Top Philanthropic Companies in the Ad World Right Now

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Perhaps President John F. Kennedy said it best:

“The raising of extraordinarily large sums of money, given voluntarily and freely by millions of our fellow Americans, is a unique American tradition… Philanthropy, charity, giving voluntarily and freely… call it what you like, but it is truly a jewel of an American tradition.

When it comes to major companies and the money generously given back to the community, there are super star philanthropic players who stand high above the rest. These a-list companies donate millions of dollars annually all over the world.

1. Walmart. The neighborhood store has developed into a global household name, known for its “every day low prices” philosophy. Their other mission is creating “opportunities so people can live better.”

Walmart remains a powerful leader in the charity arena via the Walmart Foundation. The latest numbers tell the store giant’s story. In 2014, Walmart donated $1.4 billion in cash and in-kind contributions around the world. Global in-kind donations accounted for $1 billion, while $309 million was given in cash globally.

Walmart also boosted employee starting wages from $9 to $10 per hour.

2. Exxon Mobil. The iconic oil and gas company continues riding the wave of success and giving back to others in three key areas under the Exxon Mobil Foundation. The company is focusing on education, malaria prevention, and economic opportunity for women.

Exxon Mobil’s 2015 cash contributions amounted to $268 million. Vital Voices, the international women’s group founded by Hillary Clinton received $1.9 million. A sum of $500,000 went to Medicines for Malaria Venture and $80,000 to numerous science camps at colleges and universities scattered across the country.

3. Bank of America. The major financial institution retains a strong commitment to fighting hunger, collaborating with the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, Feeding America. Every dollar donated helps provide 11 meals to men, women and children facing hunger in the U.S.

In addition, Bank of America made cash contributions to the tune of $168.5 million in 2015. Last year, the company spent just shy of $50 million on workforce education, $33 million on community development, and another $33 million on hunger and other critical needs.

John Partilla is the CEO of Screenvision, and he’s a veteran of the marketing industry with nearly three decades of experience in a variety of roles.  Please read “John Partilla Named Screenvision CEO,”  “John Partilla: Screenvision Names Exec CEO – Variety,” “Screenvision Taps John Partilla To Be CEO As It Seeks To Rebuild” and his  Screenvision profile to learn more. Also, check out his Crunchbase, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

High Net-Worth Individuals Have the Power To Change The World

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No matter how much financial success you have, the best entrepreneurs are those who give back to their communities. Instilling philanthropic values in the people around us is crucial in bettering our society. The best way to reach success and to be a well-rounded business professional is to incorporate philanthropic values into business planning from the very start.

The key to philanthropy is to make it engaging. For example, partners show their children the importance of helping others through hands-on activities such as donating toys or helping elderly neighbors. This makes philanthropy engaging and even more likely to make a difference in the lives of everyone involved.

If you’re a high net-worth individual, you have the opportunity to connect with your giving on a whole new level. Not only can you make your work engaging, but you can implement structural processes that will lead to the highest amount of impact possible.

High net-worth individuals with a lot of generosity have a large means to put their plans into action. The best way to go about this is for individuals to convene and share their information from various resources in order to create change at the grassroot. High net-worth individuals are typically driven by the simple agenda of doing good.

So why exactly is it that high net-worth individuals have the power to make a large difference? People with high net-worth are often able to work side-by-side with nonprofit organizations. The most effective giving occurs when these people empower the NGOs they work with. This involves learning more about the NGO’s challenges, finding solutions to red flags, and taking advantage of opportunities for growth. High net-worth individuals who truly make a difference don’t simply donate to companies; they create an effective partnership with the companies.

One example of this is an American family that funded School-on-Wheels, an education program in india that transformed a commercial bus into a mobile classroom that traveled from one slum to another to bring education to children on the streets. Because of the family’s funding, thousands of vulnerable children benefitted, and the NGO’s capacity was increased. The funding was critical to helping the company create a lasting impact. The funding continued for many years, building capacity and systematically addressing the needs of School-on-Wheels.

