Established in 1943, the McKesson Foundation envisions a world where affordable, quality healthcare is available to all. In FY12, the McKesson Foundation invested approximately $5 million dollars in cash giving in our communities. Our primary grant making focused on diabetes management programs at community health centers in low-income communities, and we continued our long history of support for our employees’ community involvement efforts.
Starting in FY13, the Foundation’s focus will be on providing support to organizations that provide non-medical direct services to low-income cancer patients.
Employee Support
The McKesson Foundation boasts a variety of programs to encourage our employees to give back to the causes that are most important to them.
Through our Matching Gift program, employees can request a match of up to $2,500 annually to the charities of their choice. From FY11 to FY12, donations made through this program grew by 36% and the number of employee participants in the program grew by 22%.
Through the McKesson Volunteer Program, the Foundation promotes employee participation at nonprofit organizations by providing grants to eligible nonprofit organizations linked to individual volunteer involvement with no personal monetary donation required by the employee. In FY12, employees earned $156,500 in volunteer grants for community organizations.
McKesson also encourages volunteering as a department or group as a great way to strengthen and support team-building while giving back to the communities where we live and work. Employees who volunteer together for an eligible team-building service project benefiting an eligible local nonprofit are encouraged to apply for a Foundation grant to the nonprofit organization for which they volunteered. In FY12, the Foundation supported 23 group volunteer events in 12 different cities through cash grants.
The Foundation believes that nonprofit board service can be an excellent way for employees to develop leadership skills and further develop areas of expertise, such as HR, finance, legal, or marketing. To encourage this volunteer service, employees that serve on the Board of Directors of a qualifying nonprofit organization are eligible for an annual grant to the nonprofit organization for which they serve.
Mobilizing for Health®
As part of the McKesson Foundation’s commitment to support innovative disease management interventions, we established Mobilizing for Health®, the Foundation’s program area focused on building the evidence base for mobile health through research. In FY12, the McKesson Foundation funded six mobile health research studies in the United States.
Mobile health, or what is also referred to as mHealth or wireless health, is a term used for health education, delivery and practice management supported by mobile devices. The Foundation’s current Mobilizing for Health® grantees are studying the use of mobile phones in low-income diabetic populations. Starting in FY13, the Mobilizing for Health program will focus on mobile in cancer care.
Through the Mobilizing for Health® initiative, our ultimate goal is to improve health outcomes among under-served patients with chronic diseases through widespread adoption of care management models using mHealth technologies that have proven successful.
