Microsoft Corp. marked the end of its annual giving campaign by hosting former President Bill Clinton for a campus visit. Clinton, joining Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to reveal the results of this year’s campaign, told a standing-room-only audience of more than 1,000 employees and thousands more watching via webcast that every individual, regardless of status or income, can help solve global challenges such as climate change and poverty.

A Microsoft tradition for 25 years, the giving campaign is a dedicated season of employee involvement and contributions that takes place each October. Microsoft employees donate to thousands of nonprofit organizations working to improve lives. In addition, Microsoft matches U.S. employee donations, dollar for dollar, up to $12,000 per person per year.

This year, employee donations and Microsoft’s matching contributions of cash and software totaled over $72 million, exceeding last year’s tally of $63 million.

Microsoft encourages employees to be involved in their communities through a unique volunteer program that matches each volunteer hour with a cash donation of $17 to the charity. As part of this program in 2007, Microsoft U.S. employees volunteered 129,665 hours to nonprofits, and the company matched more than $2.2 million.

In addition to employee contributions in fiscal year 2007, Microsoft directly donated $68 million in cash and $331 million in software to nonprofits worldwide.