Company: Sun Microsystems/Sun Foundation
Agency: MWW
Timeframe: 2005-2006
Being a volunteer can be one of the noblest human endeavors. For Silicon Valley stalwart Sun Microsystems, volunteerism, both personal and corporate, is not simply a
self-congratulatory conceit. Rather, it has been a critical component of their global outreach efforts. During the last decade, Sun staffers have spent 221,000 volunteer
hours to myriad projects throughout the year, a sum total valued at over $3,378,000.
It was no surprise, then, that Sun Microsystems and its outreach offspring, Sun Foundation, made volunteerism the star element in their 2006 "Share the Opportunity"
initiative, which hinged on the digital technologies that stratify communities around the world. Education also played a starring role in the campaign, as Sun volunteers
fanned to several nearby elementary schools to teach children how to navigate the Internet and use computer technology to their advantage.
The undertaking was massive and worldwide, from organizing blood drives in India and painting underprivileged children's playroom in Scotland, to mounting hurricane
relief efforts in Louisiana and stuffing care packages to the troops overseas in Virginia; because of this global reach, communications professionals had their work cut
out for them.
The program got started when Sun, which has always made outreach a key part of their CSR (corporate social responsibility) mission, approached MWW Agency in April 2005.
The goal was to bridge the digital divide while publicizing to the world the good deeds being performed on a regular basis by Sun employees, according to Caroline Rohrer,
manager of strategic campaigns for Sun's global communications.
"Our first step was to really take a look at all the projects that were happening on an individual office level, on a countrywide level and at business unit level," she
explains. "The corporate organization really wanted to capture that in one place and brand it all under the Share the Opportunity campaign."
MWW, which handles corporate communications and branding for Sun (Bite PR works on Sun products), got things rolling for the campaign by clarifying the prime
objectives:
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Generate publicity throughout 2006 for Sun/Sun Foundation mission
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Catapult Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz's role as president of Sun Foundation into public prominence;
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Increase visibility for Sun's Worldwide Volunteer Week (April 23 - 29, 2006);
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Promote Sun Microsystems' Back to School campaign and the company's commitment to education with the key, "Sun empowers the education community with tools that
enable the Participation Age."
Schwartz kicked off the campaign by making a trip to Blacow Elementary School in Fremont, California, to teach students about the Internet and computer technology.
Blacow Elementary School was one of five Bay Area schools to receive a grant through the Sun Foundation's Open Gateways program, which gave out $500,000 per school over a
three-year period. Grants consisted of three Sun servers, 31 SunRays for the school's lab and up to five SunRays for each of the five grant-winning school's 40 classrooms.
Next up, Sun staffers followed their boss's lead by participating in numerous volunteer projects. From March to April 2006, with a special emphasis paid to Sun's
Worldwide Volunteer Week (April 23-29, 2006), the first part of the campaign (with the second phase being the Back to School campaign) was underway.
Boston employees were the first to be mobilized. From March to April, they conducted a month-long Toiletry and Personal Care Products Drive to support women and
families in need in the Boston area. Among the 3,000 products donated to four local non-profit organizations (Community Teamwork, Inc; People Helping People; Northborough
food Pantry; and Bridges) by employees were shampoo, conditioner, soap and body wash, toothpaste and toothbrushes.
During Worldwide Volunteer Week in Colorado, Sun employees immersed themselves into several Habitat for Humanity projects. Volunteers landscaped homes, put up
sheetrock, built foundations, helped prepare homes for concrete flatwork and completed final property tasks before leaving the domiciles ready for their new owners.
Volunteers were left with a huge sense of accomplishment at how they spent their time.
Also during Worldwide Volunteer Week (April 23 - 29, 2006), the New England contingent go into the act as eight to 12 Sun employees from Maine, New Hampshire and
Massachusetts teamed up to clean up a state park, the Sandy Point State Reservation in Ipswich.
And on April 27, 2006, staffers from the Human Resources group at Sun Microsystems did their part, too. They spent more than two hours at the Community Food Share (CFS)
in Denver, sorting large bins of food into labeled cartons. Smaller knots of people picked up food from various locations and unloaded 1,000 pounds of eggs at the CFS's
loading dock.
Other projects that also took place during this milestone week were:
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Sorting food at San Francisco Food Bank and Second Harvest Food Bank;
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Stuffing care packages for the troops overseas in Virginia;
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Supporting the American Lung Association of Texas and the race to find a cure for asthma;
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Providing orphans and impoverished neighborhoods in India with food, entertainment and gifts as well as organizing blood drives;
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Repairing and building a baby deer pen at the Wildlife Hospital and Rehab Centre in Woodbridge, Canada; and
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Working at the Linlithgow Local Community Center in Scotland.
