Daily Journal of Commerce

Friday, July 10, 1992

Sponsorships need to be integrated with corporate philosophy

By Cindy Hudson - The Coates Agency

So you've got a few thousand dollars to spend and you want your customers to know that your company is a good corporate citizen. To spread the good word about your firm, you set off in search of an organization that it can sponsor and get lots of recognition for.

This, at least, is the way corporate sponsorships commonly have been approached in the past.

Then along came recessionay times, dwindling promotional budgets and an increasingly skeptical public that began to demand corporate responsibility and "big picture" thinking. Now it is no longer enough for companies to throw some dollars at a worthy cause. Internal and external considerations mean that approach is not acceptable.

Companies need to be proactive in supporting causes and groups that reflect their beliefs and philosophies. Their customers demand it, their empoyees demand it, and their budgets demand it.

A case in point is international clothing company Esprit de Corps. Cassie Hughes, Esprit public relations manger, says the firm realized early on that important issues have to permeate the approach it takes toward all of its publics.

"We made the statement that environmental concerns were important to us," Hughes says. "So, we started out like a lot of companies by having recycling programs for office waste and printing our catalogs on recycled paper with soy-based inks. But we soon began to realize that the commitment had to go deeper than that for it to make an impact."

Esprit identified several issues important to both the company and its customers: concern for the environment; responsibility toward quality of life for the world's population; and more specifically, responsibility to the comunities that manufacture its clothing. As a result, the company has integrated support of these issues into its very structure. "Ecollection," Esprit's new product line, uses unbleached cotton. Buttons for some of its apparel are made from nuts grown in South American rain forests. Other wooden buttons are hand-painted by displaced homemakers who live near the company's factory in North Carolina. A line of bracelets are made by a tribe in Central America. Funds the tribe has received from Esprit have allowed it to build a health clinic in its community.

These programs go beyond sponsorships. They put money directly into the hands of people who need the help, and they use maufacturing dollars instead of promotional dollars. Promotional funds can then be used to let the target audience know that the corporation is sincere in its commitment.

How does this translate in a local market? Companies first need to define what they and their customers strongly believe in. Is it the environment? If so, a recycling program makes sense. But there are ways to expand on that and show an even stronger commitment. That's what Pope and Talbot did locally to respond to concerns about the purity of waste water from its Halsey, Ore., paper mill. The company created wetlands to act as natural purifiers and to reflect its concern about and commitment to the environment.

Social issues may be identified as the most important concern for your company and your customers. Donations to social service agencies certainly make sense, but again there are many ways toreach beyond that. Programs exist to provide help for those living in disadvantaged neighborhoods so they can reclaim community pride. An example of that is the Emanuel Neighborhood Home Ownership Program implemented by Emanuel Hospital & Health Center and Legacy Health Systems.

The program provides loans to help employees purchase homes in the hospital's neighborhood. The money they receive can be used to fund a down payment, closing costs and prepaid expenses. The loans are available only in a defined area - the community around the hospital. As a bonus, the loans are forgivable, with the amount owed decreasing by 20 percent each year of employment in good standing.

Larry Raff, president of Emanual Medical Center Foundation, says Emanuel's commitment to the community inspired the program.

"Many businesses are wedded to their communities," explained Raff. "Either you're a good neighbor and you help the community prosper along with you, or you don't make it."

Investment in programs that place an emphasis on helping you develop self-esteem and a sense of accomplishment can be an investment in the future. Locally, Key Bank of Oregon has entered into a partnership with the Urban League of Portland, providing funds to employ inner-city youth during the summer. In addition, the company sponsors a program called "Paint a Difference," in which employees volunteer to revitalize neighborhoods by painting houses and planting shrubs.

Deborah Smith, senior vice president with Key Bank of Oregon, says the company sees value in these programs even though in many cases there are no Key Bank branches in the neighborhoods they help revitalize. Explains Smith, "It makes a strong statement to our staff for us to support causes they feel are important."

The difference that these companies and others like them make goes beyond sponsorships. It shows a deeper commitment by firms to issues of concern with a variety of publics, including employees and customers. And, in many cases, it employs non-traditional ways of funding programs to reflect that commitment. In the current environment, it seems that no one can afford to do less.

Cindy Hudson is a senior account executive/public relations with The Coates Agency, a Portland-based advertising and public relations firm.

© 2007 - 2008 All rights reserved. Cindy Hudson