Get to Know Morgan Stanley, Finalist for 2016 Employee Volunteer Program of the Year

In this Q&A series, get to know the finalists for VolunteerMatch’s 2016 Employee Volunteer Program of the Year Award. Winners will be revealed on October 25, 2016 at VM Summit 16. Get your VM Summit 16 ticket today. Today’s featured volunteer program: Morgan Stanley.

What makes your volunteer program so successful?

Giving Back is a Morgan Stanley core value, embodied by our commitment to action in communities where we live and work.

Our annual month of service, Global Volunteer Month, which just marked its eleventh year, reaffirms our culture of giving back by engaging employees in a variety of ways. Opportunities range from restoring green spaces to volunteering at food pantries, from team-building events to continuing personal commitments like board service. Many volunteer events are organized by employee champions, who work closely with local partner organizations and rally colleagues with shared interests.

Global Volunteer Month is a springboard for deeper engagement, including sponsoring philanthropy committees and engaging local charity partners around the world, year-round. These employee-driven activities enable the cultivation of relationships with local organizations and personal commitments. Leveraging employee engagement has been a key to the success of our volunteer programs.

What is the most unique aspect of your volunteer program?

In 2016, Morgan Stanley employees in New York and London participated in the ninth annual Strategy Challenge – our annual initiative in giving back through skills-based volunteering. The program partners teams of our most talented employees with nonprofits facing critical strategic challenges, with the goal of making

The program partners teams of our most talented employees with nonprofits facing critical strategic challenges, with the goal of making a profound impact on the organizations, their causes, and their communities.

During the 2016 eight-week intensive program, employees delivered over 12,000 hours of pro bono consulting work to 14 nonprofits. The employee teams generated strategic recommendations with supporting analysis and tools for implementation.

This program is our most unique, fostering deep levels of engagement. It also facilitates transformative experiences for both the nonprofits and our employee volunteers, who benefit from professional development, leadership training, and from building relationships with their colleagues and nonprofit partners.

What recent accomplishment makes you proud?

The eleventh annual Global Volunteer Month broke all previous participation records. An impressive 78 percent of employees in 34 countries gave their time, talents and energy to meaningful volunteer projects in their local communities.

In anticipation of Global Volunteer Month, we invested in a new social platform for employee engagement; it allows employees to communicate their experiences in giving back on a firm-wide level. During Global Volunteer Month, hundreds of employees generated content about their activities and programs to share with the Morgan Stanley community and garnered over 100,000 views globally. Through this new platform, employees can continue to showcase their volunteer efforts and connect with colleagues year-round.

Will Morgan Stanley win VolunteerMatch’s Employee Volunteer Program of the Year Award? Find out at VM Summit 16 – get your ticket today.