Intel Involved Philippines has logged the highest percentage of employee volunteers worldwide. The Program has encouraged not just Intel employees but also members of the local government and the entire community to become active movers of community development. It contributes to the local communities in education, the environment, health, safety and community outreach. Today, General Trias Cavite, the site of Intel Philippines, has begun to call itself “The Town of Volunteers” in recognition of the tradition and spirit of the Intel® Involved.

Demonstrated Intel’s commitment to the community to its employees and other key.

One of the key corporate values of Intel is to "be an asset to our communities worldwide." Intel employees around the globe contribute over a million volunteer hours each year through the company's Intel® Involved in the Community Program participated in by Intel's corps of employee-volunteers.

Paul Otellini, CEO and President of Intel, and himself a strong advocate of volunteerism, crafted, enhanced and incorporated the values and policies of volunteering and corporate social responsibility (CSR) into Intel's corporate culture through a wide variety of programs in education, environmental stewardship, safety, youth development and community service.

The Volunteer Matching Grant Program (VMGP) is one of the projects sustained by Intel® Involved¹. Under the VMGP, Intel employees volunteer in select schools or in the Intel Computer Clubhouse, which provides a creative and safe after-school learning environment where young people from under-served communities work with adult mentors to explore their own ideas, develop skills, and build confidence through the use of technology.² As every 20 hours of volunteer work has a corresponding dollar grant from Intel Foundation, the program raised almost US$10 million, over the past 10 years. This amount was equivalent to 1.2 million volunteer hours rendered by Intel® Involved.

Since 1974, becoming an integral community player through volunteerism has been part of Intel's corporate culture.

In the Philippines, Intel began manufacturing its products in Makati City in 1974. At that time, volunteerism had not yet been formally structured although employees were doing sporadic volunteering activities. There was no Public Affairs office or any central office that managed the volunteers program then. As a result, programs were not strategically focused or aligned with corporate priorities. They varied from activities like the medical missions and feeding programs.

In the late 1990's, with the birth of Intel® Involved, volunteerism was institutionalized. In 2000, Intel consolidated all operations in its Cavite (CV) campus at the Gateway Business Park located in the Municipality of General Trias, Cavite.

Assisted by volunteer leaders, the Community Relations and Intel® Involved Manager under the Public Affairs Department (now known as Corporate Affairs) formulated, implemented, supervised and assessed the volunteer programs. The Manager managed the funds from Intel's corporate and CV-based budgets, and coordinated with all the community stakeholders as well.

Intel's community programs and projects in education, the environment, health, safety, and community outreach ran all year round. Specific volunteer programs in Cavite included the Volunteer Matching Grant Program (VMGP); environment conservation activities like the annual Global Earth Day Celebration, the Global Coastal Clean-up Day, and tree planting; safety programs like the Intel Kids Safety classes and School Emergency Response Teams (SERT); and science and technology awareness campaigns, including window tours for students.

The year 1997 marked the program's turning point. At that time Intel Philippines hired dedicated personnel to manage the employee volunteer program, among them Chona Ignalaga, who joined Intel Philippines as Community Relations and Intel® Involved Manager in late 1997. At the time she initiated her own version of a volunteer program called, "Volunteers at Intel."

When she learned of the Intel® Involved volunteer program in the United States named "Intel® Involved in the Community", however, she decided to rename her own program accordingly. Thus was Intel® Involved in the Community launched in Intel Philippines in 1998.

In the early years of the program, as there were two Intel plants in the country—one in Makati City and another in General Trias, Cavite—Ignalaga formed two separate volunteer groups, each of which addressed the needs of the communities where they were situated.

The Makati office, which was located in a residential area, launched programs geared at addressing the needs and concerns of the nearby residents. An example of a running concern in the Makati site at the time was the parking area for Intel visitors, who tended to block the gates of the residences near its office. The volunteer programs in the General Trias site, on the other hand, had a wider scope as they covered issues pertaining to education, the environment, and community outreach. These separate initiatives in Makati and General Trias ran for three years.

