Opportunity and Hope

Opportunity and hope. Those two words formed the framework of the 2007 annual North American Sales Meeting of Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc., in New Orleans earlier this year.

Executives purposefully chose New Orleans for the site, in an effort to “give back” to a city in need. But the corporation’s leadership wanted to take their generosity one step further as a real-world reflection of their corporate social responsibility mission, and sought out a community service project to adopt as part of their meeting’s agenda to assist in the recovery of New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina.

“In coming to New Orleans, we had this incredible opportunity to add purpose and meaning to our meeting,” says James Norberto, Konica Minolta’s Manager, Public Relations. “It was just a matter of identifying the right opportunity first, then deciding how to make it happen.”

Corporations today are increasingly adopting corporate social responsibility programs. This is not a passing trend; it is a solid business practice that is here to stay.

Konica Minolta is one among many corporations who have discovered in New Orleans a wealth of “voluntourism” community service opportunities available to expand philanthropic efforts and strengthen corporate brands. While corporate meetings typically include teambuilding activities of varying types, involving attendees in an event centered on giving back to a community is a unique way to bring colleagues together, ultimately driving results for the bottom line. Not only are corporations giving New Orleans glowing testimonials as an authentic meetings destination, they leave knowing they have had a profound impact on the people of New Orleans.

“We had no idea what to do, or just what this could lead to,” adds Norberto, who along with Ginger Allen, the corporation’s Manager, Corporate Events, met with representatives from the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau to explore some options. Considering Konica Minolta’s social responsibility mission, CVB officials suggested they partner with one of the local elementary charter schools – KIPP McDonogh 15 School for the Creative Arts – as they were aware of some of the physical needs the campus faced. KIPP McDonogh 15 is housed in a historic building in the heart of the city’s French Quarter, and stood unopened for an entire school year after the storm, but was back in session for the 2006-07 academic year. The school’s student population lacks the socio-economic opportunities that some others take for granted.

The collaboration with KIPP McDonogh 15 led not only to a capital donation exceeding $200,000 to support much-needed upgrades to the historic building’s exterior and restrooms. The generosity did not stop there. In touring the school, meeting school administrators, faculty and staff, and observing the KIPP program’s educational philosophy in action, Konica Minolta’s corporate leadership was so moved, they committed an annual $45,000 investment to provide financial support to three students who could not otherwise afford the costs of private high school. One scholarship is awarded based on academic performance, another on achievement in the visual arts, and a third for proficiency in the musical arts.

The partnership led to the creation of the Konica Minolta Colorful Tomorrow Foundation, instituting programs for both the near and long term and involving their entire organization and business partner networks with organizations that contribute to society in three key areas: community, education and children.

“While individual offices around the country were and are active in their local communities supporting projects such as Special Olympics or other charities, we lacked a corporate focus, a corporate led drive from a national point of view,” says Norberto. “In creating the foundation we put a framework around the mission, with KIPP McDonogh 15 as our first project. Today our ultimate goal is to create more colorful tomorrows for those in need.”

“The collaboration with Konica Minolta was one of the best things that happened to our school last year, and their staff’s efforts to adopt and care for our students and school are greatly appreciated.” said Heidi Campbell, Co-Principal of KIPP McDonogh 15 School for the Creative Arts. “We set out to do several things last year with their help and accomplished many of them. We certainly look forward to this continuing partnership.”

Konica Minolta joined a continually growing list of corporations who have incorporated an act of community service into their agenda when selecting New Orleans as a meeting, including Walt Disney Company, Whirlpool, Coca-Cola, Sherwin Williams, Anheuser Busch, Sanofis-Aventis and many others.

In May 2006, Maritz, Inc., was among the first corporate groups to relocate an annual meeting from another destination to New Orleans with the specific intent to not only support the city’s economy, but to offer an act of community service to help in recovery. Several hundred sales people and executive team members gave their energies to cleaning and refurbishing a portion of City Park’s Carousel Gardens.

“The experience of helping was phenomenal for our sales organization and conference attendees on many levels, not just helping to facilitate team-building, but in creating a great social awareness,” says Ellen Mughall, Sales Program Manager for Maritz, Inc. “It gave a greater purpose to our global meeting, and we now use our experience as a case study to share with our clients in an effort to demonstrate the value of embarking on such an experience. … We were glad to be among the earliest groups to help jumpstart City Park’s recovery.”

Sam McKenzie, Corporate Relations Manager for Hands On New Orleans, a non-profit organization that identifies and organizes community service projects on the ground in the city, credits much of the city’s positive recovery to the corporate support his and other local and national organizations have benefited from in the last two years.

“Corporate groups have been extremely significant in helping us facilitate holistic change, quite often in the course of a few hours to a day,” says McKenzie. But he is quick to point out that the support often goes beyond the physical. “Corporations not only bring in manpower, but are able to bring in financial resources that create a tangible change in a brief time. Quite often they bring a large group of people who then focus on one task, and even if that task is painting a house, a school, or a community center, you can get a lot done in a few hours. The improvements are immediate and very evident to the project’s participants and the community.”

