WPP’s VMLY&R ceased normal business operations on Thursday, Sept. 24, to give nearly 7,000 employees around the world the opportunity to support their local community through virtual and in-person charitable volunteer projects.
Despite the global pandemic, VMLY&R Worldwide Foundation Day was the most extensive and impactful to date. Thanks to the current remote working environment, employees are more spread out more than usual — so more local communities benefitted from Foundation Day efforts. Additionally, employees were encouraged to involve family members.
“2020 has been challenging in so many ways. It’s more important than ever to give back,” said Jon Cook, VMLY&R CEO. “Through thousands of individual acts of kindness, VMLY&R employees around the world will do whatever they can to make their community stronger. One of our core values is ‘abundantly generous,’ and Foundation Day wonderfully embodies that spirit.”
This year’s theme for VMLY&R Worldwide Foundation Day was “Together As One,” highlighting the collective impact of all employees rolling up their sleeves to give back in meaningful ways over the same 24-hour period. To visualize the global impact, the agency created a microsite where employees can post photos from the day and celebrate all the charitable efforts.
“Employees have self-selected a charitable project or utilized the agency’s Foundation Day resource guide to identify a worthy cause to support,” said John Mulvihill, VMLY&R Foundation executive director. “With so much separation this year, Foundation Day is a wonderful communal experience while helping countless nonprofit organizations and worthy causes.”
VMLY&R Worldwide Foundation Day is the signature program of the agency’s community outreach program. The VMLY&R Foundation is an employee-funded and employee-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that recently surpassed $2.4 million in charitable donations. Employees are invited to financially support the Foundation through payroll deduction contributions. Foundation members receive tangible benefits, including the ability to secure charitable Grants and a $2 to $1 Matching Gifts program.
Additionally, the VMLY&R Foundation supports an array of pro bono services for nonprofits. Each employee also has 16 hours of paid volunteer hours — over and above Foundation Day — to utilize however they see fit to improve their community.
