Cisco says it’s committing $225 million to support both local and global responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced in a blog post this week.
As part of this commitment, the company is allocating $8 million in cash and $210 million in-kind (product) to the global COVID-19 response. The company says it’s focusing these resources on supporting critical technology, government response, healthcare, and education. A chunk of it will go toward the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund established by the UN Foundation, supporting the WHO’s global effort to manage, detect and prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease.
Cisco is also providing funding for businesses, government agencies, and heads of state to rapidly deploy technology solutions related to COVID-19, as well as access to its free Security and Webex offers. The company said it has more than 2.2 million people using its Webex offerings.
In addition, Cisco says that it’s rallying its 77, 000 employees and encouraging them to support the company’s community partners on the front lines in any way they can to help bolster their operations.
“I am proud to say that thousands of Cisco employees in communities across 180 countries are focused on helping in any way they can. We have seen an outpouring of employees reaching out to contribute to the nonprofits helping their communities over the past few months. To support this, Cisco Foundation has launched a campaign allocating up to $5 million in grants and matching funds to make this happen,” Chuck Robbins, chairman and chief executive officer of Cisco Systems, said in the blog post.
As the world responds to the global #COVID19 pandemic, it’s more important than ever that we help our communities navigate this time. @Cisco is committing $225M in cash, in-kind, and planned giving to support those in need: https://t.co/OBtwrzSlPl
— Chuck Robbins (@ChuckRobbins) March 23, 2020
Robbins also said Cisco is launching several funds to support “a range of non-governmental organizations in APJC, EMEAR, the Americas, and the San Francisco Bay Area.”
He added that a 72-hour employee giving campaign called “Let’s Give Together” will also launch this week to encourage donations to these funds and to see how much we can raise in a few short days.
“To support this, Cisco Foundation has launched an employee matching gift campaign of up to $4 million in total giving, and is allocating $1 million in additional grants to help nonprofit partners,” he wrote.