Nonprofit organizations and charities have limited budgets. As a result, they may not be able to afford the latest technology and thus may not be able to capitalize on the improvements in communications and efficiency which the latest technology can bring. This limits their ability to improve services, respond to natural disasters, and explore innovative approaches to the delivery of their services.
Company grants and product donations support the work of nonprofit organizations that focus on three social issues:
- Meeting basic human needs
- Promoting educational and economic development
- Fostering civic responsibility
Cisco chooses to use technology and innovation to improve the way nonprofit organizations fulfill their missions. Cisco resources help nonprofits improve their productivity, cost efficiency, and service delivery. The goal is to move from short-term, cause-related intervention to a sustained transformation in nonprofit operations. To this end, Cisco grants and product donations support projects that use the company's networking technology in sustainable and innovative ways.
Types of Product Grants
Basic product grants are offered to small nonprofit organizations that serve people in their local communities. The grants are administered through TechSoup Stock, a partnership between Cisco and TechSoup.org that gives nonprofit organizations in the United States, as well as a number of countries in Europe, Middle East and Africa, access to significantly discounted Cisco products online.
Strategic product grants are designed to benefit larger regional and global nonprofit organizations. The emphasis is on building long-term, sustainable partnerships. Grant recipients are selected and invited to apply for a grant by the Corporate Philanthropy team. Recipients are also selected by Civic Councils, or groups of Cisco volunteers who define a community investment strategy for a geographic region, such as a state or country, and manage a budget for the region's grants and product donations.
Recipients receive support in three ways:
- Cash awards from the Cisco Systems Foundation, the Corporate Philanthropy group, and/or Civic Councils
- Personnel support in the form of executives' time
- Cisco products
Performance in FY2005
The Product Grant Program distributed equipment valued at more than US$15.5 million worldwide in FY2005, compared to $13 million in FY2004.
In FY2005, Cisco launched a TechSoup pilot program in the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, South Africa, and Kenya. Contributions from the TechSoup program are combined with Cisco strategic product grants, increasing by eightfold the number of product donations made to nonprofit organizations in this region. In the United States, the number of basic product grants distributed through TechSoup.org has doubled, from 646 grants in FY2004 to 1,264 grants in FY2005. The total fair market value (FMV) of all grants in the United States is $13 million.
Over the two years, Cisco supported numerous programs globally. The following represent some of our strategic projects Cisco supported in FY2004-FY2005.
The Boston Museum of Science
The Boston Museum of Science, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is committed to partnership with government agencies, private foundations, and corporations to establish engineering education at all grade levels, from kindergarten through high school. Through an equipment grant from Cisco, the museum is able to expand on the success of previous grants by extending the reach of our technology to a wider, more diverse audience. Thanks to Cisco, the museum's wireless network can now be extended to all public areas and meeting rooms, helping to improve network security, enabling access by more visitors, and further facilitating the sharing of information between museum staff and educators.
North Carolina State University College of Education
An initiative of the North Carolina State University (NCSU) College of Education, the Friday Institute designs programs that help educators take full advantage of emerging technologies to improve the quality of education in the 21st century. The newly created Middle Grades Academy, which targets future middle grades teachers of social studies, English, science, and mathematics, is developing a new standards-driven teacher-preparation curriculum designed to support technology-enabled teaching and learning. Funded in part through a U.S. Department of Education grant the academy's goals include 1) standards-driven reform of NSCU's middle-grades teacher preparation program, 2) improved technology and data-driven decision-making skills, 3) improved integration of technology in core curricula, and 4) increased exposure to diverse classrooms and master teachers.
The academy's Discovery Classroom program provides a strategically designed venue where future teachers and middle school students can work together to research the most effective uses of technology in middle grades learning environments, including the impact of wireless technology on math, science, social studies, and language arts curricula. Portable equipment capable of operating on a high-speed wireless network will provide maximum classroom management flexibility. Advanced educational technologies such as GIS, digital media production, and desktop videoconferencing will be integrated.
Community Voice Mail
Cisco partnered with more than 1,900 social service agencies in over 36 cities and 19 states to support an initiative known as Community Voice Mail (CVM). CVM provides free voicemail, accessible 24 hours a day, to people in crisis and transition, directly linking homeless and at-risk individuals to jobs, housing, and community service organizations. Last year, more than 48,000 people in need had access to CVM, with some 24,000 people completing their subscriptions and leaving the rolls of state support.
CVM also aids the community service organizations who provide service to people in need by streamlining the workloads of case managers attempting to reach clients who are otherwise without a reliable point of contact.
CVM benefits from funds and equipment from the Cisco Systems Foundation, but its continued success depends on the technical expertise provided by Cisco employees.
