As we approach the close of the year and look to what’s in store for in 2008, a mega trend that will continue to permeate the cause space is the move from transactional relationships to true partnerships. In this, partnership can and will be defined as a mutually beneficial and respectful relationship that meets the business goals and objectives of both partners while protecting and enhancing the overall mission of each brand. As you make resolutions to forge longer, stronger partnerships, here is a tool from my bag of tricks to help you get there:

Partnership Bill of Rights

As a corporate partner, you ask your nonprofit partner to:

• Value you as a partner in achieving your shared mission
• Work together to drive positive social and business impacts
• Build a relationship with you as a key member of your team
• Respect and protect the integrity of your brand
• Recognize your capabilities and capitalize on them
• Remain open to creating new solutions to shared challenges
• Cultivate direct and constructive communication
• Publicly recognize your commitment and societal impact
• Establish realistic expectations and deadlines
• Give you the tools and information you need to be successful

And as a nonprofit partner, you ask your corporate partners to:

• Value you as a partner in achieving your shared mission
• Work together to drive positive social and business impacts
• Strive to build a relationship that exceeds your expectations
• Respect and protect the integrity of your brand
• Engage you in ongoing, meaningful and honest dialogue
• Share responsibility for the success of your relationship
• Provide you with a talented, creative and experienced team
• Do what it takes to meet your key objectives
• Set realistic expectations and deadlines
• Publicly recognize your commitment

Use this as a starting point for your planning conversations in the new year and customize your own. Work to track your progress against the Bill of Rights. And, let me know if you haven’t seen improvement this time next year!

- Kristian

We're excited to share some recent accolades Cone and our clients have received:  

• The American Heart Association's Start! America event received top honors in the Event PR Category at the PR News Nonprofit PR Awards, which recognize the best of the best in nonprofit communications. It is an exciting honor to be recognized for the Start! initiative's innovative efforts to raise awareness and inspire action around the importance of physical activity for Americans.
  
  Start! America was lauded for its integrated approach, as the event appealed to both business- and consumer-oriented press through celebrity and CEO engagement, its design that enabled sponsors to activate and promote their participation, and its ability to engage busy professionals through a variety of fun activities in the hub of New York City's financial center.

• PNC Financial Services Group was honored as one of the "10 Best Corporate Citizens" in the financial industry by Corporate Responsibility Officer (CRO) Magazine. CRO Magazine is the publication for the CRO Organization, made up of individuals at publicly traded companies who manage compliance, legal, ethics, human resources and investor relations functions.
  
  PNC was recognized for its commitment to being a responsible corporate citizen through initiatives like PNC Grow Up Great , the 10-year, $100 million investment in preparing children for school and life.

The millions of toys recalled this year due to lead and other hazards continue to have a long tail. While the toys may have been cleared from store shelves, they are still showing up in the donation boxes of charities across the country .  These organizations and their volunteers are now tasked with carefully sorting and inspecting holiday donations to ensure the gifts they will provide to the nation’s families in need this year will not bring more harm than holiday cheer.  Some organizations have brought in extra volunteers to assist in the process while others, such as 150 Salvation Army locations in the south, have stopped accepting toy donations altogether.  It’s a telling example of the damage that can result from an industry’s failure to effectively manage and monitor its supply chain, one that affects not only consumers, but a number of other indirect stakeholders, as well.  The consequences may be unintentional, but they are no less dangerous and far reaching. 

*This insights brief is part of Cone's weekly cause and corporate responsibility newsletter.  If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, please email skerkian@coneinc.com .

In the second episode of my 2007 Net Impact Conference Podcast Series, I interview three of the conference's presenters, including: Marcus Chung of Gap, Andrew Pierson of Resource Generation and Yasmina Zaidman of the Acumen Fund.  Each talks candidly about the passion they bring to their social responsibility careers and even share some tips on getting a job.  As Yasmina says, it's about "crossing the threshold" in life to make a positive difference in the world. 

If you missed my first podcast, please check it out under our "Podcast" section.

-Carol

I am a huge fan of Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty. I find it refreshing that the campaign is meant to challenge stereotypes, "to celebrate the diverse, the healthy, the real, the truly beautiful."  The Dove Self Esteem Fund backs up the advertising campaign and demonstrates the brand’s sincere commitment to building self-esteem in young girls.  The Fund raises money and awareness through forums, workshops and global research.  They have even sponsored a program at Harvard University. I have been buying more Dove products over the last year, and I can’t help but wonder what influence its campaign has had on my decisions.

All that said, Dove has received significant backlash recently because its parent company, Unilever, also owns Axe, the top selling male body spray whose advertising depicts women as primarily sexual objects.  These are two different brands, with their own identities and marketing plans. Neither brand is accountable to the other. However, Unilever is ultimately accountable for both.

As more and more brands are creating powerful cause-related campaigns that strike an emotional and relevant cord with their consumers, their parent companies – often those without a strong brand themselves – are trying to figure out what it means for them.  To some extent, the parent company receives a halo and accolades, even if it is not the catalyst or an active participant in the campaign.  In other cases, like with Unilever, it creates a new pressure, forcing the parent company to more clearly articulate what it “stands for” in the community and in regards to its responsible business practices.

Cone has worked with several multi-national manufacturing companies with diverse brand portfolios, and has a few best practices for parent companies to consider:

1. Clearly articulate your values to your brands and key external stakeholders. For internal audiences, provide guidelines and tangible examples of how to live those values in action regarding responsible business practices, marketing and communication, support of issues and other key areas
2. Assess your brands’ current cause-related activities to identify “common threads.”  What issues are supported? Who are the more common target beneficiaries?
3. Create an umbrella cause platform for your parent company based on what you (and your brands) want to “stand for.”  This umbrella will be somewhat broad – it may include several causes or it may focus on benefiting a certain group, such as children worldwide. This platform should be broad enough so that you can package most of your brands’ key programs underneath it. However, the platform should not be so broad that it is all things to all people, and hence, your brands will not understand what it means to them.
4. Conduct a risk assessment to see if there are any brands whose products or practices are in conflict with the cause platform (ala Axe). Address, rectify and/or create crisis prevention plans prior to launching the new platform.
5. Educate all the brands in your portfolio about your cause platform and how they may want to support it in their own ways.  Provide examples about how other brands are executing with success.  Consider providing some sort of incentive, such as additional grant dollars, if they create programs consistent with the new platform.
6. Recognize that you want to encourage your brands to be true to themselves and that not all will fit within your cause platform. Create key messages for your corporate office, brands and partners to use so that expectations are clear regarding your commitment and that of your brands.

Best in class is P&G’s “Live Learn and Thrive.”  Please visit the Web site to learn more!   

-Alison