Employees donating time, money to many causes:employers say volunteerism is great for team building, morale andfilling corporate mission.

Corporate philanthropy takes many forms but the two most visible are financial contributions and the commitment of human resources.

In 2007, the Business Journal committed itself to capturing some of those acts of charity in the Giving column. More than 50 different companies were singled

Some are the big corporations you would expect (and hope) to see--Amgen, Disney, Wells Fargo--but there were also many small, and even micro-sized, businesses that donated products and services.

There are lots of ways for companies, and their employees, to contribute and those that do find their businesses reap more benefits beyond just warm, fuzzy feelings.

Blue Shield of California, which is itself a not-for-profit corporation, employs about 300 people in offices throughout the San Fernando Valley. Ronda Wilkin, corporate community relations manager for the state, works in Woodland Hills which may be why the employees in the Southern California region have been responsible for nearly 25 percent of the company's volunteer projects/fundraisers despite having less than 10 percent of the firm's employees in the state.

"We know that employee volunteerism is very important to most organizations as a way to keep employees connected to their companies as well as to the community," said Wilkin. "We also like to do volunteer activities that double as team-building activities."

For example, Blue Shield sent out 90 employees over two days to help renovate the Boys & Girls Club of Canoga Park. That was about one-third of the Woodland Hills work force.

"We had a number of teams--our director of Medicare sales had 25 or 26 of his employees and our finance department did also," she said. "It was a great way to take a team off-site, have some fun and do some good work and do it as a team."

But giving back doesn't always have to be so intense. Creative fundraisers are one of Wilkin's specialties.

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One of the most successful programs at Blue Shield is a morale-booster as well. Employees who donate $20 to the charity of the month are allowed to dress casually for 30 days. Plus, the company matches each the donation.

"That's the best fund raiser we've ever come up with," said Wilkin. "I have employees knocking on my door asking, 'What's the charity of the month?'"