Microsoft employees are kicking off their annual Giving Campaign and the company released its Citizenship Report for 2011, with more than $949 million given to charity last year.

Last year, Microsoft employees donated more than $96 million to charity and volunteered more than 380,000 hours in the U.S. Some of the events this year include a 5k run, an online auction and a 24-hour worldwide run.

For the 24-hour run, a runner will start in New Zealand, run for an hour, and pass a “virtual baton” in the form of a team photo to employees in the next time zone.

The company also gave $844 million of software to 46,886 non-profits, trained 16 million students and teachers worldwide through its Partners in Learning program.

Some other highlights include reducing computer energy usage in company buildings by 27 percent, offering technology training to 6,238 non-profits and helping 75,000 small businesses with tech literacy through BizSpark.

Company employees, as part of their volunteer hours, developed two Windows Phone apps. The Volunteer Manager app allows employees to track their volunteer hours and make sure their charity of choice is compensated. The other app gives users access to the Giving Campaign auction.