PND (8/29/2000) -- Cisco Systems Hires On-Site Philanthropy Counselor

Cisco Systems Inc., the San Jose, California-based Internet networking company, plans to provide its employees with an on-site philanthropy consultant to help guide their charitable giving, reports the San Jose Mercury News. Over 2,000 of the company's 19,000 employees have become millionaires through their Cisco stock.

"This is a Silicon Valley way to bring philanthropy to the employees as opposed to hoping they find this information on their own," said Peter Hero, president of Community Foundation Silicon Valley. "Just as some companies provide counseling on financial planning, this will be an opportunity to provide advice on sound philanthropic strategies."

Hero, who originally proposed the idea, is currently looking for someone to fill the position. The full-time counselor, who will officially be employed by Community Foundation Silicon Valley, will hold one-on-one meetings with Cisco employees, providing them with information on charities and connecting them with co-workers interested in similar causes. Cisco will pay the foundation a fee for the service.

"It is so wise," commented Dorothy Ridings, president of the Council on Foundations in Washington, D.C. "We think of employee benefits as being a very static set of things. This is the sort of thing that has enormous appeal to exactly the kind of employees that Cisco has."

FCnote: The Cisco Systems Foundation (CA) had assets of $65,370,504 and made grants totaling $7,675,024 in the fiscal year ending 7/31/99.

FCnote: The Community Foundation Silicon Valley (CA) had assets of $290,030,525 and made grants totaling $26,953,959 in the fiscal year ending 6/30/99.

Boudreau, John. "Counselor to Help Cisco Workers Donate a Piece of Their Prosperity." San Jose Mercury News 8/27/2000.

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