Equipment donated by Cisco in 2004 enabled CVM to support several additional sites including:
- Dallas, Texas: This is the first new CVM site to be launched on the Cisco Unity platform. Cisco Civic Council personnel from the Richardson, Texas office assisted in the Dallas launch, providing colocation space and ongoing technical support. Ultimately, the Dallas CVM site will become the regional hub for the area, first serving four other cities in Texas and then branching out as more sites are launched.
- Cleveland, Ohio: This strong CVM site has historically served more than 3,000 people each year, and has a history of hands-on outreach in the community through a highly motivated CVM manager. Through an equipment donation, Cisco replaced the site's existing voicemail equipment which was on the verge of collapse. Today, Cleveland uses a new Cisco Unity Unified Messaging server to provide uninterrupted service to its clients in the greater Cleveland area.
- Pinellas County, Florida: A leader in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) movement, Pinellas County is the first agency in the country to achieve accreditation from the U.S. government. Unfortunately, Pinellas had a voicemail system that was close to failure. To keep the Pinellas County's CVM operational, Cisco donated equipment and support. As a result, Pinellas is now capable of acting as a CVM hub for the entire region.
Cisco received the 2004 Industry Achievement Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Community from the Washington [State] Software Association for its participation in the program.
Oxfam International
In 2002, Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) began working in partnership with Oxfam to address its internal and external communications needs. One of our immediate goals was to help Oxfam improve its communications in emergency situations. Cisco used its expertise and equipment to develop the Humanitarian Response Dashboard.
The dashboard allows Oxfam field workers to file situation reports directly onto the Oxfam International extranet, allowing them to be shared across Oxfam International's network of affiliates irrespective of location or time zone. Previously, field workers would have to file reports to their affiliate headquarters, which would then forward the reports to Oxfam International's Secretariat, often resulting in bottlenecks and delaying publication.
The dashboard has significantly improved the flow of information and enabled Oxfam International to keep affiliates up to speed with events on the ground as they unfold. In 2004 the Dashboard was used globally, including the floods in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and the Bam earthquake in Iran. It is currently being developed as the core communications tool across Oxfam.
Other projects that have benefited from Cisco's expertise include the Humanitarian Skills Register and the "Office in a Box." The Humanitarian Skills Register was developed from an existing, national human resources database into a global register of skilled humanitarian workers. The "Office in a Box" uses satellite technology to give field workers access to telephone, e-mail, and Internet communications.
Comic Relief
Cisco has supported Comic Relief, one of the United Kingdom's largest fundraising organizations, since 2000. We were initially approached by Comic Relief for technical support, advice, and sponsorship for its fundraising campaign, Red Nose Day. Cisco donations of equipment and specialist advice have been used to support the cost of the event, improve efficiency, resilience, and availability of telephone, interactive TV, and Web-based donation services. Since 2001, Comic Relief has processed $32.5 million in donations through Cisco equipment.
In 2005, Cisco technology allowed some call centers to process donations using the Website for the first time. This meant the money entered Comic Relief's bank account weeks sooner than if they had to wait for paper-based transactions to be processed through the bank. The faster turnaround meant Comic Relief could earn interest in the money almost immediately, which is vital considering the organization survives in part on the interest accrued by the funds raised.
This year's Red Nose Day saw donations breaking all previous records, to reach a record £38 million on the night of the event, with Cisco technology playing a critical role in ensuring that any donations made online could be processed quickly and securely.
About £1.5 million (US$2.7 million) in donations came through interactive TV (compared to £640,000 for 2003) and the call centers processed a further £1.5 million (US$2.7 million) in cash donated through the Website.
In total, the Cisco technology helped process more than 225,000 transactions worth in excess of £8 million (US$15.4 million).
In addition to Cisco's product and grant donations, Cisco staff organized a number of fundraising activities at our Bedfont Lakes offices in the United Kingdom. In total these raised £44,000 (US$72,000), a £9,000 improvement from the previous Red Nose Day.
NetHope
NetHope is a collaboration of international nongovernmental relief organizations (NGOs) that provides communications technology and infrastructure to improve the delivery of crisis relief services in developing countries. Since its inception, Cisco has been involved in the facilitation of innovative and cost-effective use of IT through NetHope's offering to member NGOs such as Care, Oxfam, Save the Children, and the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Two Cisco Leadership Fellows have served as leaders at NetHope. In FY2004, Cisco helped develop NetReliefKits (NRKs), suitcase-sized cabinets that use Cisco technology to provide rapidly deployable, field-based voice and data communications. The kits help ensure relief workers can communicate in areas where fixed communications infrastructure has been destroyed. After the South Asia tsunami in December 2004, NRKs were used by NetHope partners to assist ravaged communities within 48 hours of the disaster.