School-on-Wheels was able to reach its full potential largely due to the honest evaluation, clear reporting and constant dialogue between the organization and the family that funded it. The organization has since grown to enormous heights. In fact, Prince William and Kate Middleton chose this NGO as one of three nonprofits they visited in India.

It is important to structure your company so that you can maximize impact. One way to do this is to create a shared value system. Think about what problems are most important to the company and why solving those problems is so important. Then think about your investment philosophy. Consider whether you will make long-term investments or single-year grants. Once you’ve thought about your values, your mission statement should come naturally.

Evaluation and reporting is an important part of the upkeep of a philanthropic campaign. Create a simple quarterly or bi-annual report that clearly outlines the positives and the negatives. Evaluation of your grantees allows you to brainstorm about the ways to empower your grantees and how you can build capacity. It’s also a great idea to collaborate with other high net-worth individuals and philanthropists who want to work toward the same goal.

There is no one right way to make a difference, but if you incorporate philanthropy into your business strategy from day 1 and collaborate with others, your efforts are sure to create change in the world.

 

New Study Shows Which Cities Receive Most Charitable Donations

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Earlier this year, Fidelity Charitable released a 2016 “Giving Report.” Then, on June 22, 2016, Fidelity released a supplement to this report. The supplement analyzed the amount that donors give based on philanthropic interest and metropolitan area.

Over 80,000 donor-advised funds are managed by Fidelity on behalf of 132,000 donors. Fidelity Charitable’s funds have $3.2 billion in assets, making Fidelity Charitable’s funds the second-largest grantmaking group in the U.S. To analyze all the funds and develop the supplement, Fidelity used almost 42,000 funds advised and established by donors located in the top 30 U.S. metropolitan areas (MSAs).

In order to select the top 30 MSAs, Fidelity Charitable looked at the number of Fidelity donor advised funds in each city. The supplemental material went on to assess which cities had the highest giving in eight philanthropic sectors: arts and culture, environment and animals, human services, society benefit, international affairs, religion, education, and health. These sectors are defined by the Urban Institute’s National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE).

Giving is very personal in nature. People usually donate to causes that are important to them. For this reason, it is no surprise that the city-by-city supplement shows that different cities have different giving priorities. Our country is large and diverse, and the giving trends shown by the supplement reflect this diversity. For example, Fidelity donors in Salt Lake City donated the most money to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Salt Lake City was not in the top 10 in charitable support of any category aside from religion. Conversely, Boston-Cambridge-Quincy was in the top 10 in every category besides religion. In fact, Boston was number one in giving to health charities.

In the supplement, the most detailed information is provided for 12 MSAs: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Minneapolis, New York City, Los Angeles, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City, Seattle, and Washington D.C. Within these 12 metropolitan areas, public broadcasting was a very popular industry to donate to. The popularity of public broadcasting among Fidelity DAF donors may show a correlation between Fidelity investors and devotees. It may also show that Fidelity donors give gifts at every level rather than just giving major gifts. This point was already brought up in the main 2016 Giving Report, but the data from supplement nicely supports it.

Going along with the idea that we donate to causes that are close to our hearts, Washington, D.C. ranks the highest for donating to charities in the international affairs sector. It also ranks high for donating to human services, education, environment and animals, arts and culture, and society benefits. San Francisco-Fremont-Oakland leads in donating to environmental and animal causes as well as arts & culture organizations. The top 10 lists also contain a few smaller metropolitan areas. St. Louis is among the top five cities that give to the environment and animals. Detroit is number two on the list for donating to human services. According to Fidelity, the diversity in city size could be proof that certain causes are supported with varying levels of intensity in many parts of the coutnry.

2016 is the first year that Fidelity has analyzed its fund data on the axis of geographic location. While they didn’t correlate these findings with other giving data that is available, they are open to the possibility of doing so in later years. If this correlation is done, researchers and practitioners may be able to better understand local giving patterns. They may also be able to figure out whether Fidelity DAF donors make choices that are similar to, or different from,  those of other donors in their own hometowns. Fidelity’s supplemental report is valuable and could be the basis for more expansive analysis in the future.

