Improving the health and lives of Louisianians means more than just paying claims on time. It’s a commitment that we make to each and every one of our friends, families and neighbors to use our might for right.
Our employees live this commitment by giving their time, talent and financial resources to Louisiana’s nonprofits through Team Blue, our volunteer force. We believe that connecting our employees to causes they care about makes us real to our customers, builds community trust and opens up a new dimension of our company’s mission for the people who work here. Most importantly, it shows that our employees support the causes they care about with more than just our dollars – they back it up with hands and hearts.
The spread of COVID-19 meant we could no longer support in-person volunteering for large groups of employees. However, the Blue family rose the the challenge, providing tens of thousands of hours in COVID-related support to their friends, families and neighbors, as well as supporting virtual volunteerism.
We also helped launch our state’s first online platform for pro bono volunteering in partnership with the Taproot Foundation. Any Louisiana-based nonprofit can access help from a network of more than 70,000 volunteers to help them with marketing, business planning, HR, IT and much more.
In 2020, our employees gave more than 46,000 hours of community service.
2020 showed us the depths of neighborly compassion as communities and families showed up to help each other through the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond their volunteer service with Louisiana nonprofits, our employees report more than 31,000 hours spent supporting neighbors in need, including:
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- Getting groceries and running errands for neighbors and family
- Providing or delivering meals
- Making masks and gowns
- Supporting frontline and healthcare workers with food and supplies
- Community gardening
- Writing supporting letters and cards for patients in nursing homes and home-bound patients
- Babysitting for neighbors and family
- Supporting families who are grieving from COVID-related losses
In 2020, we partnered with the Taproot Foundation to radically expand our pro bono services and make skills-based volunteering available to all Louisiana volunteers, regardless of which company they work for. We also opened the pipeline for every nonprofit in Louisiana to have access to pro bono services.
In a normal year, we support 8-10 pro bono projects. Since just July of 2020, our partnership has produced more than 32 engagements — nonprofits connecting with highly skilled volunteers for free consulting and project help, including:
- Earned income planning
- Business coaching
- Finance and auditing support
- Market research
- Brand strategy
- Communications support
- Creating multimedia assets, like websites and videos
- CRM systems
- Board development and effectiveness training
- HR support
Using research-based from the Taproot Foundation and the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, we calculate the value of those engagements in the last half of 2020 at more than $102,000.
Finally, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana offers in-kind printing services from its in-house print shops to nonprofits across the state. Our print shop teams provided more than $50,000 of printing services (excluding labor) to dozens of nonprofits in 2020.
Return to the 2020 Community Partnerships Report Page