In 1997, Intel's volunteer program had but ten volunteers, most of whom were doctors and nurses in the company clinic. Consequently, Ignalaga recalled, most of Intel's volunteer programs offered medically-oriented services. Then it occurred to Ignalaga that, "Intel is not a pharmaceutical company; so why should we engage in medical community programs?" Thereafter, she reviewed all the volunteer programs that had been implemented and terminated the inappropriate ones.

Before long, Ignalaga recruited volunteers and marketed volunteer opportunities creatively. Realizing that email accounts were confined to the corporate offices of Intel but wishing to reach more people like the operators and technicians of the company, she put up notices and advertisements in the restrooms and bulletin boards, and used the public address system during lunch breaks to inform all Intel personnel about the program. As a result, more employees became interested in volunteering and eventually signified their commitment to the program. Ignalaga met with them during their respective shifts, be this at night or during the daytime. She undertook this mode of recruitment for almost a year to ensure that every Intel employee was covered. She also tapped the various Intel employee clubs to spread the word about Intel® Involved. Yes, she confessed, the entire program "started out as roughly as that. There was no structure, there were no volunteer leaders. But I saw a huge opportunity to grow the Program."

Intel's lacking a company-wide infrastructure with which to facilitate, manage and measure community involvement activities had failed to deter Ignalaga who saw the need for a clear Intel® Involved Volunteer Program structure that would establish common goals, measurements, and coordination. She was aware that by equipping the Volunteer Program with a measuring tool, the Intel management would better understand how the program contributed to the company's corporate social responsibility goals.

As an initial step, she therefore surveyed the employees to better appreciate what causes were important to them and to be able to obtain and evaluate their feedback. Based on information derived thus, the company decided to focus its community relations initiatives around education, the environment, health, safety, community outreach and volunteerism.

With the establishment of volunteerism as one of the company's key initiatives, Ignalaga decided to organize a team of volunteer leaders who would focus on three strategies critical to the success of an Employee Volunteer Program. These strategies were as follows:

• obtain strong management support and commitment to the program;
• implement the right tools and resources necessary to the program's success; and
• increase employee engagement in the volunteer program.

Sixty-five Intel volunteer leaders made up the Intel® Involved Steering Committee (IISC) in 2007. They were grouped according to the different interest areas (education, the environment, safety, and community outreach) of the community programs. Their primary responsibilities were to assist in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of the programs, which they also marketed to other Intel employees. The volunteers likewise conducted pre-program orientations.

Some of the 65 volunteer leaders were assigned to the Attendance and Recognition Committee where they compiled the volunteer hours logged and organized events to recognize and celebrate the contributions of Intel volunteers.

As every Intel manufacturing site had to develop a stakeholder engagement process, the Intel Cavite Community Advisory Panel (ICCAP) was formed in 1999. ICCAP was composed of 23 community leaders from various sectors, among them LGUs, barangays, NGOs, religious organizations, schools, civic organizations, and the youth. They helped Intel prioritize its community projects.

No less than the municipal mayor swore in the ICCAP members who then signed a charter document stipulating the panel's objectives, mission, membership, and monthly meetings. The charter also specifically declared that Intel would lay down the final decision on the programs and projects. ICCAP's recommendations and suggestions, nonetheless, were strongly considered.

As originally conceived, ICCAP was an external voluntary organization designed to act as the Intel community's advisory panel. It provided the forum whereby Intel presented its operations and community programs, and obtained recommendations and feedback. However, in 2004, ICCAP members signified their desire to actively participate in the program, a request that management endorsed and which led ICCAP members to become increasingly involved in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of Intel® Involved projects.

Intel, together with the IISC and ICCAP, also conducted annual planning sessions and partner-program reviews.

As the volunteer base of Intel increased, the Public Affairs team saw it fit to formulate a five-year plan covering 2000 to 2005. The plan noted that for programs to be effective and sustainable, they should be aligned with the skills and expertise of the employees.

In 2000, the scope of the Intel® Involved volunteer programs was limited to the five barangays that were within the immediate vicinity of the company. Over the years, the number of barangays positively impacted rose to 33, with particular focus on the environment and education programs.

When the United Nations General Assembly named 2001 as the "International Year of the Volunteers" (IYV),³ more employees participated in the community programs of Intel® Involved. At the same time, regional teams of Intel® Involved in various corporate sites were established.