The next phase of the campaign was entitled Back to School. Here Sun wanted to ensure that students would return to school with the supplies they needed. From Sun's
Burlington, Massachusetts' office to those in Nashua, New Hampshire and the Atlanta region, a virtual cornucopia of items was donated in the drive. They included
backpacks, book bags, markers, pencils, crayons, pens, erasers, highlighters, scissors, calculators, protractors, index cards and notebooks.
To summarize the Share the Opportunity activities, Rohrer and Meghan Fintland,
account supervisor of MWW Agency, created a CSR report (http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/csr/2006report.pdf)
that was released in January 2007 and posted on the Sun Web site. In addition
to recapping the philanthropy on the part of Sun staffers, the report also gives
operational updates from the company as well as thoughts from "eco- responsibility"
pundits.
The chief highlight for both Rohrer and Fintland was working with the United Nations Office of Development on Peace. One program, in which Sun acted as the corporate
sponsor, involved youth leadership summits, where young men and women, ages 18 to 35, from every UN nation participate.
Sun also aids the UN in another crucial way. "We help the UN by building a really robust Web site for them where all these delegates from these 192 UN countries get
together and share ideas and ask questions to one another," notes Rohrer.
Another UN program that falls under the Share the Opportunity initiative was launched last fall. It centers on mentoring.
"We paired some executives with the youth delegates who were interested in growing their business skills and learning more technology or more about leadership, even
writing presentations for financial support," says Rohrer. "Whatever they desire to learn from their mentor, we help establish these relationships that go on between the
mentor and mentee."
The interaction has been highly synergistic for both, with the mentees getting invaluable assistance and support and the mentors "getting super invigorated, learning
more about what's happening in different parts of the globe."
The main challenge of the campaign was "figuring out all the stuff Sun was doing around the world," says Rohrer. "I still find out things out all the time, such as that
we helped establish elementary schools in China. It's just that kind of knowledge management--I ask around and then it filters down to me. Then I talk to Meghan and her
team and we figure out how to promote this."
Another key point was "how to brand [the "Share the Opportunity" initiative under one umbrella," adds Fintland. "Whereas before, everyone was kind of on their own. Here
it was how to team up and put this all under one CSR Report, as well as highlighting employee stories to see what the most newsworthy ones are."
More than 40 projects, either completed or currently in progress, have been touched by the Share the Opportunity initiative. Though Sun's outreach programs may vary
year to year, its community impact is incalculable..
Some of the top publications that covered the campaign were Boston Globe, CNN Money, Reuters, USA Today and Washington Post. Regional and local coverage appeared in the
Atlanta, Boston, Colorado and SF Bay Area markets.
As with many successful campaigns, both agency and client enjoyed a productive, symbiotic relationship. "I think for Sun being able to measure the impact of our program
through media coverage has been really helpful," says Rohrer. "I think it underscores for the decision makers of the company that is continuing to invest time and money in
these programs that they really are important and they pay off."
Budget for Share the Opportunity is between $60,000 - $80,000 a quarter. This is for PR and agency work, not for the investment for working with the U.N. or creation of
the CSR report.
CONTACTS:
Caroline Rohrer, [email protected]; Meghan Fintland, [email protected].
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Clearing Hurdles
Sun Microsystems' "Share the Opportunity" campaign is representative of the ongoing challenges associated with philanthropic PR on an international scale. However,
philanthropic or not, the context of the initiative - global outreach to multiple audiences through multiple platforms - can apply to any organization. Consider the
following potential pitfalls when thinking globally:
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Coordination: Getting employees from different outposts around the world on board with a global initiative is tough, especially when that initiative consists of
several moving parts. Digital communications platforms are the best tools to leverage when coordinating communication, as they can bring together employees who are
scattered around the world. Think along the links of building an extranet site that is constantly updated with campaign-related strategies, processes and contact
information. E-mail newsletters and video podcasts from a senior manager also help keep everyone on track.
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Consistency: With so many people in so many countries involved, it's difficult to keep everyone singing from the same hymnal. Given this reality, hinging the
initiative on the brand's core values (which should not differ across various offices) defines a benchmark for the tone of all messaging, and for the intended goals.
Sun's strategy of summarizing their effort in a CSR report succeeded in recapping the philanthropy of the company's staffers, giving operational updates and offering
thoughts from "eco-responsibility" pundits.