TODAYS NEWS
Bay Area Foundations and Award-Winning Ad Agency Invest in San Francisco Goodwill Jobs for Our Community Campaign
March 10, 2009
Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties today announced key cross-sector support for its Jobs for Our Community Fundraising Campaign, which aims to raise $1 million in community investment by June 30, 2009 to meet the growing demand for Goodwill’s employment services. The campaign has gained momentum with the support of The San Francisco Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund and the S.H. Cowell Foundation. Not only has the campaign built support with major foundations, it has garnered extensive pro-bono services by award-winning advertising agency BBDO West, which today launched an ad campaign that focuses on the people who are transforming their lives through Goodwill’s job training and workforce programs.
“Like all companies and organizations, the economic downturn has affected us and Goodwill is going to continue to weather the recession on the strength of our staff, business model and the investments of financial donors, both individual and institutional,” said Goodwill President and CEO Deborah Alvarez-Rodriguez. “So many people are feeling scared and powerless over the economy as we wait to see what the federal, state and local government will do. At Goodwill, we aren’t waiting, we are creating local solutions to a global problem.”
The Foundations Behind a Successful Campaign
The San Francisco Foundation has invested in Goodwill with a lead gift of $20,000, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has granted Goodwill $25,000, the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund has given the organization a $10,000 grant and the S.H. Cowell Foundation has pledged $25,000 to the Jobs for Our Community Campaign. Donations from individuals to the campaign will be matched by the S.H. Cowell Foundation dollar for dollar up to a total of $25,000. Support from foundations provided an important catalyst that helps the agency bridge its $1 million budgetary shortfall so that it can continue to expand its job-training and employment programs, some of which have seen a five-fold increase in demand over the last couple of months.
“Goodwill is an extraordinary nonprofit organization that provides outstanding programs and services to our most vulnerable communities,” said Sandra R. Hernández, M.D., CEO of The San Francisco Foundation. “The San Francisco Foundation is pleased to support this important job training campaign with a lead grant toward its $1 million goal. Goodwill Industries has organizational strengths, vision, and business acuity that will help it weather this economic turmoil. As we witness the growing demand for services during this recession, it is important to invest in organizations such as Goodwill to ensure it remains a vital resource to those most in need.”
BBDO West Helps Goodwill Tell its Story
Goodwill as a brand is instantly recognizable, but many people don’t know about its job training and employment programs that empower people with the opportunity to create a better life for themselves and their families. To help explain this mission and to show donors how their support fuels the organization, Goodwill has been working with BBDO, a division of Omnicom, one of the largest ad agencies in the world. Believing in Goodwill’s mission and seeing an opportunity to help the general public understand the full breadth of Goodwill’s work, BBDO West offered pro-bono services to create an advertising campaign. The campaign, which focuses on connecting the dots between donations and program participants as they transform their lives, includes branded-donation boxes explaining Goodwill’s mission, print ads, in-store displays and billboards, none of which would be possible without the work of BBDO West.
“People think Goodwill is just thrift stores but actually the organization is so much more,” said Jim Lesser, BBDO West's executive creative director. “The stores are like engines that fund and drive the job training programs. So when you donate to Goodwill, you’re not just keeping your stuff out of a landfill, which is also good, but you’re literally helping people get prepared for career in ways they otherwise couldn’t.”
Jobs for Our Community Campaign
Goodwill’s Jobs for Our Community Fundraising Campaign launched in January. Already running an enterprising organization with very low overhead, the nonprofit made $2 million dollars in budget adjustments to combat a $3 million forecasted shortfall for its fiscal year. The $1 million from financial donors will address the remaining budget gap. To date, the organization has raised $325,000 toward its goal.
In order to close the financial gap and address the growing demand for job services in our community, the organization will turn to a broad range of its supporters, including: material donors, financial donors, vendors, business partners, community leaders, current and past board, staff, consultants, government contacts, foundation program officers, past participants, employers, its neighbors and the community. The planned scope of the campaign marks a first in the history of the organization. Because of the state of the economy, Goodwill will launch its campaign with a greater breadth and depth of outreach to potential individual donors than the organization has ever seen before.
“Just like now is the time for foundations to lend their support more than ever, it is also the time for individual financial donors to dig deep, too,” said Alvarez-Rodriguez. “Thanks to this campaign by BBDO, people will start to know more about how we create opportunities for people to transform their lives through the power of work. We’ve been doing that for 93 years and nothing, including a recession, will change that.”
Back to News List
Top Stories
STORE NEWS: Visit Our Furniture Store
RETAIL NEWS: Ten Goodwill Employees Shadow at Levi's Store
SUCCESS STORY: Bosnian Refugee Found Help at Goodwill
STORE NEWS: Goodwill Voted Best of the Bay
TODAYS NEWS: A Loss in the Goodwill Family
