2018-Feb-05
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Don’t Come to Work (Volunteer an Hour Instead)
Let’s play a guessing game. Name the benefit!
Your clues are as follows. It’s part of your time off. It’s up to you to use it when you want. It launched in 2016. Have you guessed yet? Maybe you need one more clue. You get paid to volunteer.
Did you guess Time2Give?
Crash Course
If you missed the memo about this generous benefit, here are some basics you should know:
- You get five days off per calendar year to volunteer
- You can use those hours all at once or all spread out—it’s up to you
- You can use your Time2Give with any charitable causes or organizations of your choice
- Log your hours like you would log any other time off
How do you take advantage of your Time2Give? Plan around your schedule. Use a couple of hours here or there as the opportunity comes up. Whatever time works best for you and your job. Give your manager a heads up. Log it in your HRMS, PTO tool, or timecard like you would with any other paid time off. It’s that easy.
The Big and the Small
Something to be proud of: employees logged over 182,000 hours of Time2Give last year. All those hours were spent helping our communities around the world. That’s huge. If every employee used all of their Time2Give, we could log 2.8 million volunteer hours.
It’s easy to see how we made huge impacts. Just look at Agnieszka’s story about leading a team to build homes in Romania with Habitat for Humanity. Or how Iain Biddle took a team of employees and family members to Malawi to work on clean water projects. Bruce saved a life using his Time2Give. They gave back in a big way using their Time2Give.
But you don’t have to reach for the stars to take advantage of this benefit. You can volunteer in whatever way you can, big or small. Nicola Allen chaperoned a school field trip to a nature preserve. Rajmohan Ramamoorthy spent time gardening and helping out in the kitchen at Shristi Special Academy. Monique Rose helped at a picnic for seniors with her community center. Monica Le Crom gave meditation workshops to children all over Paris, Brussels and London.
Whether it’s a couple of hours a week, a day here or there, or a full week of service, we can all use some Time2Give to help our communities. Get the family involved. Spend time at your faith-based organization. Help at your child’s school. Cook a meal at your community center. Every hour makes a difference.
No Excuses
“But the organization I like to work with isn’t in Cisco’s giving and volunteering platform.” Believe it or not, that’s not a problem! Time2Give is your personal benefit, and you can use it to volunteer with any charitable organization or school of your choice. It doesn’t have to be “approved” by Cisco. Our only request is that you log your time, and to share the love if you had a great experience.
“I prefer volunteering with groups.” The more the merrier! Get your colleagues to use their Time2Give with you! Elvis Bottega got a group of Cisco divers to use their Time2Give by diving for debris. You don’t even need to use all of it. Make this the year you use an hour of Time2Give. Get your coworkers, families, and friends involved in giving. Make a difference.
Tell us your Time2Give stories, or how you want to use yours this year.
Helpful Links
- Time2Give
- Bright Funds giving platform
- Learn about how you can participate in giving at Cisco Citizen
- Food for Thought
- Read more employee stories
Do you have a personal experiences story to tell? Share with the #WeAreCisco
Connect everything. Innovate everywhere. Benefit everyone.
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