 

5 Tips to Craft an Engaging Corporate Philanthropic Campaign

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5 Tips to Craft an Engaging Corporate Philanthropic Campaign

Whether you’re launching a new program, revitalizing a stale one, or just want to make sure you’re following best practices to maximize both your reach and impact in your company’s corporate social responsibility program. Below are five steps you should follow in order to create an environment of success when it comes to promoting a certain charitable cause or mission.

Setting goals for your mission

Before actually starting this process, you need to sit back and reevaluate what the exact goals are when it comes to defining “success.” Consider how key causes map to the interests of your employees and goals of your business. Remember: the best philanthropy programs with solid support come from a set purpose with employee engagement. Authenticity is absolutely essential stepping stone.

Plan

Plan for a system that works the way you work and assemble your team. Reduce or eliminate inefficient tasks or processes to funnel or cultivate long term success. Basically, maintain flexibility and decide how to adapt during the evolving process of your corporate social responsibility program.

Secure a strong online presence

Enhance your overall brand message and share your philanthropic story with a website dedicated to the cause. This not only makes it clear for your supporters to find you, but it is also easier for potential volunteers to engage. In other words, utilize this site to give examples of your work , latest/upcoming events, and ways individuals can get involved at both micro and macro levels.

Launch time

The system before launching is essential when it comes taking small steps to success. After all the preparation leading up to this point, take the time to make sure everything is in place.  Depending on the  locale or area your company is targeting, partnering up with a business or other establishment to help in this stage.

Effectively communicate your results

At the end of the fundraiser or digital campaign, craft a comprehensive report underlining all the success with the use of social media channels, your website, and support from employees. Follow-up after each donation to collect data and send any stories to your communications/marketing team for promotion. Also, be sure to gather photos, stories, and anecdotes to help promote next year’s event.

How to More Effectively Participate in Philanthropy

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For many organizations and companies, philanthropic engagement has been strictly a business exchange in which corporations give money, and nonprofits give reach. Unfortunately, this does not necessarily mean that this exchange will produce results.

While nonprofits have such limited reach as it is , it is important for companies and nonprofit organizations to engage in a more responsive way to successfully alleviate hunger in a certain city or better cloth homeless youth.

Another idea to reconsider is the fact that funds do not necessarily translate to domestic or international success. Just because a certain organization or philanthropic body raises a few million dollars in no way means they will reduce hunger in a specific country, city or state.

It is also important to keep in mind that passionate people tend to work together in more ways than one. Driving engagement and traffic to have 500 one dollar donors instead of a single donor that donates 500 dollars is essential moving forward.

Also, a smart company would collaborate with their employee base in terms of finding a philanthropic cause, organizing ways to help, and most of all have a say in how to aid the targeted community. This in turn, creates a culture of kindness/selflessness, positive thinking, and mutual bonding in order to strengthen work based relationships.

Once employees are interested and engaged in what the company is participating in with respect to their new and improved philanthropic arm, there is a strong likelihood these employees will share their positivity in the social media space. Just look, for instance, at Microsoft, which regularly encourages its community to be even more philanthropic than the year before:

microsoft logoAccording to a recent study, in 2015 alone, Microsoft employees raised a record-breaking $125 million for more than 18,000 nonprofits and schools across the globe. The tech giant not only raise a hefty amount of money, but also made it their mission to constantly improve how they help, shape and act in a world that is increasingly becoming global. With participation reaching at around 71 percent, there is no question Microsoft’s employee base is becoming more involved in the philanthropic realm.

It is clear that millennials are no longer impressed or pleased with companies simply donating or fundraising for a charity. An engaging, well-thought out story is what this generation looks for as they both enter and navigate the job market.

According to a recent 2015 Aflac Corporation Survey:

  • 75 percent of consumers said they would be happier to work for a company with an effective, strong CSR program.
  • 65 percent of respondents link diversity with a company’s ethical standards.
  • 92 percent of millennials are more likely to purchase from an ethical company more so than any other generation.

