When Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania opened up for business in Philadelphia in 2001, the company took the City of Brotherly Love to heart. And then some.
From the get-go, the bank established partnerships with more than 750 nonprofit organizations throughout the Philadelphia area -- ranging from the Philadelphia Food
Bank to Point Breeze Performing Arts Center -- and in the last three years has donated $35 million annually to the various groups.
But Citizens doesn't just throw money at nonprofits but, rather, seeks out organizations that will reflect well on the bank's mission to be part of the fabric of the
community. "This is something we take very seriously," says Susan Buehler, VP of PR agency Bellevue Communications Group (Philadelphia), which represents Citizens Bank of
Pennsylvania. "We pick and choose the groups that best fit with [the bank's] volunteer base and allow the company to be closely involved in the community."
During Thanksgiving, for example, Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania employees, senior executives, including Chairman-CEO Stephen Steinhauer, and several players from the
Philadelphia Phillies (read: photo op) will help to deliver 1000 turkeys via the Philly Food Bank. (The Phillies play at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.) With the CEO
involved -- not to mention pro athletes -- the effort is likely to get solid pick-up among local media. "There's no better bang for the buck," Buehler adds. "Yes, we make
donations but we back them up with volunteers, which is a huge opportunity for PR."
In just three years, local deposits to Citizens Bank have reached a $8 billion and the company is currently No. 2 in market share in Philadelphia (behind Wachovia).
Buehler insists that Citizens' commitment to nonprofit partnerships has made a significant difference in the company's ascent. "It's important for consumers to feel that their
corporate leaders are giving back.
"You can develop strategies that not only align with senior management's goals but show real impact," Buehler adds. These types of programs "make people feel good about
themselves and that can be very infectious, which is a great PR advice" to your CEO.
Ken Koopman, a principal with Portland, Ore.-based PR firm Koopman Ostbo Inc., says that PR executives working on cause marketing efforts have to "light a fire from
the inside out. You need to find something that is going to get the board excited and then trickle down to the staff, which is going to provide the team-building."
Corporate-nonprofit partnerships have always been part of the PR function. But they've often been characterized as a "nice" thing to do rather than a necessity. No more. In
the last few years such partnerships have become increasingly sophisticated and are now considered one of the more effective tools to enhance corporate reputation. Aside from
doing what most people would consider the right thing these partnerships can deepen existing relationships, help companies when they enter a new market, sell more productand,
perhaps most important, serve as a goodwill bank should a crisis strike.
Several mega trends, including corporate transparency and the increasing purchasing power of women (who want to feel emotionally vested to their brands), now demand that
corporate-nonprofit programs be relevant and threaded into the entire organization, according to Carol Cone, founder and CEO of Cone Inc., which is one of the nation's
premier PR agencies working in the cause-related marketing arena. The company, which launched in 1982 before the term "cause-related marketing" even existed, has helped to raise
$500 million on behalf of organizations working to educate women about breast cancer and funding after-school programs, to cite just two examples.
"There's been a major shift where companies need to be good corporate citizens," Cone says, "and companies need to approach social issues as deep corporate strategy." The
soon-to-be-released 2004 Cone Citizenship Report will show a significant increase in the percentage of American adults who can identify (without aid) a company that is
promoting a good cause; in 2002 it was around 23%. "PR pros can help to build these relationships, which can be a major driver for longer-term credibility with consumers." As the
regulatory climate heats up, both sides also need to step-up their due diligence efforts before entering into a partnership.
Cone points to four major elements to executing an effective corporate/nonprofit partnership:
- Understanding strategic corporate objectives.
- Picking an "issue" as opposed to a nonprofit organization (issues are key; nonprofit relationships are often cyclical).
- Agreed-upon plan is integrated throughout the entire organization.
- Plan is communicated through every possible avenue.
But even as corporate/nonprofit partnerships become more valued the overwhelming majority of companies continue to give the area short shrift, according to Cone, who says that
about 90% of these programs are "under-communicated." With many companies, "It's a chicken/egg question and not viewed as a strategic imperative."
Yet that's not the case at IBM, which for the last eight years has donated $25,000 annually to Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) to
help with operating expenses. (Other corporate partners of PFLAG include American Airlines and Volvo.)
The donations have helped to put IBM in a favorable light with PFLAG's constituencies. Yet Chris Whelan, director of intellectual assets in the global business unit at IBM,
doesn't categorize the program as PR, per se, or even HR, but good economic sense. "Diversity is critical to our business," he says. "IBM is all about innovation but that also
goes for diversity of talent independent of any one constituency. It's just good business."
CONTACTS: Susan Buehler, 215.893.4284, [email protected]; Carole Cone, 617.939.8302, [email protected]; Ken Koopman 503.517.6950, [email protected]; Chris Whelan, 919.254.6195, [email protected]