Last week, I opened my email and found an advertisement from Ralph Lauren featuring the Haiti Relief Polo with 100% of the proceeds being donated to the humanitarian effort in Haiti through the United Way Worldwide Disaster Fund. As I spent several minutes browsing through the choices, I was somewhat surprised that this was the first apparel company I had seen putting out a product to support the victims of the Haiti Earthquake.

Having my share of Project Red items from working for Gap Inc., products sold for humanitarian issues are nothing new; in fact, it is almost expected for apparel companies to give through what they know best — clothes. Much like GlaxoSmithKline donating medical supplies or transportation companies shipping relief products, companies can respond best through their core competencies.

My curiosity, however, was peaked last night while watching the seventh season of Project Runway which featured Campbell’s partnership with The American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women® movement. I believe what intrigues me so much about this partnership is it strays away from Campbell’s core competency and instead brings a food company together with a nonprofit through the art of fashion.

Campbell’s joined the Go Red for Women campaign in 2007 through auctioning off a dress designed by Michael Vollbracht and worn by Lorraine Bracco with the proceeds going to support the Go Red for Women® movement. Since then, they have unveiled a signature dress every year to heighten the awareness of heart health in women.

This year Campbell’s asked for dress design submissions inspired by a “heart-health hero” with the three finalists showcased on their website and voted on by the public. In addition to the winning design being created and featured on the red carpet at the Woman’s Day Red Dress Awards, Campbell’s is also giving $1 for every click on their “Click with your heart” webpage up to $625,000 to the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women® movement.

Today, February 5, 2010, is National Wear Red Day 2010. I hope you remembered to wear red, eat your Campbell’s heart healthy soup, and clicked through Campbell’s website to read personal stories and help Campbell’s support those hearts that matter most to you.

During the State of the Union address, President Obama took aim at the problem of trust. Interestingly, trust-building is one of the biggest priorities for corporate citizens right now, too.

If you track any of the major polling operations that evaluate trust metrics — Gallup, Harris, Edelman, Rasmussen, etc. — you will find a remarkable consistency in how Americans evaluate different institutions and functions, although the specific weights and values may vary.

Generally speaking, Congress rates at the low end of the trust totem pole, followed by lawyers, the mainstream media, and big business. On the other end, Americans tend to trust the military, faith-based leaders, nonprofit leaders, small business owners, teachers, doctors, firemen, and other emergency responders.

Another interesting element is that while people don’t like Congress, the media, or big business in general, they really like their specific member of Congress, their favorite television channels, and their favorite stores and brands. What we also find is that authority figures seem to have lost their credibility.

In a Rasmussen poll taken right after the State of the Union address, just 27% of respondents believed the president’s statement that the government had put 2 million people back to work. Likewise, according to Edelman’s annual trust survey, the best spokesperson for a company often is not the CEO, but someone who is perceived as a peer or somebody “like me.”

We have become so accustomed to spin that we almost automatically discount what public spokespeople say. In a way we have lost something very precious, which also underscores the fact that we need to develop a new management science. We need to learn how to manage in order to build up trust.

The people we tend to trust highly have jobs that are seen to clearly benefit others. We recognize that our armed forces personnel put their lives on the line for us. By definition, teachers and doctors are committed to improving people’s lives. Firemen rush in to harm’s way. Their social contributions are obvious and easily understood.

What can we learn about what people don’t like?

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The business response to Haiti has been extraordinary – in fact, it ranks as the private sector’s third-most generous outpouring of aid following a natural disaster.

BCLC has been offering regular briefings on the aggregate amount of giving, as well as cross-sector briefings to help coordinate business assistance. Now I’d like to give much-deserved attention to various companies that have found opportunities to leverage their core competencies to provide assistance in the earthquake response.

By no means is this an exhaustive list – hundreds of companies are stepping up, and BCLC’s full list of nearly 300 corporate donors is here.

Read more…

During today’s forum in New Orleans on Next Steps for Gulf Coast Recovery and Resiliency we were treated to a bus tour of the city. The itinerary involved three important signs that this city continues to move toward long-term Katrina recovery and to build back better.

Broadmoor Neighborhood

LaToya Cantrell, president of the Broadmoor Improvement Association, narrated the history of this New Orleans neighborhood — “social ills” including blight, slum lords, and drugs — as well as its future, which hinges on a community-driven revitalization plan with focus on giving residents a reason to return.

According to Cantrell, at one time post-Katrina, Broadmoor was pegged as a “green dot neighborhood” — a neighborhood that would be demolished unless it could prove that 50% of its residents would return, signifying that it’s a “vital” neighborhood. Today, with 2,400 properties within its 151 blocks, 85% percent of properties are rebuilt and lived in or are under renovation.