From 2001 to 2004, the number of volunteers increased from 25 percent to 30 percent, to 40 percent and finally, to 59 percent of the total employee complement, respectively. In the 1990s when the participation percentage registered at 10 percent, Ignalaga was not too concerned with the indicators. She said, "We were not too religious about indicators because we felt that since it was a volunteer effort, why take it seriously?" This attitude changed as the concept of corporate social responsibility gained prominence in the corporate sector.

The year 2004 proved significant for Intel® Involved Philippines because it was then that the site logged the highest participation rate among all Intel sites worldwide. During this time, Ignalaga chaired the Intel® Involved worldwide team.

As Chairperson, she restructured the meetings for Intel® Involved sites. Rather than have them meet simultaneously through a conference call, Intel sites in Asia, Europe, and America shared their experiences and best practices as regional groups. Through this innovation, similarities across programs were identified per region and culture. Ignalaga observed that in Asia, most of the programs and participation rates were similar. Also, Asia's participation rate as a region was 55 percent of the approximately 85,000 employees in the region.

In 2004, Ignalaga learned of the Volunteer Matching Grant Program (VMGP), which Intel's sites in the US widely implemented. Under the VMGP, hours spent by Intel employees volunteering in schools in their communities were matched by a dollar grant from Intel Foundation. The recipient school then used the grants according to their own priorities. Recognizing the potentially huge benefits which VGMP offered the schools in the community of Intel Philippines in Cavite, Ignalaga thus proposed to the Intel Foundation that the VMGP be implemented in the Philippines. She justified her proposal by citing how the public schools in General Trias, Cavite badly needed funds, and how the VMGP could succeed, given the enthusiasm for volunteering among Intel employees. Intel Foundation and Corporate Public Affairs subsequently approved her proposal, thereby making the Philippines the second non-U.S. site that implemented VMGP.

In 2005, the VMGP pilot implementation logged 99,650 volunteer hours which was equivalent to a US$249,125 or a PhP12.2 million grant. In the first two years of VMGP, it thus raised nearly PhP28 million for the benefit of 29 public schools in the Municipality of General Trias.

Intel sites in Asia that recognized the significant contributions of VMGP to community-building themselves initiated plans for the implementation of the Program in their respective localities. In 2005, VMGP was rolled out in India, China and Malaysia.

An Intel® Involved Volunteer was a blue badge⁴ Intel employee who, devoid of compensation or any expectation of compensation, performed a task in the direction and on behalf of Intel® Involved. Intel employees who were volunteers either joined in the annual and regular projects as individuals (ex., offering tutorial services), or through quarterly, team-building projects.

The "compressed work week" concept facilitated participation in volunteer projects.⁵ Conflicts in volunteering and office work were resolved by an employee's obtaining approval from his or her manager or supervisor to participate in the community programs.

Despite the continued requests for volunteer activities from its neighboring communities, the Public Affairs team of Intel Philippines chose to confine Intel® Involved programs to the Municipality of General Trias. This focus allowed the programs greater impact. Occasionally, Intel and Intel® Involved did extend help to the disaster-stricken areas in the country through donation drives conducted in cooperation with NGOs.

Volunteer areas were classified under education, environment, safety, and community outreach programs, as follows:

• Education Programs: These were aligned with the Department of Education's policies and programs, which included Alternative Learning Systems (ALS)⁶, Brigada Eskwela⁷, and Computer Learning for Kids (CLICK)⁸, whereby volunteers taught students and distributed school supplies to public schools in General Trias. Other volunteer programs of Intel included the VMGP⁹ and the individual tutorial services conducted by its employees.
• Environment Programs: The volunteers celebrated the following annual events together with community stakeholders and various companies: Earth Day, Global Coastal Clean-Up. They also undertook tree planting on regular days. Other environmental initiatives the volunteers involved themselves in were Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), waste management and solid recycling in schools, and eEnvironmental Summits.
• Safety Programs: As a manufacturing company, Intel considered the safety of its employees a primary concern. Its flagship initiative, INTEL K2 or "Kabalikat sa Kaligtasan", covered back-to-school emergency management and safety training for teachers, and back-to-school emergency plan training for students. The Red Cross, meanwhile, facilitated sessions consisting of fire and earthquake drills, as well as emergency responses, for Intel employees.
• Community Outreach Programs: This set of programs included an annual blood drive and a Christmas outreach program called, "Pick a name, bless a child". It also encompassed emergency response actions every time disasters struck Cavite. Other programs in the list were the back-to-school day care centers; a training center for the youth, women, and senior citizens, which Intel undertook with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD); and outreach activities directed at homes for the elderly and orphanages.