McKenzie says the generosity goes well beyond elbow grease. “Many corporations are interested in making some kind of long-term impact, whether they make the commitment prior to working on their project, or as a result of their experience,” he says. “After working in a school building, they’ll ask for a list of supplies the students need, and they don’t blink an eye at writing a check in the thousands of dollars for pencil sharpeners to computers, or leaving behind a gift to fund a playground.

“These companies touch lives in ways they never imagine,” says McKenzie, recalling Hands On New Orleans’ recent collaboration with Travelocity. The corporation arranged for the students from a local school to take a series of field trips to local cultural attractions, thus clearing the building so Travelocity’s team could come in and make much-needed renovations to the structure.

“Travelocity’s people had no idea that some of these kids had never been to the Louisiana Children’s Museum, much less on a charter bus. Their intentions were to make the school a better place, but they wound up opening the kids hearts and minds to a bigger world immediately around them.”

Much of the continued success of Beacon of Hope, another local non-profit grass roots organization created after Hurricane Katrina, has resulted from the continuing support of corporate groups.

From a local perspective, Tommy Morel has both participated in and as a New Orleanian reaped the benefits of this outpouring of community service over the last two years. As the Southeast Region’s Area Director of Sales and Marketing for Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Morel was involved in planning and welcoming the Starwood Sales Kickoff, held at the New Orleans Sheraton, which brought to the city in January 2007 general managers, marketing directors, and sales, catering, convention services and revenue managers from the Southeast and Northeast region.

As part of their meeting, a group of 900 Starwood employees refurbished and restored Popp’s Fountain, a 60-foot wide fountain double-level promenade built in 1937 set on 11 acres in the heart of City Park, which was in disrepair following the hurricane. Their efforts resulted in 5400 hours of manpower valued at $75,000-$80,000 in man-hours. Many of the Sheraton Hotel’s local vendor partners participated, donating supplies and services to bring Popp’s Fountain back to revenue-generating working condition.

“That event was a thrill,” says Morel. “It gave me a warm feeling about our industry, certainly, as I felt like some our partners had let us down after the hurricane, canceling meetings without doing their due diligence in coming to see the reality of our situation here, how ready we were to host visitors again. To see what our corporation did for my home city, and to see the outpouring of generosity that continues, particularly from the corporate community, is very uplifting.”

Morel specifically points to the support the city and the hospitality industry has received from the corporate community from across the nation in bringing short-term business to New Orleans. “It has made a significant difference to our industry’s success and our local economy, and the added bonus – the voluntourism factor – has been huge. Personally, when I welcome a group to the Sheraton that I know is taking time to perform an act of community service while here, I tend to focus a little extra attention on them,” adds Morel.

The voluntourism factor has made a big difference for another local organization, the Beacon of Hope Resource Center, a grassroots group born out of necessity after the hurricane. Originally based in Lakeview, Beacon of Hope is dedicated to helping homeowners rebuild in neighborhoods heavily damaged in the storm’s aftermath, and to aesthetically maintaining those neighborhoods as recovery continues for those who have returned and for others who are in the process of rebuilding. Since its inception, Beacon of Hope has expanded its efforts to two other neighborhoods, Gentilly and the Ninth Ward.

Much of their growth can be directly attributed to the corporate volunteer support the group has received, not just in manpower, but also in financial resources. To date, over 25 corporate groups have come through in the recent past, bringing with them anywhere from 50 – 200 volunteers each time.

Enzon Pharmaceutical spent a day last March cleaning Fleur De Lis Park, a square block of green space near the 17th Street Canal, and a site of one of the main levee breaches after the hurricane. They also landscaped the front yard of an elderly resident nearby.

“They were very moved by what they has seen and done, and kept asking what more they could do,” recalls Liz Widener, Volunteer Coordinator for Beacon of Hope. “As their bus ride took them on a tour of Lakeview, they decided to institute an improper use of the cell phone fine, and each time a phone would ring during the tour, the person added $25 to a fund to further support our efforts. They followed up that collection with a sizeable donation shortly thereafter, helping us continue our mission.”

Widener also recalls an early donation that changed the scope of their work, when a group of homebuilders from across the nation, in working with the Beacon team, took note that the organization was using an old van to transport equipment to a work site.

“It took us three trips to get what we needed from our garage to a work site on any given day, and these people took notice as they helped to unload and load equipment,” says Widener. “About a month after that day, these people delivered to us a brand new, very large van, and we use it every day. Those people truly made a difference not just for us, but for so many people they will never have the occasion to meet.”

The corporate groups that return to the city, such as Sanofis-Aventis, particularly warm Widener’s heart. The pharmaceutical organization brought another meeting to New Orleans within a matter of months, and included in their plans another day with Beacon of Hope.

“I hope these volunteers know how much of a difference they make, even it they spend just a matter of hours,” says Widener.

Sam McKenzie agrees. “There is a strong current of corporate social responsibility that continues to gain momentum around the country, but when you get right down to the heart of it, corporations are made up of individuals, a community of individuals working for a common purpose,” says McKenzie. “In the end, it’s communities of individuals helping other communities, improving the lives of young and old, and not just in New Orleans, but around the country. I’m happy that we can be a small part of that movement.”