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National Volunteer Week Gets A Boost This Year Thanks To Innovative New Technologies

National Volunteer Week Gets A Boost This Year Thanks To Innovative New Technologies

Published 04-16-04

Submitted by McKesson Corporation

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - As in past years, hundreds of McKesson employees will flood community clinics throughout San Francisco to lend a hand during National Volunteer Week (April 18-24). But in a new twist, employees will return to work the next day and log on to a website that lets them track their volunteer hours and converts them into points that can be put toward a McKesson Foundation grant for the charity of their choice. In addition, employees can view photos from volunteer events, read comments from fellow employees and search for upcoming volunteer opportunities.

McKesson isn't alone in blending technology with philanthropy. Across the country, dozens of Fortune 500 companies are focusing their attention and money on Employee Volunteer Software (EVS), to be able to better measure the impact of their employee volunteer programs.

McKesson's EVS is called AngelPoints, which was developed by a small start-up based in Mill Valley, Calif., and launched in 2002. To date, AngelPoints has seen a rapid increase in its customer base and increased competition to boot.

"As a healthcare technology company, we thought it was important to push our employee volunteer program into the 21st century," said Marcia Argyris, Vice President of Community Relations. "Angel Points has allowed us to measure our effectiveness and put metrics around our programs. We have seen a marked increase in employee volunteerism since we launched our volunteer website, which is exactly what we had hoped for."

"McKesson joins a growing roster of corporations who are investing in technology that increases employee volunteerism," said Andrew Mercy, CEO of AngelPoints. "We are proud to see our web-based EVS system and McKesson's hard-working volunteers compliment each other and ultimately help the
community."

Other companies that have begun using EVS programs include Land O'Lakes, Deloitte, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Target. EVS allows companies to collect information about employee's areas of interest and tailor volunteer opportunities based upon the data. In addition, employers can keep track of how many employees sit on boards of non-profits, how often employees volunteer and which regional offices are most active in the community, among dozens of other reporting features.

Citigroup reports that EVS has allowed them to harness the information submitted by a huge workforce and put it to good use. "Citigroup employs 275,000 people in 103 countries. Mobilizing and tracking such a large number of people is an awesome challenge," noted Judith Binney, Director of Citigroup's Global Volunteer Initiatives. "AngelPoints' EVS will help us to harness the energies of this vast group of potential volunteers."

Other companies that have created EVS include CreateHope, JK Group and VolunteerMatch.

About McKesson
McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK) is a Fortune 16 healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to helping its customers deliver high-quality healthcare by reducing costs, streamlining processes and improving the quality and safety of patient care. Over the course of its 170-year history, McKesson has grown to provide pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management across the spectrum of care; healthcare
information technology for hospitals, homecare and payors; hospital and retail pharmacy automation; and services for manufacturers and payors designed to improve outcomes for patients. For more information, visit us at www.mckesson.com.

About AngelPoints
AngelPoints is an enterprise software firm that focuses exclusively on helping corporations realize the business and social value of effective community relations. The company offers products and services designed specifically to improve a corporation's social impact and bottom line performance. AngelPoints is headquartered in Mill Valley, CA, just north of San Francisco, and its website can be found at www.angelpoints.com.

McKesson Corporation

McKesson Corporation

Founded in 1943, the McKesson Foundation envisions a world where affordable, quality healthcare is available to all. The Foundation is dedicated to supporting our employees' community involvement efforts and improving the health of patients through: • Improved healthcare quality • Personal health management • Lower healthcare costs To that end, each year the McKesson Foundation contributes more than $5 million to nonprofit organizations working to improve the health of our communities.

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