Photos: Left – a flood-destroyed Broadmoor home that’s not yet been renovated; right – a sign detailing the planned renonvation of the library, a focal point of Broadmoor’s community revitalization plan. 

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This morning, Major George Polarek, who recently returned from Haiti, offered the audience at BCLC’s forum on National Resiliency and Gulf Coast Recovery several on-the-ground insights on earthquake response from the Salvation Army’s perspective.

The Salvation Army has operated in Haiti for 60 years. Its main compound in Haiti is Delmas 2 in Port-au-Prince, “the second-worst area in Haiti,” says Polarek.  The Salvation Army contingent in Haiti is one of the organization’s largest in the hemisphere. 60 officers speak Creole and are ingrained in the Haitian culture.

Pre-earthquake, the compound included a 1,500-student school and a nearby soccer field.

Post-earthquake, 12,000 survivors have set up a camp on or near the soccer field and Delmas 2. The UN has given the Salvation Army management responsibility of the soccer field camp and a nearby camp — the Salvation Army now has 20,000 homeless Haitians under its direct care.

According to Polarek, the Salvation Army is able to distribute 10,000 MREs (meals ready to eat) within 10 minutes in Haiti. It is able to filter 30,000 liters of water every single day to provide survivors clean drinking water. Thousands of people have received medical, nutritional, and security assistance from Salvation Army team members.

The good news today is that the Salvation Army has been able to re-open a makeshift school in Delmas 2. While the road ahead to make people feel secure and safe in Haiti is long and arduous, this small but significant achievement will hopefully bring much-needed comfort to three- to six-year-olds affected by the crisis.

See the Salvation Army’s website for more information.

At the time of this writing, the business community has already raised over $106 million in the span of less than ten days in response to the earthquake in Haiti.  This does not include the role the networks or radio stations or online community have played in raising millions more from individuals through telethons, text or click donations.  It is truly amazing what companies can do.  And yet…

And yet, if you really want to upset someone in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) field, all you have to do is equate CSR with philanthropy.   What we have seen so far is a very human reaction from the companies.  Who could not be deeply moved by the images of people trapped under piles of rubble, loved ones sobbing helplessly nearby and yet so far away? 

But there are systemic things that the private sector can do that may be equally humanitarian, but not nearly as dramatic.  For example, we are hearing about bottlenecks at the airport.  

Read more…

This morning BCLC’s Stephen Jordan broke via CNBC that business contributions for Haiti relief and recovery have surged past $100 million. “Mobilizing more than $100 million in just ten days is extraordinary,” said Jordan.

$106 million has been mobilized by 265 companies, and 44 of these companies have given $1 million or more in cash or a mix of cash and in-kind donations, including Abbott, Bank of America, Baxter, CitiGroup, Comcast, FedEx, GlaxoSmithKline, Goldman Sachs, Google, JP Morgan Chase, UPS, and Microsoft. According to BCLC data, this is the fifth-largest corporate response to a natural disaster.

BCLC continues to serve as the coordination hub for corporate disaster response.  Through the Disaster Assistance and Recovery Program, BCLC directs the Office Depot Foundation-sponsored Disaster Help Desk for Business, provides regular updates, hosts coordination calls, responds to inquiries and requests from various partners, and shares information with the public and relevant partners about the current state of corporate disaster aid contributions.

BCLC has responded to more than 1,000 inquiries and requests, hosted three coordination calls with speakers from the American Red Cross, CHF International, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of State, United Nations, United States Southern Command, and the White House, and continues to update the public on the level of corporate donations.

If you are planning to submit a nomination for the 2010 Siemens Sustainable Awards, please note the application deadline is extended until Feb. 12th (original deadline – Jan. 31).

In the past two years, 16 U.S. communities have ascended to national attention for their local efforts to blend economic, environmental, and social priorities and advance the overall sustainability and long-term success of the community. This is what the Siemens Sustainable Community Awards is all about.

Here is the type of information we seek for the 2010 nominations:

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Western Union announced a limited-time “No Transfer Fee” program for money transfers sent to Haiti from participating locations in the United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and select locations in France. The program also is available through WesternUnion.com from the United States and Canada.*

Consumers sending money may visit Western Union agent locations or visit the company’s website. Western Union’s website also has information about agent locations that are open and offering services in Haiti, or consumers can call:

• U.S. 1 800 325-6000 (English and Spanish) or 1 877 984-1726 (Creole)
• Canada 1 800 235-0000 (English and French) or 1 877 984-1726 (Creole)
• Dominican Republic (1-809) 200-7380 (English and Spanish)
• Jamaica (876) 926-2454
• France 08 25 00 98 98

According to a Western Union press release, the company and its agents in Haiti continue to work around-the-clock to reopen additional locations. The earthquake generated a number of infrastructural challenges for businesses operating in the country, and Western Union continues to work toward restoring service.

Western Union Giving in Response to the Earthquake

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