Boosting the Bottom Line
How some of the city’s top companies increase revenue, brand recognition and more while giving back to the community
Anya Martin
September 29, 2006

Employees of AGL Resources Inc. have been weatherizing the homes of low-income senior citizens, doing everything from fixing thermostats to providing and installing new water heaters.

With natural gas rates rising, the company wants to help those in need identified by nonprofit Senior Connections Inc. But the company also wants to convince them to stay with natural gas rather than switching to electricity, said Jodie Huiet, manager of community services and V-Force, AGL’s volunteer group.

Although companies maintain that their main reason for volunteerism and philanthropy is because it’s the right thing to do, smart firms also have found that a strategic community program can help boost their bottom line, from revenue to brand recognition to customer loyalty to employee turnover.

“We fundamentally believe that a strong company and a strong community are dependent on each other for success,” said Lynnette McIntire, public relations manager for United Parcel Service Inc. “So, by providing volunteers and funding community service projects, we provide the company greater opportunities for growth.”

In other words, businesses launch and thrive in communities where social issues are addressed, she said.

“I think we know that is happens, but it’s …hard to measure it in a concrete way,” said Patience Allan-Glick, director on nonprofit relations for Benovolink Corp., which facilitates giving by individuals and corporations to nonprofits.

Allan-Glick said she had no doubt that the four-year-old Benevolink increased brand recognition when employees helped with Social Enterprise Alliance’s international conference this past March.

The Benevolink volunteers wore company T-shirts to increase name recognition, and employees increased their own on-the-job efficiency by becoming more familiar with diverse nonprofit groups, she added.

The AVYVE Service Group (formerly BC Group), which develops audiovisual presentation systems, timed its recent rebranding initiative to coincide with marquee sponsorship of the TechBridge Digital Ball. The annual fund-raising gala is attended by numerous technology companies.

ChoicePoint Inc. turned a strategic marketing alliance with the Georgia Center for Nonprofits’ online job site, Opportunity Knocks, through which it offered nonprofits discounted employee background screenings, into a co-branding opportunity to become the provider of choice for the nonprofit sector.

“ChoicePoint is able to reach thousands of potential clients through this partnership that we may not have been able to connect with before,” said Ansley Jones Colby, vice president of Culture and ChoicePoint Cares.

When a Wachovia Corp. client, the Metro Atlanta Red Cross, was struggling to provide fast financial aid the Hurricane Katrina victims flooding Atlanta, Laurel Hill, senior vice president of government and institutional banking, and other employees invented a solution and process within hours. They then volunteer on-site to ensure that things ran smoothly.

The bank won the Metro Atlanta Red Cross’ 2006 Good Neighbor Award and recognition from Gov. Sonny Perdue.

The volunteer efforts strengthened the bank’s relationship with a major nonprofit customer, as well as its reputation in the government and business community, Hill said.

Each of the seven brands of InterContinental Hotel Group Plc (IHG) strategically partners with a different nonprofit selected to maximize brand positioning and resonate with its target customer, said Stephanie Bezner Yudin, director of corporate communications.

One reason Grady Health System, which has an extensive obstetric and infant care practice, participants in the March of Dimes WalkAmerica to raise money for research, legislative and treatment programs for healthier babies is to “garner recognition that we’re out there supporting our mothers and infants,” said Denise Simpson, media relations manager.

Audit and accounting firm Cherry, Bekaert & Holland LLP increases its value to its nonprofit clients by providing services beyond traditional accounting, such as educational and networking opportunities.

Accounting firm Frazier & Deeter LLC celebrated its 25 th anniversary by creating an internal task force to distribute a $25,000 charitable contribution among 10 local nonprofits.

Moving toward partnership

“With stewardship being one of our core values, Frazier & Deeter felt it important to continue to support the community that has given us so much,” said David Deeter, managing partner.

Volunteer experiences also improve teamwork, leadership, project management and a whole host of job-related skills that can increase worker productivity and effectiveness, said Brevard Fraser, manager and regional community involvement leader for Deloitte & Touche USA LLP.

“It’s a great way to develop skills as people move toward partnership.”

Home Banc Mortgage Corp. partners on volunteer projects with a variety of Georgia’s top college sports teams, including The University of Georgia Bulldogs. The partnerships encourage the value of community service to youth and help fortify team-building skills among employees, said Mark Scott, vice president of marketing.

Cartoon Network employees get to know their audience firsthand by volunteering at Benteen Elementary School, said Betsy Holland, Turner Broadcasting Systems Inc.’s manager of community relations.

However, corporate community service’s biggest benefit may be to employee recruitment, retention, satisfaction and morale, said Delane Cope, manager of the Northside Hospital Foundation.

Several studies conducted by Northside Hospital have validated that employees who participate in community service most likely will stay longer with the company, she said.

To increase retention, John Wieland Homes & Neighborhoods Inc. has implemented a program that allows employees to take one week off annually for volunteer activities or mission work.

KMPG LLP offers paid time off for 12 volunteer hours per year.

Xerox Corp. has taken it one step further, with its social services leave program founded in 1971 allowing about 500 employees over more that 30 years to take off from three months to a year to work for a nonprofit.

Executives request to work in Atlanta because the Partners In Time program was founded here 17 years ago, said Joe Vella, divisional vice president of community affairs for Macy’s.

Seeing hundreds of Macy’s employees in red Partners In Time T-shirts at the AIDSWalk and Race for the Cure has to have a customer impact, he added.

This year, Deloitte coincided its annual Impact Day with the first day of work for all its more than 100 summer interns and sent them off to volunteer alongside employees at a cleanup of Collins Nature Preserve.

“As we go recruiting at colleges, more and more young one are looking for companies that allow them to stay involved with the community,” Fraser said.

Making job choices

Indeed, studies have indicated that the next generation of employees, born between 1982 and 2002, likely will weigh corporate citizenship when making job choices, said Tiffany Brott, senior manager of U.S. marketing and communication for Accenture Ltd.

In the legal profession, if a firm wants to attract the top students from the top law schools, it had better have a strong pro-bono track record, said Linda Parrish, director of community affairs for King & Spalding LLP.

To communicate the firm’s commitment to service, law school students working as summer associates at King & Spalding participate in special volunteer activities organized just for them, attend lunch meeting that spotlight the firm’s pro-bono efforts and have the chance to spend one week doing pro-bono work, she added.

All of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP’s 2006 summer associates participated in at least one volunteer project, and 25 percent participated in two or three, said John C. Page, the firm’s associate director of public relations.

Alston & Bird LLP gives employees 15 hours of paid time off annually for volunteer activities and, in the days following Hurricane Katrina, doubled that amount.

“It is evident that our commitment to service has helped strengthen the morale of everyone at Alston & Bird, resulting in our being included in Fortune’s ‘Best Place to Work’ for the past seven years,” said Cheryl Naja, the firm’s pro-bono coordinator.

However, if companies want to make the case to executives and shareholders that community service impacts revenue, it’s crucial that they find ways to measure and benchmark community outreach accomplishments, Huiet said.

“There can be a very good justification for a company to do good in the community, but you have a business reason to take back,” she said. “Some CEOs are very philanthrophy-driven, but for some it’s the bottom line.”

To generate those stats, Accenture conducts an annual “US Volunteerism & Giving Survey” that measure overall and program-specific awareness, perception, participation and satisfaction of programs, and how this relates to how employee impressions of Accenture, Brott said.

One proof of philanthropy’s impact can be seen in this year’s employee satisfaction survey, in which 86 percent of workers agree that their employer “acts as a responsible corporate citizen,” up 4 percent from the previous year, she added.