Company: MasterCard
Agency: Weber Shandwick
Timeframe: 2006-present
It's no secret that mathematical achievement is seriously lagging in this country. For technology-based companies like MasterCard Worldwide, this has serious, far-
reaching ramifications with regard to shortages in job candidates who are fluent in the language of numbers. With this in mind, MasterCard Worldwide sought to develop a community
relations program in its St. Louis jurisdiction that would focus on improving the teaching of math while maximizing awareness of the company's local grants. The result was
"Project Math."
Enlisting the services of the local Weber Shandwick office, the project team collected background information to find a solution that would be relevant and effective.
One approach was reaching out to Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt's Math, Engineering, Technology and Science (METS) initiative for data to illustrate the need for improvement.
The project team also conducted an informal audit of other technology companies that support math and science education and discovered that the company's focus on the teaching
of math was not shared by other major technology companies.
"When we started developing the idea for Project Math, we were focused on promoting MasterCard global philanthropy initiatives on education," explains Nancy Hadler Tully, VP,
senior business leader for MasterCard Worldwide/Global Technology & Operations. "Our St. Louis office is focused on technology. When we put those two thoughts together, it
seemed that math education was a good fit, [particularly when it came to] using and investing in the company's future workforce. Here almost everyone we hire is a software
engineer or systems analyst. We need people who are comfortable with math, so we decided to focus our efforts on the teaching of math."
Strength In Numbers
In addition to preliminary research to identify gaps, collaboration between MasterCard and Weber Shandwick was instrumental in initiating the program.
"We were at the table together and all on the same page," says Carrie Trammell, group manager/director for Weber Shandwick. "We really tried to divide and conquer, but
MasterCard was driving the strategy. They came to us knowing they wanted a signature program that could make a bigger impact on the community. But they looked to us to do the
research, help them create the right messaging and do a lot of the logistics for the events."
This joint effort helped the team investigate one element that would be critical to the program's overall strategy: sharing national and international expertise at a Math
Education Summit, which was held on Oct. 24, 2007. Here, obtaining feedback from teachers, school administrators and subject-matter experts was critical. As such, the team
assembled a Project Math advisory group, consisting of community leaders, teachers, education organizations, district administrators and thought leaders. The group then narrowed
the event focus, offering insights and suggestions on invitees, speakers, topics and event format.
"We did this program very purposefully," says Trammell. "It took us months of research talking to local educators, professors and advocates of math education to make sure this
was the right cause and that we were going about the things the right way."
The cumulative findings of the research then helped form the goals of Project Math, which were to improve tools and opportunities for math teachers that will then streamline
the teaching of math. The idea is that better teaching will encourage students' interest in math, improve math comprehension and better prepare students for careers at companies
like MasterCard.
"The research was about the state of math in the St. Louis region," notes Tully. "[What we were looking at was] what kind of scores the students get in their educational
career. We zeroed in on where we could be most useful."
Means To An End
Having identified the program's objectives, the communications team shaped the following strategies to help achieve them:
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Secure employee support for Project Math;
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Drive media coverage communicating the importance of math and MasterCard's commitment to the issue; and,
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Drive attendance for the kickoff luncheon, employee family event and math education summit audience.
To kick things off, on Dec. 15, 2006, MasterCard execs announced the launch of Project Math at an all-employee meeting, leveraging the company's 40th anniversary as an
opportunity to celebrate MasterCard's commitment to the community. Weber Shandwick assisted in developing presentation slides and talking points for the announcement.
That same day, MasterCard held a kickoff luncheon for Project Math at its St. Louis headquarters. More than 80 local education, community, business and legislative leaders
attended the event, in which MasterCard announced its commitment to the cause and held a panel discussion on the need for support of local math achievement.
The panel included the governor's education analyst, a local university professor and the superintendent of a local school district. Weber Shandwick planned event logistics,
invited attendees and conducted media outreach. Weber Shandwick also created a Project Math brochure and short presentation as collateral to be used when sharing information about
Project Math with an external audience.
Finding The Common Denominator
For Project Math, MasterCard pledged $1 million toward empowering St. Louis-area teachers to more effectively teach math in a three-year period (currently, Project Math is in
its third year). Weber Shandwick worked with MasterCard to position the company in connecting international expertise with local educators to share best practices.
