Local volunteering & charity programmes

At Swiss Re we do not consider the places where our staff live and work as locations. For us they are communities that we belong to. And since belonging to a community is not a one-way street, we participate actively in local life through charity and volunteering initiatives. In addition to targeted financial support, we use the valuable currencies of time and knowledge. Whether this is spent in the framework of a staff volunteering project, or in a disaster preparedness programme integrating our expertise, the overriding goal is to give value back to the communities we call home.

Priceless gifts

The gifts of time and knowledge may not have a price tag, but we have frequently proven that they have enormous value. Our employees in various parts of the world dedicate many hours of their free time to help those in need in the communities local to their respective workplaces. Whether they are collecting winter coats in New York, or planting trees in Bangalore, they are all focused on making a difference to fellow-citizens. Not only do our staff enthusiastically give their time, many of the suggestions for the volunteering projects come from individual staff members.

Partnership in action

Our instrinsic partnership principle is strongly evident in our charity and volunteering. We always collaborate with respected local nonprofit and governmental organisations to maximise the impact of our contribution. This brings us into contact with many experts and opinion leaders, who inspire and challenge us to implement our know-how as effectively as possible. We also view our global volunteering programme as a means of intensifying our partnership with employees. This is often expressed by a community spirit within the company that is capable of breaking down any borders between specialisations and hierarchies. It is also evident in initiatives where the company pledges to meet the total of  charity collections initiated by staff, thus doubling the potential of their efforts.