Verizon has consistently been among the top 15 corporate philanthropists in the country, while the telecommunications company's employees are some of the most committed
volunteers nationwide. Yet Verizon's customers had no idea.
Andrew Brown, Executive Director of Verizon, wanted to change that.
A customer survey found that "we were trying to stand for too many things and that we had not focused our attack on becoming known for anything," Brown says. Verizon settled on
an issue that's top of mind to most Americans: literacy. "When you stand up for a brainy issue you have to make sure it plays internally, and that externally customers would
accept Verizon as a leader in the field of literacy."
The company created the Verizon Literacy Network, an Internet site with multiple links to the literacy community as well as public and private charities. Verizon also created a
"check in the box" program that gives customers the opportunity to donate a dollar a month - via their telephone bills -- to literacy programs nationwide. So far, the program has
raised more than $1 million and, equally important, increased awareness among Verizon's customers about the company's commitment to literacy.
Verizon's CSR strategy was presented during PR NEWS' June 17 Webinar, which tackled a host of CSR trends and featured a handful of case studies on successful cause related
programs.
Donna Deetz, learning and development manager at Scholastic, the largest global publisher and distributor of children's books, shared insights into Scholastic's desire to
promote multi-culturalism and recruit a diverse employee population at Scholastic's 2,000-employee national service office in Jefferson City, Missouri.
To help launch the program, Scholastic initially accesses multi-cultural organizations within the Jefferson City and mid-Missouri areas, such as the NAACP and El Puente -- a
group serving Hispanic immigrants -- to find out what the groups were thinking and what their needs were. Scholastic also did significant census research and gauged the
demographic waves coming into the area.
Scholastic also partnered with Lincoln University, a predominately black college, to promote Scholastic's services. "Part of the PR program was to help us in recruiting a
diverse population," Deetz says. "We went to Lincoln and said, 'How can we make you more a part of the community?'"
To reach that goal, Scholastic helped set up several programs at Lincoln, including a children's library, formal internship program, a donation program for the university and
the Jefferson City Muticultural Forum, among many other activities. Scholastic also created an annual festival to drum up support for the program. "It's an opportunity for all of
us to say, 'Our population is growing, these are new cultures and how can we network with all of that,'" Deetz says. Scholastic promoted the program through newspaper advertising,
direct mail and messaging in movie theaters and taxis, for example.
The results have been encouraging, primarily an increase in recruiting and retention -- which cut down in training costs -- and a major increase in the number of multicultural
employees at the center to about 200 from just 20 four years ago. Several other organizations in the area have duped Scholastic's services for their own outreach programs, in a
sign that Scholastic's cause-related program can serve as a model.
Leadership Fuels CSR
Nikki Korn, vice president of Cause Branding at Cone Inc., provided Webinar attendees with some of the guiding principles companies might follow when developing CSR
programs.
"You need to look at cause branding as a real strategic business investment," she says, adding that the company should look for a partner only after settling on a cause/issue,
and determining how the company can make an impact, as opposed to simply aligning with a non-profit. Another important element: making sure employees are part of the program. "You
need to leverage their minds and expertise and leverage the incredible assets that a lot of your clients and organizations have."
For CSR to work, senior leadership has to be involved, says Korn, who pointed to the "Chevy R.O.C.K." (Reaching Out To Communities and Kids) program as a prime example. Indeed,
the program, which leverages 50 years of existing community support from the 4,100 auto dealers, was driven by Kurt Ritter, general manager of Chevrolet, who earlier this year was
promoted to the new post of general manager of Buick, Pontiac and GMC.
In terms of communications, Korn says, it's crucial to create "simple publicity tools that [dealers] can call us on for support but can take on their own. It's not so much a
Swiss cheese press release but ideas about how to contact the local media...We gave them all the tools to communicate the program."
Contacts: Andrew Brown, 972.718.3883, [email protected]; Donna Deetz, 573.632.1803, [email protected]; Nikki Korn, 617.272.8370, [email protected]
Preferred Communications Vehicles for CSR Programs
- News article or editorial (51%)
- Web site (36%)
- Direct mail (30%)
- Annual report (30%)
- Brochures or newsletters (28%)
- Advertising (36%)
- Analyst report (24%)
- Corporate social responsibility report (16%)