As one of United Way's largest citizenship partnera, John Deere focuses on education and community development. Through their high volunteerism, they aim to create a citizenship culture in their global unit and enhance employee engagement.
Deere had more than 2,000 employees volunteering during United Way's Day of Caring in 2014. During United Way’s 2014 Day of Caring, 2,500 John Deere employees volunteered to spend the day working in 97 different community projects in the Quad Cities area alone. The company also introduced a “Dollars for Doers” program recently, which lets employees earn a $1,000 grant for an approved charity at which they’ve volunteered 40 or more hours in a year. All told, John Deere employees and their Foundation gave $7 million to support United Way community change work last year.
In 2014, Deere's U.S. employees recorded more than 82,000 hours of volunteer support to community organizations. Contributions from the company and John Deere Foundation totaled nearly $32 million. Deere estimated the activities helped improve the lives of more than 9.5 million people worldwide.