Eli Lilly & Company is a global corporation with employees across the globe. Lilly one of the most prominent health-science companies in the world as well as one of the most socially responsible. Lilly prides itself on strengthening communities and improving lives via corporate giving. Among their philanthropic efforts is the Lilly Global Day of Service (LGDOS), one day out of the year during which Lilly employees from around the world serve their local community. While these global volunteer efforts are conducted for direct purposed such as serving the community and building rapport with local organizations, there are also indirect impacts such as boosting employee morale and fostering departmental cohesiveness.  On October 1, 2015, a Lilly Global Day of Service was conducted.  Lilly employees representing 64 countries served their communities by partnering with local organizations and agencies to complete an array of unique projects. 

Concluding the Global Day of Service, the leadership team at Lilly sought to gauge perceptions of the volunteers in relation to multiple aspects of their experience.  Although similar surveys have been conducted by the leadership team in the past, no such efforts have been carried out internationally.  Through collaboration with a research team from IUPUI, a survey was developed to collect feedback from Lilly volunteers.  Employees at the Indianapolis headquarters were also asked additional questions concerning their specific LGDOS theme, project, and role (Area Coordinator or Team Captain).  The survey was conducted using the Qualtrics survey software. A link to the survey was distributed via email on October 13, 2015 with a submission deadline of October 30, 2015.  Upon completion of the data collection process, my team and I conducted an analysis of the results to determine the impact of corporate volunteerism on the following:

• Company brand and reputation

• Organizational commitment

• Departmental team-building

• Sense of pride in the company

• Personal and professional development

After conducting this research project and analyzing the data, my colleauge and I had the opportunity to present this research in the form of a poster presentation at the American Association of Behavioral and Social Sciences (AABSS) Conference in Las Vegas in February of 2016.  To view the official poster we presentated at this conference, please click on the attachment below.