On Oct. 27, 2007, shortly after the October 2007 Math Education Summit, Weber Shandwick developed an opportunity for employees to personally engage in Project Math through a
math-oriented family day at the St. Louis Science Center. Activities for the day included math-focused workshops, puzzles and games. More than 700 employees and family members
participated in the event. Also, approximately 20 employees volunteered to help plan the event and facilitate activities.
To further support coaching and professional development opportunities for local math teacher, MasterCard has forged partnerships with universities and math and science
organizations. In 2007, MasterCard awarded grants to the St. Louis Science Center, Washington University and the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Also as part of the program's strategizing, MasterCard has been underwriting solutions for pressing math needs for local school districts. In 2007, MasterCard awarded grants to
add math teachers to the local Teach for America corps and to implement training and compensation for teachers to incorporate after-school math programs at the company's local
district.
MasterCard employees also got into the act by helping students connect academics to careers, whether volunteering to provide financial literacy lessons or supporting teams in a
robotics competition. In 2007, more than 265 company employees taught Junior Achievement classes and coached teams for the annual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science
and Technology) Robotics Competition.
Another component of the program was the donation of computer technology as upgrades in the St. Louis area. In 2007, MasterCard donated 260 computers.
Adding Up Results To Measure Success
Weber Shandwick measured success by analyzing employee reactions, event attendance and media coverage of the program. More than 265 employees participated in Project Math
volunteer opportunities in 2007, and more than 700 employees and family members participated in the Project Math Family Day. Also, more than 80 education, community, business and
legislative leaders attended the kickoff luncheon, while the family day attracted more than 700 employees and family members. The Math Education Summit brought together 84
teachers, school administrators and community leaders.
Media coverage of Project Math was considerable with article placements in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis Business Journal and St. Charles Journal. The
project team also secured coverage of the Math Education Summit in the Missouri Chamber of Commerce newsletter, MissouriBusiness, as well as on both major talk radio stations. It
also got the attention of government officials.
"We participated in a roundtable [on the topic of math education] in the spring of '08 with the governor and other officials for statewide efforts," Tully says. She and her
colleagues hope that the governor's office will "take the initiative and run with it."
Although there are no plans to bring back the Math Education Summit, adds Tully, "the project has legs." Initiatives promoting the importance of math education will be
continuing under the umbrella of Project Math.
If there's one lesson Tully has learned while working on the Project Math effort, it's the importance of employee involvement. "Employee buy-in is critical," she says. "It's
one thing to write a check, but it really opens ups possibilities when you can provide expertise, counseling and advocacy [for a program with] a couple hundred company
volunteers." PRN
CONTACTS:
Nancy Tully, [email protected]; Carrie Trammell, [email protected]
Align The Company With The Cause
MasterCard's Project Math worked well because all the components fit together nicely. When picking an issue for your company to promote, make sure it makes sense, says
Carrie Trammell, group manager/director for Weber Shandwick. The following are some best practices for you to follow to ensure that the union between company and cause is a
fruitful one.
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Don't be arbitrary when it comes to charitable giving. "Take an issue that's really connected to the company business and what they do," says Trammell.
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Do upfront research. "If you're going to develop a signature cause for your company, you don't want to pick a cause and then figure out you were wrong."
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Engage the community. "[This is important] because it will validate the need of what you're looking to support as well as the connection to your business."
Focus On One Thing At A Time, And Do It Transparently
For Nancy Tully, vice president, senior business leader for MasterCard Worldwide/Global Technology & Operations, the challenges of working on Project Math were
overcome by two best practices that she would recommend to other companies wishing to implement a similar community relations initiative:
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Don't spread yourself too thin: "We had been broadly spreading our philanthropic efforts in the community. Instead of spreading our efforts like peanut butter,
we wanted to focus our efforts on one thing in the community."
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Be transparent--and generous--when explaining a change in policy with your philanthropic partners. Because Project Math required a great deal of funding to get
off the ground, it was necessary for MasterCard to redirect its funding from certain efforts and initiatives to Project Math. "We had to go to our partners and explain to them
what our new strategy was going to be," says Tully. But MasterCard didn't want to leave their partners in the lurch either. "We told them we would work with them to introduce them
to other companies [that had grants for their charities."]