Under the VMGP, every 20 hours of volunteer work by Intel volunteers in pre-identified schools/learning institutions was equivalent to US$50. In July 2007, Intel Foundation increased the grant to $80 per 20 hours of volunteer work. Intel considered the grant a social investment on the students in the community, and issued the same in recognition of its employees' volunteer work.

Under the VGMP, educational institutions were pre-identified¹⁰ in the host community where the Intel site was located. These public schools submitted project proposals requiring Intel volunteers. On a scheduled date, these volunteers trooped to the school to assist the principal, teachers, and students.

Intel employees recorded the number of hours they spent volunteering, inclusive of the travel time to the site, the preparation time, meetings, and the execution of the actual activity. These data were then consolidated by the Attendance and Recognition Committee of the IISC, and consequently verified by the Intel® Involved Manager. The audited hours were thereafter submitted to the Intel Foundation, which verified the logged hours and calculated the VMGP grant. Intel Foundation wired the VMGP grant to a third-party NGO, the Volunteer Organizations Information Coordination and Exchange Inc. (VOICE) Network, which facilitated the release of the funds to the school beneficiaries.

VMGP beneficiaries were required to submit a proposal to Intel, detailing the activities and infrastructure where the funds were to be allocated. ICCAP reviewed the proposals, approved and monitored their implementation. The External VMGP Committee also conducted a full audit of the program's expenses with the Municipal Mayor as the final signatory. The VMGP audit report was then published in Intel's internal website for employees, thereby keeping the employees and volunteers abreast of the audit results. The amount of VMGP funds which the beneficiaries received depended on the number of volunteer hours logged by Intel employees in their respective schools.

The Intel® Involved program was under the supervision of the company's Human Resources Department when it started in 1997. No budget was allotted for Intel® Involved Projects at that time, making it necessary for the Intel® Involved Manager to ask for spare funds from the HR Manager for the funding of community projects. In 1999, Intel's organizational restructuring took place, resulting in Intel® Involved and the Public Affairs Department's becoming independent. This development resulted to the allotment of a budget for Intel® Involved projects.

To sustain these efforts, Intel® Involved volunteers consequently partnered and collaborated with various organizations in the community. Further, despite the reduced budget, Intel® Involved completed 100 programs in 2006. The annual budget appropriated for the Intel® Involved programs was separate from the VMGP funds, which the number of volunteer hours logged by the employees determined.

Ignalaga found that collaborating with departments and factories and enlisting the support of administrative assistants at Intel to coordinate volunteer activities helped develop and communicate compelling engagement ideas company-wide. Each Intel® Involved project was planned and structured to correspond to specific goals, benefits and critical success indicators that the Community Relations Manager, supported by the Intel® Involved Steering Committee, managed.

Using feedback from employees, the Intel Community Advisory Panel and the community perception surveys, Intel also established several criteria critical to the program's success:

• the establishment of volunteerism as an integral link connecting the company, the employee, and the community
• the development of deeper partnerships with local communities
• the promotion of the Great Place to Work Value (to encourage employees to be assets in their communities)

A volunteer program management toolkit was developed for the Intel® Involved Coordinators Team and for the volunteers who led or organized volunteer activities for their peers and colleagues.

Prior to the implementation of the program and to ensure the readiness of the volunteers, the IISC also conducted training and orientation seminars on the nature of the project, the volunteers' roles and responsibilities. Under the NEO or the New Employee Orientation program, newly-hired Intel employees underwent the Intel® Involved training seminar and were briefed on the projects, achievements, and opportunities for volunteering.

Intel® Involved introduced the T3 program, also known as the "train the trainers program," an example of which was the fire or earthquake drills training program.

