community of more than 200 volunteers to leverage skills across their whole organisation and to develop an ecosystem with their communities, nonprofits and clients. During COVID, Accenture highlighted the ways people could volunteer virtually to maintain employee engagement and to continue to support the community.
Pro bono support helped the Australian Red Cross to work across 110 evacuation centres across the country, supporting them operationally to assist those people most impacted.
Accenture’s network of 100 Corporate Citizenship champions and 350 Sustainability Squad members cascade messages across the business and run events and campaigns. Accenture Leadership communicate and encourage participation as part of regular ‘All Hands’ calls.

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations.
The agile response to multiple disasters has helped boost participation and focus efforts to organisations most in need and/or supporting local communities.
MakingADifference is the one-stop platform for employees to donate, fundraise and participate in Accenture coordinated initiatives and propose and
participate in their own events, as well as record their volunteer hours.
During the bushfires & COVID pandemic, volunteering leave was increased from 1 to 5 days for employees supporting these important causes. Donation matching was increased to 100% matching for bushfire and COVID related causes, projects and partners.
In late May, a Social Innovation Challenge was launched to help nonprofit partners manage the significant impact COVID was having on their programs. From 18 entries, 4 successful project ideas were funded through this program, delivering solutions for their partners ABCN, Eat Up Australia, Australian Red Cross and TupuToa (NZ).
Corporate citizenship is embedded in Accenture’s culture. It’s a pillar of their Responsible Business strategy and is intrinsically embedded in everything they do.