Established in 2012, the Swiss Re Foundation is a relatively young organization with the mandate to develop and promote Swiss Re’s global philanthropic efforts. As Corporate Social Responsibility has become integral to attract talent, customers, and capital, Swiss Returned to teroGO to create awareness and engagement for their programs and projects.
2017 – The first pilot Challenges
Soon after the first version of teroGO hit the stores, the Swiss Re Foundation launched its first two pilot challenges in Switzerland and the United States. Both campaigns turned out to be a big success. The project in Switzerland raised CHF 10,000 for the Fondation IPT, an organization fighting youth unemployment. In New York, employees were running for the Food Bank for Westchester, raising $10,000 in the process. Thanks to overwhelmingly positive feedback from participating employees, the Swiss Re Foundation decided to go global.
2018 – Together for Velafrica
In June 2018, the Foundation challenged Swiss Re employees to run, hike, and bike to together raise $40,000 for Velafrica to open up a brand-new bicycle center in Burkina Faso. Because the initial goal was reached in record time, $10,000 was added to the Challenge with the goal to help 500 kids get access to a Velafrica bicycle.
“My son loves the fact that riding a bike can get bikes to other people. He’s been a major supporter!” – User Eric
Global Employee Engagement – Friendly competition
Over 1,500 employees from 19 countries and 36 office locations participated in the Swiss Re employee engagement challenge. The challenge took 33 days to complete, and the employees tracked and logged more than 17,322 individual workouts to reach the goal! The participants competed against each other individually and in more than 300 teams.
“Went for a bike ride in beautiful Switzerland. My joy was doubled knowing every km earned money for Velafrica!” – User Alicia
Cause Marketing – Inspirational and creative
Swiss Re employees shared 993 sweaty selfies and pictures of their hikes, runs, and bike rides. Every picture posted on teroGO and other social media channels such as Facebook was branded with the Swiss Re logo and a message to raise awareness for Velafrica. Out of the 993 posts, the Swiss Re Foundation awarded some of the most inspirational and creative sweaty selfies.
Corporate Health & Wellness – 3 times around the globe
The employees participating in the Swiss Re employee engagement challenge logged a total of 113’957 Kilometers – 70’809 Miles – by bike or by foot, burning millions of calories, or how a Swiss Re employee commented on the teroGO app, “Fat is sweat crying!”. Throughout the Challenge, all participants were informed about the positive impact of doing sports regularly and how little it actually takes to live a happier and healthier life.
A unique story – For the Swiss Re Foundation and Velafrica
Throughout the campaign, Swiss Re employees received important information on how their workouts help Velafrica and how the Swiss Re Foundation empowers communities and builds resilience around the globe. As a result, 75% of the participants learned something new about the Swiss Re Foundation and Velafrica during the challenge, and 50% of the participants pledged to engage more with the Swiss Re Foundation’s programs.
2019 – Sweating for Living Goods
In July 2019, the Foundation was launching its second global challenge. It supports Living Goods, an organization that is close to the Swiss Re Foundation’s mission to build resilient societies. Tine Justesen, Project Manager at the Swiss Re Foundation, says, “Our first global teroGO Challenge was a huge success. Beyond supporting a great partner such as Velafrica, we made Swiss Re’s employees more aware and engaged about our programs and projects – while promoting a healthy and happy lifestyle. A true win-win!”. Soon, the global Swiss Re community will be sweating again!
Are you interested in engaging your workforce in an innovative and health-promoting way and doing good in the process? Contact us.
Olivier Kaeser
COO & Co-Founder, atlasGO
Connect on Linkedin | staging-atlasgo.kinsta.cloud | San Francisco
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