To ensure the safety of its volunteers, Intel® Involved Programs launched a number of initiatives, one of which was the Safety Management by Walking Around (SMBWA). Through this program, employees assessed their environment in terms of safe and unsafe conditions, and the behavior for the volunteers and other stakeholders. Meanwhile, a "buddy system" ensured that each volunteer was aware of his and the other's safety. In addition, a standby Emergency Response Team was on hand to assist during emergencies.

As mentioned earlier, in the early phase of the Intel® Involved Program, Ignalaga used bulletin boards and posters to disseminate information and recruit volunteers. She had also then conducted "department downloads", which entailed visiting the various departments and introducing Intel® Involved, or helping the department organize an exclusive team-building volunteer activity.

As the Intel® Involved Program evolved, volunteers began to use other tools for internal communication, such as email blasts, SMS messaging, and TV-CV. The latter was a local TV network in Intel that reported news and featured major developments in the company.

To further broaden the reach of communication, stories on volunteerism were featured in the Corporate Affairs' quarterly e-newsletter. Intel's intranet, called Circuit, also regularly carried articles on Intel® Involved, alongside announcements on volunteer opportunities. For face-to-face recruitment possibilities, a fair was held each Valentines Day. During this event which used the slogan "Volunteering is a work of the heart", volunteers signed up for projects of interest to them.

Later on, other critical tools were developed, including an Intel® Involved website and a volunteer database. The IISC leaders enjoyed administrative access to the Intel® Involved database, which they visited whenever they posted their volunteer experiences, tracked volunteer hours and promoted volunteer opportunities.

Ignalaga emphasized the importance of proper data management for the Intel® Involved Program. According to her, "We tracked our indicators very seriously, particularly volunteer hours under VMGP. Data integrity was very important because Intel Foundation based its grants on this."

The database of Intel® Involved contained each employee volunteer's details - name, worldwide ID number, volunteer activity, and number of volunteer hours. In addition, each activity maintained attendance sheets that the Attendance and Recognition Committee compiled and tracked. For large volunteer programs, such as blood drives, an automated "badge swipe" was used to track employee participation. The program's achievements (programs implemented, number of volunteers, volunteer hours) were reported quarterly.

The Intel® Involved teams evaluated themselves after every project so as to identify the successful aspects of the projects, its problems and areas for improvement. Random surveys were also conducted among IISC, ICCAP and Intel employees.

The Corporate Affairs group of Intel Philippines, through a third party, also facilitated a biannual community perception survey (CPS) to assess how the community viewed the company. To improve the chances of obtaining objective feedback, a reputable and experienced NGO or academic organization was tapped to conduct surveys and focus group discussions (FGDs). The last CPS was in July 2005.

In recognition of the volunteers' efforts, the Corporate Affairs group, through Ignalaga, sent letters of appreciation to the volunteers' supervisors and managers for allowing their staff to participate in Intel® Involved programs.

Meanwhile, the Attendance and Recognition Committee organized Recognition Night, a yearly event for volunteer leaders (IISC) and their division, to formally recognize those who exhibited leadership and dedication. Volunteer leaders and those with the highest volunteer hours received plaques of appreciation from Corporate Affairs and the Site General Manager.

The development of the Intel® Involved volunteer program demonstrated Intel's commitment to the community to its employees and other key stakeholders. It enhanced Intel's public reputation and image as a responsible corporate citizen.

The Intel® Involved Program brought several benefits to its local communities, among them the additional manpower/human resources for community development programs, which ensured the availability of a sustained supply of skilled volunteers. It also built the capacity of the schools and the communities to empower themselves through the sharing of technical and professional expertise.

The effective engagement of Intel® Involved volunteers maximized their value to Intel. They, after all, promoted results-focused work, education, opportunities for learning through reflection, and opportunities for additional actions that took Intel's message to the community.

At Intel, volunteerism has evolved into a significant factor in the retention of employees, who see the program as another reason to stay with a socially responsible employer. With the program, Intel's corporate value of being a Great Place to Work is concretized.

Intel believes that volunteerism contributes to skill- and team-building. Ignalaga said,

Through Intel® Involved, we build leaders. Intel employees perpetually learn new skills, expand existing skills, and share their talents with others. They are becoming better leaders and better managers of people. They meet new people and build contacts inside and outside the company. Our employees are growing personally and professionally as a result of their volunteer efforts.

