Recently within Accenture Recruiting we’ve been hearing an increasing number of questions around how Accenture practices corporate citizenship and how we give back to the community. What our candidates are essentially saying is “As a potential employee of Accenture, I want to make sure that the company that I may work for takes concrete actions to make the world a better place." This is definitely a noble concern and one that Accenture shares at its core.

Accenture’s approach to Corporate Citizenship is modeled around giving three resources that we have access to: Skills, Time, and Money. We direct these resources to initiatives at a global or local level. Below are some interesting examples on projects that we currently have underway.

Skills: The main method of offering our skills is through pro bono or reduced cost services. One such program we have is called the Accenture Development Program. This is a unique not-for-profit business model that provides consulting expertise to the international development sector at a much reduced cost.

At a local level there are also efforts around providing services to community organizations. For example, through our Skills Based Volunteering initiative, Accenture people give their time and energy to help local nonprofits develop the strategy, technology and operational structure they need to achieve their missions. Project members dedicate a specified number of volunteer hours to successfully execute their project, in addition to their regular Accenture work..

Time: The main way that we offer our time is through local volunteer efforts. Last year 100 of my Chicago Accenture colleagues and I participated in a Junior Achievement in a Day program in which Accenture employees went to schools in the city for a day to teach business related skills to elementary children. Also in Chicago this year, during the Serve-A-Thon in July, there were 400 employees that came together to paint, plan and clean up the city’s schools and social service agencies.

Money: The way that we offer our money is largely through… you guessed it… donating our money. Here are some figures: - Accenture Foundations committed US$6 million in new charitable grants in support of our global giving program. - Accenture and Accenture Foundations gave more than US$8 million through local giving programs. - Accenture Foundations contributed more than $2.1 M to 517 colleges and universities via its matching contributions program.

These examples just scratch the surface of the ways that Accenture practices Corporate Citizenship. We have some fairly extensive resources that you can take a look at if you are interested in reading more.