COMPANY: Office Depot, Inc
PR AGENCY: JKG Communications
CATEGORY: Corporate Social Responsibility
BUDGET: $557,000
TIMEFRAME: 2003-2004
CSR WINNER: Philanthropy Communications
"I've got the best job in the whole company because I get to see
the rewards of a company that really does care," says Mary Wong,
director of community relations for Office Depot and heads
of the company's award-winning "Caring and Making a Difference"
program.
It may sound like, well, your usual PR line, but after just five
minutes on the phone with Wong, who is responsible for all of
Office Depot's philanthropic efforts that resulted in being listed
among BusinessWeek's top U.S. corporate philanthropists in
2003, and you're convinced she fervently practices what she
preaches.
"My job is more of an educator -- to educate the value of these
programs," she says. "In five years we've built up a good
reputation, which is important, because integrity is something you
can't buy."
As an example of such philanthropy, she enthuses about the
donation of white roll-up mailing tubes, normally used for posters,
to the blind.
"We were going to a new vendor, so instead of throwing them
away, we gave them to a national school for the blind until they
got their white walking sticks," Wong says. "It saved the families
a ton of money. It's expensive to first get the training sticks,
and then get the other ones."
Then there's the example of giving leftover construction tiles
from new Office Depot stores to art teachers who use them for
mosaics and for teaching art. "But it's not just corporate
philanthropy anymore," she says. "I work with marketing, real
estate and all the senior offices of the company."
Five years ago, with corporate philanthropy becoming a necessity
rather than an option--and some three out of four consumers saying
they take a company's reputation into account when making a
purchasing decision--Office Depot decided to formalize its giving
practices.
The company had consistently given its money away, but without
much focus. Wong had worked for the company as both a store manager
and district manager when she was asked in 2000 to put a
corporate-philanthropy program together. "We'd been encouraged to
be community connected and market involved, but it was at our
discretion and directed at a local level," she says.
Lauren Garvey, managing director of JKG Communications, which
had worked with Office Depot for about five years, says, "the
company had tremendously grown over the past five years, requests
came in from all levels and it was time to figure out
direction."
Wong came up with a mission statement, deciding to focus on
underprivileged or "at risk" children.
"We wanted to make sure it was a philanthropic effort, and we'd
be partners in our community and with all the channels in our
company," she says. "People don't realize Office Depot has a
business-services group with sales people, warehouses, call centers
and a corporate center plus we're international. We had to make
sure whatever we did could expand and grow with company."
Because Office Depot is an office-supply company, the majority
of requests were for children's supplies. "Requests varied
enormously, and that's why we needed to establish parameters,
policies and procedures so everyone understood what our focus was,"
Wong says. Charities, for example, had to have a 501c status, they
had to write a formal application and they then had to write a
follow-up report.
"One of things unique about Office Depot is that we don't just
write a check. We have to get involved," Wong says. "We don't give
anything to capital campaigns (i.e., the construction of
buildings). We want the money to go to a specific program. They
have to come back and tell us what was accomplished. Our
expectations are clear and, if they want to do business with us,
this is what they have to abide by."
Office Depot has several ways of giving, including monetary and
in-kind donations. "Our trash is someone else's treasure," Wong
says, "so we founded Gifts International, the largest non-profit
organization in the world, which we match up to every store in our
company." Other partners include Toys for Tots, America's
Second Harvest, Keep America Beautiful and others.
All Office Depot stores have community racks with information
about the charities with which the company does business to inform
employees and consumers.
The PR role starts with the opening of a new Office Depot store,
and it involves the local Chambers of Commerce and such dignitaries
as the mayor and state representatives.
"We look at grassroots organizations, and we pick three
different non-profits, all with the focus on 'at risk' kids,"
Garvey says. "One of the standard things we do is to donate to the
local library through our partnership with the American Library
Association. By having the state senator, mayor or
representative attend, that in itself drives media."
One of the company's signature programs is the five-year-old
National Backpack Program, which distrubutes backpacks to
local stores to donate to communities.
The first year, some 50,000 were donated; increasing the second
year to 100,000; and the following year to 200,000. Office Depot
then decided that, rather than have individual stores get the
publicity, it would focus on the fact that, as a company, Office
Depot donated the backpacks.
"This gives the community an opportunity to meet each other,"
Garvey says, "plus it demonstrates Office Depot's collaborative
impact on the community. It's more significant for the media to
cover an event like that, and we end up getting mainly local print
and TV in some bigger markets."
But, warns Wong, "you have to be careful how you do it. You
don't want to come across as self-serving. The backpacks are not
branded. Everybody already knows we give them, and it's not about
Office Depot. These kids think they're getting gold, and they are
excited about fitting in at school. It's about dignity for these
kids."
Slowly, the awards came in, including one from the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce Center for Corporate Stewardship, where the company was
up against Microsoft, Sprint and Marriott
Hotels.
"The awards were never something that we set out to do," Wong
adds. "It's not about marketing; it's about being a good steward
for the corporations and the companies. There's a difference
between marketing and philanthropy."
Still to be worked out is how to measure the giving. "Nobody has
a set way of measuring return on investment (ROI)," Wong says.
"This is a business. Whether you make or lose money, you have to
show value. This trend is not going away.
"If anything, it's taking on a greater focus and higher
visibility within all companies," she adds. "Our responsibility is
to make sure we're ahead of the curve, that we stay within budget,
that we get high value and that we educate."
Contacts: Mary Wong, 561.438.7626, [email protected]; Lauren
Garvey, 561.989.9931, x101, [email protected]
Philanthropy And The Feds
With the recent advent of Sarbanes-Oxley, Office Depot has to
make sure it's in compliance with federal laws. It's no longer just
about feeling good about giving; you have to know the law and you
have to audit annually. The company is also working on a project to
make all giving Web-based. "With the USA Patriot Act of 2001 and
how's it written, whether you agree with it or not, it's important
to have your charities vetted," says Mary Wong, director of
community relations for Office Depot. "It's become an important
piece of how you give corporately, so the online grant system will
create a bridge system."