I wrote about this incredible project several weeks ago and now the videos to end child hunger by 2015 have been produced. This one gets my early vote although all the ones I have watched thus far are powerful. See the rest here.
People are hungry down the street and on the other side of the world. Donate to your community food bank now and next month and the month after that. No child should go hungry.
Besides our great new offices, we have something else we are excited about at our company right now. Barkley has been named a finalist by Fast Company magazine for its 2007 Fast 50.
This is what they are looking for this year and you can read our entry to see why we think we are a good fit.
"THIS YEAR'S FOCUS: Our sixth annual global readers challenge will spotlight businesses that are helping to save the world. We're looking for profit-driven problem solvers--people and companies out to address the planet's woes and make money at the same time. Tell us about yourself, someone you admire, or someone you work with. But make sure your nominee is using new strategies, new ideas, or new technologies to tackle issues like global warming, pollution, sustainability, access to healthcare, poverty, trade impact, child labor, and other concerns. No charities, please. We believe that business--capitalist business--is a profound force for positive change. Help us prove it."
We humbly ask for your consideration.
Regardless of the outcome, I'm so glad to see this emphasis on companies doing good being good for their business. The evidence keeps mounting and we will continue to push to make consumer and corporate philanthropy to become the normal, not the unusual thing to do.
As we prepare to give thanks in America this weekend, retailers are preparing for the beginning of their make it or break it time of the year. Tis the season to shop 'til you drop and if enough of us don't, then there will be a lot of slashing of prices and wrists in store aisles everywhere.
But let us remember it is the season of thanks and hope and charity as well. And as those of us involved in the cause arena know, the worlds of commerce and charity are colliding. Here is a great point of view from Tom Watson via the the Huffington Post. (Not that Tom Watson golfers.)
If you don't feel like linking, read this excerpt which isn't news to us in the choir, but there are still people who need to hear this:
".....philanthropies and charities are quite naturally spending more of budgets on marketing. Brand-building is growing in importance, as is long-term cultivation and donor loyalty. And increasingly, partnerships with consumer product companies can open new paths to funds. For non profits, cause marketing brings more than money, after all - it brings exposure.
On the other side, there are companies that genuinely have a a mission to change the world, that clearly buy into the notion of doing well while doing good. But others are driven by a purer market motivation. As their own marketers understand that the strength of the brand in some way hinges on public perception of "doing good," they're looking for ways to harness the philanthropic impulse in American society. Buy my product, and help others. It's got a ring.
The problem sometimes lies in convincing shareholders; why are we giving away some of our profits, they rightly ask. Go to them with a pure message of changing the world, and they'll slam the board room door in your face. But pitch the notion of extending the brand, aligning the product with the growing world of consumer philanthropy - well, there you've got something, son. Let's tell sales about this right away. According to the IEG Sponsorship Report, American companies spent nearly $1 billion on cause related marketing campaigns in 2004."
The train is leaving the station. Is your company going to be on it?
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Fast Company and the Monitor Group announce their 2007 Social Capitalist Awards honoring companies who are using the "disciplines of the corporate world" to do good in the world. Go here for a slide show highlighting some of this year's honorees. Read this and learn more about why the lines between business and charity are truly becoming blurred.
Corporations of the world - wake up. It is no longer okay to sit on the sidelines. Either you make a difference in the world or you will be left behind.
Likewise, non profits of the world need to wake up too. Companies are looking for partners who can give as well as take.
Nominations are open for the 2008 Social Capitalist Awards. Will you be on it?
There is much going on at our company these days. We simplified our name; added a rocket to our logo; and we are getting ready to move into new digs in a building that Howard Hughes once roamed around in when he owned Trans World Airlines.
We are now simply known as Barkley. It's the name most people have referred to us for years. And in mid-November, we move into our new offices in the Crossroads Arts District of Kansas City in a building that was once TWA's world headquarters. Howard Hughes put a rocket on top of the building to signify his dream that someday TWA would take passengers into outer space. We have put the rocket back on the building as we bring this classic retro modern building back to life.
For us the rocket signifies our company's desire to explore and discover new ways to help our clients succeed. One of the growing ways we are doing that is through cause branding. And for the second consecutive year, Barkley Public Relations has partnered with PRWeek Magazine to sponsor a survey on the state of cause branding. If you have not seen it yet. you can read it or download it at our website - www.beappr.com.
This year, we tried something new. We conducted a consumer survey, PRWeek's first ever. We talked with members of three different generations - Gen Y; Gen X; and, the Boomers. We learned that all generations continue to see the growing importance of corporations partnering with non profits to further causes through education, awareness and funding. There are differences as you would suspect there would be.
Boomers are more trusting of companies in general while the Gen X'ers (30-41 years old) are the most skeptical and trust corporate motivations the least. Two thirds of all respondents said it is important to know why a company has chosen to support a particular cause. And by almost a three to one margin, all respondents said a company should support a variety of causes as opposed to supporting only a single cause.
Almost two thirds (64%) of all respondents said they have purchased a branded product because it supports a cause they believe in. And almost nine out of ten said it is important for companies to support causes or charitable organizations.
I encourage you to take a look at the entire survey and accompanying article in the October 23 edition of PRWeek. Please let us know what you think of the data and give us feedback so we can make the 2007 survey even better.
Lee National Denim Day is Friday, October 6. So many people are lending a hand as we approach the 11th celebration of the largest single day fund raiser for breast cancer research.
