As the holidays approach, companies typically try to find ways to cozy up to consumers, often working overtime to make their publics aware of charitable and humane causes. But perhaps more relevant than this seasonal giving is an emerging generation of discerning customers who weigh philanthropy and corporate reputation year-round. And it's a trend that signals that the time is ripe for PR to help mold giving strategies.
If you're not convinced that philanthropy is fueling the business climate, and you still view it is an ethereal, peripheral business practice, consider the mainstream and highly public ways this kind of giving has surfaced in the public domain: American Express [AXP] will long be revered for its Statue of Liberty renovation project (more than $1.5 million in contributions were made in the 1980s).
Since then, cause-related marketing has been a priority, but most important, it continues to surge.
Corporate contributions have risen 13 percent, from $2 billion in 1995 to $2.3 billion in 1996, according to The Conference Board, New York. Corporate philanthropy, too, is apparently becoming a habit for many businesses: the Conference Board study shows that contributions by companies that responded to the study in both 1995 and 1996 had grown 31 percent, from $1.4 billion in 1995 to $1.8 billion a year later. Findings are based on an overview of contributions reported by 289 manufacturing and service companies.
Execs need to put philanthropy into context when it comes to customers, and ultimately the PR/communications that surround business moves. In turn, communicators should be well-versed about their employers' philanthropic endeavors and corporate foundations but also equally versed with what other industry players are doing and whether there is a buy-in from employees. Today, employees can be front-line corporate advocates - or foes.
More important, it's PR that can be the impetus for finding out whether or not philanthropic efforts are in sync with corporate reputation as well as communications goals. That means asking questions like: "What's the perception external audiences have about our company?"
PR Today: Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth
A new "Cone Holiday Trend Tracker" survey shows that 54 percent of holiday shoppers said they will buy this season from retailers associated with a good cause. The study was commissioned by Boston-based Cone Communications and conducted by Chilton Research Services. More than 1,000 people were polled by telephone.
But the importance being placed on philanthropy extends beyond that: It's not enough for a corporate communicator, or an outsourced PR agency, to publicize a company's good-faith efforts and then leave well enough alone. What's also required is explanation and honesty. Philanthropy, as it becomes more prevalent and strategic, will likely receive more scrutiny by discretionary publics: the media, shareholders, existing and potential customers and competitors.
At the very least, being able to answer the media's queries about what causes your corporation or firm is aligned with (in some cases, even founded) can become a PR driver in this politically correct era. And you can help instigate internal communications efforts (asking employees what charities they support) or help spearhead surveys about corporate giving practices.
"In the pure sense of publicity, PR's place when it comes to philanthropy is still traditional," says John Paluszek, president of Ketchum Public Affairs. "But it also should be expanded in the future to include the analysis of expectations. By applying research, PR professionals can tell clients what their publics want."
Philanthropy as Part of Corporate Image
The impact (and meaning) of philanthropy has received its fair share of media coverage in the past few months. Here's a smattering of some of the media's analyses:
Philanthropy and reputation, as applied to the broader discipline of community relations, have claimed a front seat in what's fueling more than business spending - it's filtering into communications strategies, not just maneuvers. Just consider the depth and breadth of some recent potentially image-based moves, including those that have sprung from the PR and advertising professions.
Last week, Hill & Knowlton made public its decision to offer its employees domestic partner benefits and became the first major PR house to do so.
And $100-million ad agency McConnaughy Stein Schmidt Brown, Chicago, is receiving recognition from the Alzheimer's Association for the public service announcements it created pro bono for the association. Agency Chairman Thomas McConnaughy told PR NEWS that the ad work is part of more than $100,000 in pro-bono services it performs yearly. And in the 11 years the agency's been in business, it's stepped up its pro-bono deeds significantly. (Paying clients include Circuit City Stores Inc. [CC] and BMW [5337Z].)
(The Conference Board, 212/339-0265; Cone Communications, 617/227-2111; MSSB, 312/321-8000; H&K, 213/966-5700)