By serving the needs of those in need, corporations create an ecosystem of trusting consumers, a happier workplace community, and sometimes a higher employee retention rate across the board.
Basically regardless of company size,  the company and charity relationship is clearly an ecosystem that will continue a cyclical charitable symbiotic relationship.

The Future of Corporate Philanthropy

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The Future of Corporate Philanthropy

 

Within the vast digital space, the development of tools, websites and campaigns used to gain user engagement continues to increase year after year. An employee engagement tool called “Benevity” eases the sometimes confusing process of donating, volunteering, and grant making as a means to make this user experience as simple and hassle free as possible.

At a recent conference in San Diego, the director of employee engagement for Benevity publicly discusses the various trends, and emerging areas for improvement in relation to the “digital philanthropy” moving forward.

The director of solutions at Benevity, Saunders, also highlights the fact that the volunteer space is changing due to more companies offering volunteer opportunities to employees not only in corporate headquarters, but also across multiple offices under the business umbrella.

According to several data sources, 77% of companies allowed non-headquarter employees to engage with certain volunteer opportunities or programs implemented by the firm. On the other hand, around 58% of companies reported that at least one program was made available to their international employees.

During the conference Saunders also printed out the recent trend centered around the overall demand of employees increasingly becoming more aware and engaged in corporate philanthropy. While “volunteer” within the corporate world can tend to be fairly broad, these opportunities generally consist of these bodies offering ways their employees can get involved.

Studies have shown that increased employee engagement in corporate philanthropy, not only increases loyalty internally, but also increases loyalty internally, but also augments the donation revenue with relation to individuals giving money to the cause.

Benevity also spoke on behalf of the vital importance with regard to the qualities of collaboration, teamwork, and integration that comes with volunteering. In addition, there has been evidences indicating that individuals more inclined to volunteer actually results in giving far more money, resources, and time to a wide array of philanthropic causes.

On average, these individuals give roughly around 41% more than the average Americans, further underlining how much of an impact volunteer programs make within the mentality of “paying it forward.”

Also, Benevity makes it clear that providing potential and current employees within corporate philanthropy the necessary tools to guide their success is more than important, it is absolutely essential to grow. The ability to utilize technology to effectively guide volunteers in this process is a cornerstone tool. Volunteering is centered around integration, sos it is only fitting that this quality is the basis for technology use in volunteer programs and opportunities.

One program that continuously proves to be successful is called the “Dollars for Doers” opportunity, which has shown to boost engagement for employees. Essentially, this program donates on behalf of a high-performing employee who not only exhibits genuine interest in the cause, but also is an active member, trying to better the overall engagement experience.

Not only are the Dollar for Doer programs some of the best functioning ones in the world, but they have also increased in popularity during the last few years. Around 5% of Benevity clients offer their employees this program in order to boost and further develop their firm’s philanthropic arm.

To improve any program to a higher standard, a fair share of creativity is needed to raise certain standards to the next level. Even though less restrictions within the program allow for more leeway in terms of how operations (volunteer) run, creativity has no doubt moved to the forefront of future program implementation.

In this regard, companies are making it easier for volunteers receive cash rewards and other complementary opportunities in the program. Another added benefit of this program is the increased appeal from nonprofit partners to work with companies that provide this opportunity for their employees. The creativity and less restrictions on the rewards side within the Dollars for Doers program will foster an environment geared towards more companies adopting this process.

With a forty percent increase of pro bono service across companies throughout the country, private institutions actually have the highest growth rates. A pro bono or highly skilled volunteer is someone who donates his/her professional services for a nonprofit, or on behalf of another philanthropic organization.

A pro bono volunteer is different from other volunteers in that they bring expertise to an organization on a project basis that includes clear guidelines, deliverables and work that is tailored to their skillset. Pro bono and skilled volunteers range along a continuum of technical expertise and experience in terms of skills, levels of commitment, and the types of projects that appeal to them.

