Ciscos Product Grant Program - Case Study Example

The value of the grant is equivalent to the commercial value of the product(s) or service(s) extended to the beneficiary organization. Cisco practices good corporate citizenship by helping communities through improved networking solutions by teaching these communities, who obviously would not be able to afford the equipment (otherwise, if they could afford it or if it makes business sense, it would not be difficult even for nonprofit organizations to raise the funds to buy the equipment off the shelf), to adopt Internet technology solutions using Cisco products.

Cisco also believes that technology enables nonprofits to improve their productivity and extend their reach and service delivery (Cisco 2007g). The PGP is straightforward: a nonprofit with a problem that could be solved by using technology products or services sold by Cisco simply approaches the company and asks if they could get the product and/or service for free (or at a subsidized price) by availing of the PGP. However simple the concept may seem, availing of the product grant entails some degree of hard work that has been surely designed to encourage only those who are really deserving of assistance while discouraging those looking for a dole-out, which is against Cisco's corporate ethic.

Note that Cisco products should be part of the solution to the nonprofit organization's problem. Some examples are nonprofits that are building up their networking capability in order to improve