In addition to our friends at Dunder Mifflin and Pierce Brosnan, now a number of other celebrities have taken time to design and decorate denim pockets and put them up for auction. Find out more at CharityFolks.com
There is still time for you to join thousands of other companies and organizations everywhere to help in the fight against breast cancer. Click here to go to www.denimday.com and register today. Your donation will go to an incredible research project being done by eight of the leading cancer research hospitals in America through the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Women's Cancer Programs.
Looking for a unique sporting event to attend? Here it is.
Audeamus.com tells us about the Homeless World Cup kicking off on September 23rd in Capetown, South Africa.
More than 100,000 spectators are expected to attend the event with teams from all around the world, including the United States.
The impact of this event is evident in these statistics available on a great website - streetsoccer.org.
Statistics are great, but consider this one story of one person who played on Team USA in the last Homeless World Cup in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her name is Stephanie Johnson.
Stephanie Johnson was a member of Team USA at the Homeless World Cup in Edinburgh. This is her story.
Stephanie spoke to the organisers of the US team 9 months after the Homeless World Cup in Edinburgh:
When Stephanie joined the team 14 months ago she had outstayed her welcome at the Salvation Army Women’ Shelter and was camping out in an abandoned building.
At 45 years old Stephanie was not only the oldest player on our team, but one of just three women.
Despite never having played soccer, she learned quickly and soon began teaching technique to new team members as well as counselling younger members of the team on how to roll with the punches that life throws.
Stephanie said that being on the team helped her connect back to a better time in her life when she was a school teacher and child care professional.
Everything started to go Stephanie’s way last Spring. She earned a spot on the final travel roster to Edinburgh, she was accepted into a transitional housing program, she started working full-time at Green Tree Hotel and most importantly she got back in touch with her only son in Baltimore.
The World Cup was the pinnacle. Stephanie says: “For the first time in a long time, I felt important. Having been a part of that gave me the confidence to face people again, to face the world.”
Upon her return, all the good luck seemed to end. Stephanie was attacked by a deranged woman who was off her mental health medications.
Threatened by the large woman, Stephanie pulled out a knife someone had given her: “I remember when I first ended up on the streets, this lady handed me a knife and said, ‘you’re homeless now, honey, you’ll be needing this.’ I never thought I’d use it.”
In self-defence Stephanie lashed out cutting the other women’s arm. As it turned out, the officer called to the scene filed charges against Stephanie and Stephanie was arrested for the first time in her life.
Although she spent 6 days in jail, a representative from the team, Street Soccer 945 (formerly Art Works Football Club) appeared on Stephanie's behalf, explained the incident and all charges were dismissed.
Stephanie lost her job due to the incident, but refused to fall back into the trap of homelessness. Her soccer connection again helped out, as she used County Commissioner Jennifer Roberts, a big supporter of Street Soccer 945, as a job reference.
Today, Stephanie is a food and beverage manager in the new Uptown Arena in Charlotte. She worked hard to get to that position.
She says: “It’s a great job. All they want me to do is sit behind the computer and make sure everybody else is working, but I get up and show people how to do things all the time, let them know I’m paying attention.” Stephanie supplements her income as a waitress at Long Horn Steakhouse.
When asked what her main concerns are today she said, “Fixing up my apartment [She moved into her own place 2 and half months ago], I still don’t have anything but two chairs and an air mattress, but I did paint the kitchen blue, and the bathroom I painted grey and I made little black paw prints so it looks like a cat walked across the wall.”
Stephanie is still in touch with the soccer team: “It reminds me to stay out of bars and it helps me ease my anger and frustration. But back then the soccer team really opened my eyes to the world around me, that I wasn’t the only homeless person, and that I was truly afraid of responsibility. Now I want to give back, and hopefully I can stay involved with homeless soccer in some way.”
Does Stephanie fear becoming homeless again? “I’ve got enough of a head start now that I can save some money even if something bad happens. There are some dreams I have, like traveling a little bit, and opening a bakery, but if I were to try to do those things now, I could end up homeless, but maybe some day I’ll be in a position to try.”
Next time you see a homeless person, don't immediately assume that they don't want to try to change their lot in life. On September 23, check in at streetsoccer.org and find out just what thousands of homeless people from around the world are doing to try to change their lives. The question we have to ask ourselves is what are we doing to help them?
It has been a full day of ideas and discussion at the first annual Public Innovators Summit. The event is sponsored by The Harwood Institute and Fast Company along with a grant from the Kellogg Foundation. Leaders representing government, nonprofit, corporate and media sectors have come together this weekend in the mountains of Utah to figure out how to generate innovative thinking to address societal challenges. There is a consensus that the private sector celebrates and rewards innovation and that a similar approach is needed if we are to improve education, health care and the general standard of living for many people who are in need.
A common theme of our discussions is how to create a greater sense of community overall. We have talked at length how technology can be both a hurdle to community development as well as a great generator of communities. Not surprisingly, this group understands the power of technology and many ideas emerged about how to leverage technology to help non profits grow stronger both financially as well as reputationally.
My favorite analogy of the day came from Art Dunning, Vice President of the University of Georgia in Athens. He talked about how there was a greater sense of community in the days when most homes had front porches. Sitting on the front porch guaranteed interaction with your neighbors or anyone else who might be happening by. People who knew each other and communicated regularly were more likely to be interested in each other and watch out for each other.
Art said all that changed as people moved to the suburbs and replaced the porch on the front of the house with a deck in the backyard. The social center of the house moved from the public arena at the front of the house to the privacy of the backyard. It became invitation only. Neighbors were redefined not as people who you knew but as people who lived on the same street as you.
I thought this was a simple and powerful observation. What we need to do is figure out what the front porches of the future are going to be to help us reconnect with each other.
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