Some Intel® Involved leaders have been recipients of Intel Philippines' "Outstanding Employee" award as a result of their outstanding volunteer efforts and for role-modeling Intel's Great Place to Work Value (GPTW). According to Ignalaga, volunteers became "visible among managers and other staff in a position of hiring" because of the opportunity given them to demonstrate their skills through volunteer work.

Intel® Involved gave employees the "psychic reward" of knowing that they had made a difference in the community. Involvement in the program helped build morale, encouraged teamwork, promoted workplace appreciation and loyalty and job satisfaction. It also offered a sense of personal accomplishment.

Intel® Involved provided a venue for employees to develop their leadership and project management skills. Learning happened at the employee-volunteer's own pace and provided the freedom to make and learn from mistakes, as the program was voluntary and had no impact on their formal performance evaluation at work.

Intel® Involved also reinforced Intel's egalitarian culture because at Intel, all employees, regardless of rank or position in the workplace, served shoulder-to-shoulder when doing volunteer work.

Intel's year-round Intel® Involved programs have contributed in many ways to the communities where they were located. In the education space alone, Intel's VMGP have resulted in improvements in the public schools of General Trias Municipality. As of end-2006, VMGP grants resulted in 24 new classrooms and 2 multi-purpose halls, a speech laboratory, 44 new comfort rooms for the students, 2 clinics, 5 new libraries, 5 new science and 5 new computer laboratories. In addition, 17 classrooms were renovated, while 166 new computers were put up by the schools for their students. With the new classrooms, the ratio of students-to-classroom improved from 90:1 to 40:1. Around 500 Intel volunteers served as an auxiliary teaching force for Math, Science and Computer classes. The schools where Intel employee volunteers tutored students in Math and Science were noted to have won a number of local Math and Science competitions.

Intel has also been recognized for its sustained leadership and dedication to Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) excellence in the community. Its community programs have raised awareness and convinced the residents to work at sustaining the environment. EHS programs have also influenced the local-government unit (LGU)-wide policies and programs, implementation structures, systems and services, thereby significantly improving the environmental conditions of Intel's host communities.

Intel has effectively utilized its employee volunteers and developed them into educated, motivated and proud ambassadors of the company to the rest of the community. Volunteerism has become an inextricable part of Intel Philippines employees who had the highest volunteer participation rate among the countries where Intel operated in 2006. That year, four out of every five or some 79 percent of Intel employees participated in volunteer programs under Intel® Involved. The 232,000 volunteer hours logged by Intel employee volunteers from 2005 to 2006 were effectively equivalent to PhP6.19 million.¹¹

In a Community Perception Survey conducted by a third party in 2005, community respondents gave Intel's volunteer activities in the schools a 98 percent satisfaction score. In 2006, Mayor Luis Ferrer IV of General Trias received an award from the Department of the Interior and Local Government and from Senator Pimentel in recognition of his exemplifying best practices in collaborating with the private sector, particularly Intel. Mayor Ferrer named General Trias the "Bayanng Volunteers" (Town of Volunteers) that same year.

Jointly with its employee volunteers, program beneficiaries and key stakeholders, Intel undertakes measures that ensure the sustainability of its community initiatives and volunteer programs.

Commitment to Excellence: Intel is committed to the highest corporate citizenship standard. It believes that employee volunteerism serves as an effective venue for building relationships with communities as it bridges the gap between community needs, company goals and the employees' desire to participate in community projects that are also in line with their individual interests. A successful program strategy balances these needs and focuses efforts on gaining the highest returns.

Strategic collaboration: Intel provides direction and impetus to its community work by spearheading the formation of the Community Advisory Panel (CAP). The CAP is composed of diverse representatives from local government agencies, community-based organizations, academe, non-government organizations, the religious sector. It also includes key community leaders and Intel managers who comprise an advisory body for key issues affecting the community. In 1999, following the formation of Intel-Cavite Community Advisory Panel, Intel collaborated with various community stakeholders. ICCAP aimed to establish open communication with the local community and to obtain regular feedback on its operations and the issues affecting Intel and the community. The positive relationship with ICCAP has resulted in the generation of ideas and of potential opportunities and strategies that have helped Intel expand its programs and enhance its leadership role in the community. Intel has leveraged on the partnerships and coalition-building opportunities that promote and encourage sustainable programs and practice.