A great way to reflect on the work you or your team has completed when working with a charity and their partners is to discuss the project a few days after participation. Evaluating what and how to improve certain aspects of the volunteer project after completion allows not only employees to be more effective, but it also allows for increased awareness moving forward.

Effectively Engaging with Millennials Through Branding

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As many millennials share this common notion of making a unique or interestingly crafted mark within the digital space, brands have taken this message into consideration in content production related to their brands. In this sense, many digital advertisers and marketers agree that creating GIFs and emojiis have become a new, image-based language for these young individuals to interact with each other on various social media platforms.

Other marketers agree that the creation of these GIFs and emojiis are accurate representations of millennials expanding their own world of communication with a basis in moving pictures or images to get their message across to others. In terms of devices, both iOS and Android mobile platforms have integrated emoji keyboards into their software, while Tumblr users engage over twenty-three million GIFs on a daily basis.

Unlike generations before their time, millennials, for the most part, have always been exposed to content within the vast digital media atmosphere. From inception, millennials have taken it upon themselves to acquire and mold content in a way that specifically fills their communication needs in that moment in time.

heart eyesTo illustrate, take the GIF as a primary example of this new form of communication that has swept and continues to be heavily used across social media properties. In other words, GIFs are crafted to express anything from political standing, to a positive emotion that is evoked with this individual’s favorite concert tickets are purchased. In this regard, many believe that we are currently living in a world in which millennials are consistently molding our digital space.

With Clinique’s campaign successfully producing an innovative campaign in the UK, brands need to generate stories that would make its mark amidst the endless communities that appeal to thousands of millennials on a day to day basis. This Clinique campaign which received over 600,000 social media engagements, had drawn upon not only emotional connections, but also this notion of the future as an environment to interact with oneself.

For brands still trying to make a huge impact on millennials across social media platforms, a great piece of advice to keep in mind is to evoke a profound level of inspiration when pitching a campaign to this audience. Crafting a product-based campaign that forces this generation to question, challenge and reconnect with specific emotions will create a long-term impact. By sparking this new, innovative conversation, millennials will have no choice but to pay attention to your brand’s tailored message.

The Growing Use of Ad Blocking

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A recent report from ComScore has confirmed that around ten percent of desktop users are currently applying ad-software blocking tools or systems when perusing the internet. Though this ad blocking rate on a global scale has been relatively stable from around September to May of last year, it is clear that the likelihood of using ad blocking software is directly tied to generational differences.

The study showed that younger users are more inclined to employ ad blocking tools rather than individuals who are over the age of 34.

ComScore, a public marketing data company who offers analytics to publishers, agencies and large private entities in order to better understand consumer behavior across audiences on different platforms. This marketing data company heavily focuses on constantly examining factors within digital advertising from TV to the new ways brands are engaging with consumers in the mobile sphere.

desktopWith ad blocking increasing in popularity, it becomes more difficult for online publishers to not only yield engagement, but also reflect consumer data when creating strategy or number based plans in comparison with their competitors.

Basically, online publishers are sometimes unable to pull accurate data reflecting important KPI’s such as viewability, completion rate and cost per acquisition in the programmatic sphere.

However, as publishers and companies within the advertising industry alike become more concerned with these ad-blocking technologies, comScore’s data suggests that these trends do not seem to have any immediate impacts.

To illustrate, one survey conducted by Retale confirms that out of five-hundred informants, fifty-seven percent admitted to using ad-blocking tools on their desktop computers.

Meanwhile, a report published last year by Adobe and PageFair, confirmed that U.S. ad-blocking rates were 17% in May and 15% in June, which is nearly five to seven percent more than ComScore numbers. In addition, the companies also estimated that ad blocking tools and software led to $22 billion in lost advertising revenue last year alone.

Regardless of the numerical disparity between these three companies, ComScore’s numbers are actually aligned with various online publishers who have recently seen a decline in revenue due to ad blocking. Although ComScore numbers currently do not encompass ad blocking on mobile devices which is a far less common among consumers. To read more about ad blocking with regard to desktop users please visit this site. 

