Serving Communities
Through our Citizenship efforts, Microsoft has the opportunity to help build and nurture communities in the more than 100 countries/regions around the world where we have a presence.
Microsoft Unlimited Potential has focused on serving communities with our time, our resources, and our technology. Microsoft has worked alongside others to provide relevant, affordable, and accessible technology for those at the bottom and middle of the economic pyramid. We have served millions of people through Unlimited Potential, and we will continue to serve millions more as our work evolves to meet the needs of people around the world and embraces areas such as cloud services and mobile technology.
Download the Microsoft2011 Citizenship Report
Archived Reports
Highlights
The following are some of our goals in each of our Serving Communities focus areas. Many of these are goals that we reported on or set for ourselves in our FY2010 Citizenship Report. For detail on progress achieved against these goals, see the relevant sections of this report.
| Goal | Target Date | FY2011 Progress | FY2011 Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reach 250 million students and teachers across 115 countries/regions through Partners in Learning (2003 goal). | 2013 | ON TRACK | In FY2011, we reached nearly 16 million students and teachers in 114 countries/regions. Since 2003, we have reached nearly 210 million students and teachers in 120 countries/regions. |
| Use gaming software to make learning more interactive | Ongoing | ON TRACK | Began to explore classroom applications for Kinect for Xbox 360 to help students be more engaged in the learning process. |
| Goal | Target Date | FY2011 Progress | FY2011 Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Help 2 million people get technology training through Elevate America | 2012 | ON TRACK | Reached more than 1 million people in FY2011 and nearly 1.9 million since the program launched in February 2009. |
| Reach 1 million people globally through Microsoft Innovation Centers | 2012 | ACHIEVED | Reached 250,000 people and trained 150,000 in FY2011, surpassing 1 million reached. |
| Help 23 million people globally get technology training through the Community Technology Skills Program | FY2011 | ACHIEVED | Provided technology training to more than 23 million people in FY2011. |
| Provide 60,000 people worldwide with software to grow their small businesses through Microsoft BizSpark | FY2011 | ACHIEVED | Reached more than 75,000 people in FY2011, up from 40,000 in FY2010. In FY2012, we will work to improve the success rate of start-up companies participating in the program (current rate of renewal in the program is 75 percent). |
| Goal | Target Date | FY2011 Progress | FY2011 Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Increase access to technology for nonprofits to help them achieve their missions | Ongoing | ON TRACK | Donated $844 million in software to 46,886 nonprofits in 113 countries/regions. |
| Help nonprofits take advantage of the benefits of the cloud | Ongoing | ON TRACK | Launched Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2011 Nonprofit Solution, a cloud-based program that helps nonprofits manage data and more easily work with their beneficiaries and donors. We also conducted training programs to help nonprofits learn about cloud technologies that can help their organizations. |
| Goal | Target Date | FY2011 Progress | FY2011 Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Develop and implement cloud solutions to aid disaster response | FY2011 | ACHIEVED | Created and used cloud solutions to help relief organizations, governments, businesses, and the public during disasters, including the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. In FY2012 we will continue this work and launch new tools. |
| Help businesses recover from disasters more quickly | FY2011 | ACHIEVED | Provided businesses with free access to cloud solutions to help them get up and running even before infrastructure was rebuilt in the Japan earthquake and other disasters. In FY2012 our goal is to provide additional consulting support to businesses that are looking for technology solutions after disasters. |
Giving