Trusted adviser role: As a result of Intel's successful community initiatives and volunteer programs, the company has gained the status of a trusted adviser in the community. Its inputs are sought for critical community planning, program and issues management. It is through this forum that Intel provides valuable advice and proposals for short- and long-term programs and issues. Intel utilizes partnerships and coalition building opportunities to promote and encourage sustainable programs and practice.

Resource Sharing: Intel encourages the proactive management of its community and volunteer programs. Program partners at the initial stage of the project identify additional resources that support the implementation of volunteer projects. The process begins with the required Service Level Agreements or Memorandums of Agreement (MOAs), which outline the resource commitments each partner agrees to contribute to the program. Resources include financial support, volunteer hours, the use of Intel facilities and equipment etc. The collective and ongoing contributions of such resources likewise help Intel. Moreover, the program beneficiaries and partners leverage these resources and enhance the program themselves. Long-term positive outcomes like the community leaders' enhanced capabilities to plan and manage community development projects have thus been achieved.

Through the annual Balik-Eskwela Program, the local government provides the school bags and school supplies, while Intel provides the volunteer manpower that distributes the supplies to the more than 25,000 public school students in the Municipality of General Trias. In support of the recent drive of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to plant 1.5 million trees nationwide, Intel® Involved volunteers planted trees using seedlings supplied by the regional office of DENR as well as the municipal office.

Capacity building: Intel builds the capacity of community organizations, local government agencies and schools by developing materials and delivering training that strengthens their ability to provide quality services. Intel employee volunteers 'adopt' schools and help teachers, just as student administrators learn to use new technologies. Volunteers install and train staff in using computers; volunteers build an organization's emergency management capacity through training programs and mentoring. Such contributions have long-term benefits as new capacity is generated.

Intel has strengthened the capacity of the General Trias local government by helping develop the management and leadership skills of its community leaders. By virtue of the VMGP program, in particular, school principals and VMGP coordinators have joined capacity building seminars that have taught them how to prepare proposals, manage their VMGP funds, and prepare progress reports, among others.

Strategic Program Planning, Management and evaluation: The Intel Corporate Affairs Department has undertaken steps that have established successful partnerships, and identified and integrated critical resources needed to support its community programs over time. A strategic and sustainable plan has helped Intel and the Intel® Involved Steering Committee focus on the program goals and objectives, success indicators and project outcomes, as new resources have been identified to support the program beyond the designated period. As Ignalaga shared,

Intel does not believe in dole-outs. It does not just give away money. We allocate [funds] to support and manage the program. [However,] we want it to become sustainable over the long term.[We designed the program’s sustainability] through networks and by collaborating with the different organizations and agencies in the municipality.

Community Leadership and the Sharing of best Practices: From 2003 to 2007, Intel led the biggest celebration of Global Earth Day and the International Coastal Clean-Up. Through the two activities, Intel successfully influenced other companies and corporations in General Trias to participate in environment preservation activities.

A Strategic and Innovative Program Design Intel has been highly creative in its community engagement approach. It launched the Project Water Education for Teachers (WET) in the Municipality of General Trias, Cavite to promote awareness, appreciation, knowledge and stewardship of water resources. Under Project WET, Intel has developed and disseminated teaching aids that enhance the critical thinking and problem solving skills of the teachers and the students.

Youth Involvement: Intel's education programs were designed for and with the young people in mind. Creative ideas were sought from the youth to empower and provide them a chance to contribute to the programs. For instance, the Intel-Ayala Computer was designed to allow the youth of underserved communities access to basic information technology education. It provides a safe, creative after-school environment where the youth are encouraged to "learn by doing" and to develop meaningful skills. Their team projects have included an exhibit about Mother Earth, web designing on Earth Day celebration, and many others in General Trias, Cavite.

Leadership in associations: Intel has role-modeled CSR through its active participation and leadership of community organizations. Specific to Intel® Involved, Intel sits in the National Board of the Philippine Association of Volunteer Efforts and in the Philippine National Volunteer Month (NVM) Committee.