Instagram’s New Branding Strategy

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As opposed to the nature of social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, Instagram was initially created to emphasize activities solely related to sharing visual mediums online.

With over four hundred million monthly users and a growing number of advertisers branding their companies on the platform, Instagram is adding an algorithm that reorders pictures and videos in users’ feeds based on their interests. Similar to a news feed in Facebook or the extensive Twitter feed, this actually allows the constant flow of information to be context specific with the hopes to promote a much higher level of user engagement across the board.

Although marketers claim this inevitable move is a small part in the overall social media evolution, users are becoming more and more wary of the next steps the company will take to secure its innovative edge as the digital industry further expands.

Moreover, as the photo-sharing app further expands its strategy to drive engagement on their photo sharing based platform, Instagram has also acquired new interactive tools in addition to simply just the news feed. Users can now message followers directly, click into link that lead them to product or service landing pages and upload videos showcasing their latest trip with their friends.

insta logoHowever, many argue that this isn’t exactly what the online photo sharing app’s user base was searching for when the platform was first developed in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger to socially network via photos. According to a Forrester Research report form 2015, engagement on this platform had declined significantly yet data still showed that the platform still outperformed social media competitors such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Google +.

“Maybe it’s dramatic to call it the death of organic social, but increasingly, we’re telling our clients, ‘If you’re not going to put money behind promoting your content, organic engagement is a real tough thing to produce sustainably,” said Kyle Bunch, managing director of social at R/GA.

According to Instagram analytics, users miss 70 percent of the posts that show up in their feeds, meaning they only see 30 percent of the content posted by users and brands they follow. In turn, this creates a huge informational disconnect between users who are not receiving the content geared towards their interests and the brands attempting to portray a certain message to targeted audiences.

Kyle Bunch, managing director at R/GA states that “I don’t believe Instagram will go full-fledge Facebook with its suppression of all organic reach for content,” she said. “The Instagram community is just different and expects a level of authenticity and accessibility that isn’t reflected on Facebook.”

While this is useful tool that could potentially connect users and brand in a more effective way, some users agree that this could actually have a negative impact on the various ways in which individuals discover new information.

 

Disconnecting from the Digital Space

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The increase of wifi spots across New York City, along with a wide spectrum of global, cosmopolitan cities have all been participating in a digital connectedness as a means for locals, tourists and passerbyers alike to all stay interactive on their devices. While this was primarily initiated to further connectedness on social media platforms, to promote engagement via text messaging and internet browsing, both Olson and Roder of Horizon’s TrendSights have concluded that becoming a “smart city” may not necessarily spark an overall increase in user engagement.

With this in mind, Horizon’s TrendSights has concluded that there is an increase of consumers who have essentially opted to not connect to wifi kiosks or hotspots in order to maintain face to face interaction. In short, the intent on becoming more connected through the implementation of everything wifi has resulted to a response that has produced a quest to for more personal, undistracted personal space from their devices.

Although both Olson and Roder have noticed this trend gradually appearing in consumer and social behavior, they agree that the increased effort on the consumer’s behalf to distance themselves from their devices has been far more noticeable in the past six months. Olson comments on this trend by stating that “Most people have had smartphones for awhile now, but I think people had to kind of live with them for a while and internalize all the effects the phones have on one’s life before they felt this itch to return to a more disconnected life.”

apple products

As this concept of distance from devices has augmented within the last year or so, consumers have been responding in different forms in order to counteract what they feel is the lack of meaningful social engagement.

More concretely, one interesting that has been making a strong statement as an overall response to the digital connectedness as a whole, is the fad of adult sleep-away camps that mandate an environment which calls for no devices or anything digitally related.

An adult sleepaway camp called “Camp Grounded,” has locations from New York to Northern California and offers features like typewriters, stargazing, sweat lodges and gourmet cuisine in the hopes of visitors to take a step back from their busy, digitally occupying lives.

This essentially highlights how adamantly digital consumers of all ages are actively attempting to create more authentic, face to face human interaction in their daily lives. To read more about how consumers are disconnecting from the digital space click on this link.