A rough economy means companies are finding more ways to give back to community organizations — besides just writing checks.
BY BRIDGET CAREY
bcarey@MiamiHerald.com
It’s not as easy these days for City Furniture to lend a hand — or an armchair — to groups needing furniture donations. The Fort Lauderdale firm used to have no problem filling requests to furnish apartments for formerly homeless people. But CEO Keith Koenig said the recession is making the firm get creative in finding ways to give back.“It’s harder to give away as much money and do as much support for the community,” Koenig said. In a recession, jobs get cut and so do donations to nonprofits and charities. But when nonprofits count on the kindness of others to survive, some companies are, at the very least, increasing in-kind donations and volunteer work as they try to answer more requests for help than ever before.
“We have to be more selective in who we donate to, but we’re also asking if they have some budget so we can meet them more than halfway,” Koenig said. “We can’t do everything, but we can do a lot.”
This year, the nonprofit Camillus House used grant money to offset a part of cost of the furniture donated, and City Furniture staff gave of their time to help furnish nearly 50 apartments the needy.
Restaurant chain Pollo Tropical used to be a cash sponsor for the Coconut Grove Arts Festival, but this year gave an in-kind donation of food.
Others are having more events to encourage their customers — and employees — to give more.
Burger King has made efforts to make it part of company culture to get employees involved in charity work. They’ve gotten more requests for monetary help, but they can’t always help.
“We don’t take requests at this point,” said Anne Chwat, executive vice president and general counsel for Burger King. “Our budget is pretty much set at the beginning of the year, which is why volunteerism is so important.”
Chwat runs the Have It Your Way Foundation, Burger King’s philanthropic arm. The amount the company is donating is the same as last year, but there’s been more in-kind work: Staff members have worked on a home for Habitat for Humanity, spent workdays mentoring children for Big Brothers Big Sisters, and taught in Miami-Dade classrooms or assisted groups with their expertises — and all of it donated time. “That’s real money to a company,” Chwat said. “We wanted to make sure what we were doing had an impact.”
Bupa, a global health insurance company with Latin America and the Caribbean headquarters in Miami, is flying its employees from offices worldwide to Ecuador to build health and education facilities in Miraflores. It is sending 10 different employees a week for 12 weeks to work on the building — during company time. “I don’t think the economy is diminishing our activity,” said David Maltby, managing director at Bupa’s Miami office. Rather, the dismal economy is getting more people pumped to give back, he said.
Professional Bank, based in Coral Gables, is using its one-year anniversary to host a silent auction Oct. 2 to benefit the Easter Seals. The bank, along with others in the community, is donating items to be auctioned off to raise money. The bank is also negotiating a long-term relationship with the Easter Seals, both in cash and in-kind donations, said public relations spokesman Alec J. Rosen, president of the firm AJR & Partners.
“We have seen clients cutting back big time on their philanthropy,” Rosen said, adding that the bank is an exception as they are trying to create a unique partnership with the Easter Seals. “It’s not going to cost the bank much money. It’s a very innovative solution.”
And of course there are companies still giving during tight times, like Macy’s, but it beefs up its donations by encouraging customers to give back through various programs. Macy’s launched a new campaign called “Coming Together,” which rallies customers to host dinner parties to raise money for Feeding America, or on Oct. 17 shoppers put $5 of their purchase toward a food bank.
Publix Supermarkets said it is seeing higher-priced sponsorship requests. “For us, our priority is not just writing a check.” said Kim Jaeger, Publix’s South Florida media manager. She said Publix has been seeing more requests for help, but they try to continue working with groups it has previously helped.
Publix has a wide range of campaigns — from volunteering time, donating food for the hungry, or fundraising with help from customers.
The money raised in Publix’s fundraising has been consistent with previous years, Jaeger said. Some campaigns, like an employee giving drive for United Way, actually did better than last year.
“Our founder, George Jenkins, was once asked, `How much do you think you’d be worth today if you hadn’t given away so much?’ ” Jaeger said. “His response, `Probably nothing.’ ”