The Provision of adequate resources and Tools Intel provides full access to a range of tools, tactics, processes, indicators and training that strengthen the skills of volunteers, community leaders and program beneficiaries, while simultaneously focusing on the implementation of a customized volunteer program.

Employee volunteerism has proved to be a key element in Intel's overall social responsibility efforts. The company's CSR approach focuses on company priorities, the employees' interests and the community's needs, with employee volunteer programs overlapping in the middle. Intel recognizes that its employees are its most valuable asset. Empowering them to spend more time and resources helping the schools they careabout the most has strengthened their bond with their communities and stakeholders.

Intel places great importance on being an asset to the community. Through a wide array of volunteer activities, mostly in the public schools in General Trias, Intel has encouraged respect and care for the environment, educated the youth and improved education facilities. Through financial contributions, in-kind donations, and volunteer hours, Intel has expanded its service efforts to help make General Trias a better place in which to live.

The Intel® Involved Program is a collaborative model that helps bridge the gap between the needs of the community, the focus of Intel, the expertise of its employee volunteers and the resources of all key stakeholders.

The concern over the program's sustainability has been addressed by engaging community stakeholders in Intel's endeavors. This has led to the creation of a more pragmatic and efficient approach in terms of program implementation, management, and the distribution of resources.

Through Intel's initiatives, the private sector and socio-civic organizations have become partners in building a cooperative business and social environment for the residents of General Trias, Cavite.

Currently, Ignalaga could not wish for anything better. Intel® Involved in the Philippines has been acknowledged as one of the best Intel sites in terms of promoting volunteerism, as manifested in the hours logged for the VMGP. While the community of General Trias considers Intel an important stakeholder in the area, its local government is supportive of all the initiatives taken by the company.

The true sustainability strategies of Intel have extended beyond traditional financial resources to represent the continuation of the activities that spur performance indicators upwards and promote positive changes in the quality of life of everyone in the community.

In 2005, Mayor Luis Ferrer IV (Mayor of the Municipality of General Trias) declared General Trias a "Town of Volunteers", partly in recognition of the tradition and spirit of Intel's employee volunteer program, Intel® Involved.

1   The Intel name and brands are the property of Intel Corporation. 2   Excerpt from http://www.computerclubhouse.org 3   "The premise underlying IYV 2001 was that voluntary services were needed more than ever to tackle problems in areas of social, economic, cultural, humanitarian and peace-building, and that more volunteers were needed. For this to happen, greater recognition and facilitation of volunteer work, the more vigorous promotion of voluntary service, and drawing upon the best initiatives and efforts - the N best practice' - of volunteers, who were networked to optimize lessons learned, were crucial. The designation of an International Year of Volunteers by the UN General Assembly provided a valuable framework and established a favorable environment for the growth and more strategic use of volunteer contributions." Excerpt from http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/tools/about-us/iyv-2001.html 4   A Blue Badge employee of Intel is a regular employee of Intel Technology Philippines who differs from the Green Badge employee working in Intel in the sense that the latter is contracted from other companies to assume janitorial, security, and other related services at Intel. 5   During the "compressed work week", employees, particularly in the manufacturing floor, have four days of work and three days of rest for two weeks, followed by two weeks whereby the same employees work three days per week and rest four days per week. 6   Under the Alternative Learning Systems (ALS), a project of the Department of Education launched in 2006, Intel employees teach individuals in the community who have not completed their elementary and secondary levels of education. Upon completion of the program, students receive a diploma signed by the DepEd Secretary, which all universities recognize. 7   Brigada Eskwela is a joint program of the municipal government of General Trias and the local DepEd chapter. In line with this program, volunteers pack and distribute school supplies in all public schools in General Trias. 8   Computer Learning for Kids (CLIK) is a computer literacy program for public school students. 9   Under the VMGP, volunteers participate in year-round programs implemented by the Corporate Affairs Group and in projects sponsored by public schools. These range from repainting, tutorial services, computer literacy, safety classes, drills and clean-ups. 10   Schools in General Trias, Cavite are screened and briefed by the Intel® Involved manager who discusses the technicalities of their being host institutions for the Intel® Involved education programs. 11   Dividing the 232,000 volunteer hours by 10 working hours and multiplying the quotient by the minimum wage of PhP267 yields an equivalent of PhP6.19 million.