Author Archive: Jessica Peoples
Giving back and looking forward
We’re looking forward to finding new ways to give back in 2011, and we’re taking a look back at our favorite moments from 2010, too. We had fun finding new ways to push our efforts even further this year and to add in a little creativity wherever possible. I’m so proud of the work Emma does to give back. As you reminisce with us about our 2010 highlights, feel free to give us a shout with any community initiatives that are important to you and your company.
Jessica and Christy with Sam, a favorite on our Meals on Wheels route.
Mobile Meals at St. Luke’s
Every Wednesday, two Emma staffers buddy up and deliver meals around the community for St. Luke’s. The route lasts about an hour and is a perfect break from the regular workday. Not only do we get to chat with a colleague and maybe even discuss another new project we’re working on, but we also get to meet some folks around Nashville and be a part of their lives. Sam seems to be a favorite — he loves the Emma crew, always keeps his yard pristine and is often at the door with a perfectly knotted tie.
Another good friend is Sergy, who’s originally from Russia and has a to-die-for smile and peppy attitude. Sadly, his pup passed away a few weeks ago. We all knew and loved that dog, so we found the perfect card for Sergy — no words, just photos, so that he would know we were thinking of him despite the language barrier.
Kiva
Our involvement with Kiva warms us up like hot cocoa. It’s a fantastic organization that helps empower small businesses around the world with entrepreneurial loans. Throughout this year, we’ve lent money to 25 different people trying to start businesses in countries ranging from Benin to Lebanon, Kenya to Costa Rica, Nicaragua to Iraq. We can’t wait to get this year’s loans started; already on the 2011 giving list are start-ups in Uganda and the Kyrgyz Republic.
DonorsChoose
Did you hear about the lady who covered all of the DonorsChoose California requests? That was Emma. Just kidding — but we *were* inspired by that incredible example of generosity. We’ve been working with DonorsChoose for quite a while now, and the California story has been a great motivator for us to push ourselves further. In 2010, we covered costs for 35 classrooms in need. Many teachers go to work every day without adequate supplies to teach their students, and DonorsChoose allows teachers to post their needs online and request help from anyone who wants to give. As with Kiva, our staffers volunteer and select the classrooms online. Then the best part, of course, is seeing all the sweet thank you notes from the cute kids.
Kelli, Elizabeth and Mary Claire enjoying the Jack and Back ride.
“Bike to Jack and Back” Bike MS
Every year, Jack Daniel’s sponsors a two-day bike ride from Nashville to their legendary distillery in Lynchburg, TN, and then back to Nashville. When a staffer forwarded an email about the event to the rest of the company, we quickly realized how many Emma friends and family have been affected by multiple sclerosis. For the first time this year, we had a whole team of riders and volunteers involved in the event, and we began our planning and training in April.
The best part was our not-so-silent auction. We created a sort of online marketplace where anyone from Emma could bid on goods and services offered up by other staffers, and all the money went toward Bike MS. Items staffers offered for auction included eating tapas with our CEO Clint Smith while listening to ’80s rock music and one-day-only rights to have Community staffer Kelli Liszka do backbends on command. We had a blast and raised more than $5,000.
Some other organizations we supported this year:
- Hands On Nashville
- Feeding America’s Backpack Program
- Halloween at St. Luke’s
- Blood:Water:Mission
- Clips of Faith Beer and Film Tour
Does your company also love to give back? Let us know what kind of groups inspire you … we want to hear your ideas.
Meet Blood: Water Mission
How a Nashville nonprofit makes the most of a free Emma 25 account and helps save lives in Africa.
One of Blood: Water Mission's beautiful email campaigns.
Although it started as a small passion project in 2005, Blood: Water Mission has since become an extraordinary organization with multiple operations and international reach. But they aren’t just bringing clean water and better sanitation to all different parts of Africa — they’re also using thoughtful, effective marketing strategies to get the most out of their fundraising efforts.
Two years ago, Emma was thrilled to recognize their work through Emma 25, our annual program that awards free email marketing service to deserving nonprofits. (And this year’s Emma 25 is now in full swing — you can apply now through November 15.) We’ve been proud to play a part in the incredible story of their project, and they impress us to this day with their smart marriage of mission and branding. Their email campaigns consistently see great open and click-through rates, largely because their supporters are actually getting the right message — and seeing things beautifully.
How do they do it?
They keep it simple and honest. In this campaign, for example, they highlight their matching initiative and follow it up with a simple thanks to their Give Health Blogivation supporters. Compelling, relevant imagery enhances each point, and the textual content doesn’t force the eye to process too many colors and font styles — again, lovely and personal.
Blood: Water Mission could not function without its volunteers, so they reach out to share their gratitude after every event. They also use the survey feature to collect and track feedback, which is helpful internally and also demonstrates to the community that the organization listens to its supporters.
Why we like it.
Besides the amazing work they do saving lives, their brand image is incredibly thoughtful. The bold design stands out, and the logo itself conveys a strong message of action, simplicity, humility and intensity. The photos are treated with rustic appeal, and the entire newsletters carry the same earth tones and weathered sophistication. The buttons have clear calls to action and feel immediate and touchable.
Want to see more newsletter examples?
- A few simple buttons in this campaign tie into the brand, and it makes a huge difference.
- The photo of a young woman in this email draws attention and creates warmth.
- This example features one of the group’s beautiful, brand-consistent posters.
If you’d like to know more about Blood: Water Mission, check out their site and see all the awesome work they are doing in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia and Rwanda.
More about Emma 25
Do you know of a non-profit who could use some Emma love? Encourage them to apply for the 2010 Emma 25 by sending them this link: http://www.myemma.com/emma25. We’re accepting applications through Friday, November 12th, and we’ll announce the honorees the first week of December. Click here to read about more past Emma 25 honorees and how email marketing has helped them grow.
Giving back through backpacks
How one of our favorite causes helps feed hungry kids … and gives us elementary-school flashbacks.
Some backpacks pack more punch than others.
We recently participated in a Giving Back initiative involving backpacks, which made me remember my all-time favorite: the hot pink thread, the pseudo-embroidery and that sparkling, bodacious red puff paint spelling out my name. Oh, yes — that was just the beginning of my life as a designer, and I couldn’t wait to get to school and strut the halls.
Here at Emma, of course, we appreciate function as much as style, and our friends at Feeding America have taught us how a backpack can truly transform a child’s life, and not just with puff paint or even books. They’re using backpacks to feed hungry kids.
Formerly known as America’s Second Harvest, Feeding America is a hunger-relief nonprofit that supplies more than two billion pounds of food and grocery products to hungry families each year. In 1995, they launched a backpack program that sends deserving kids home with non-perishable food items to help them stay nourished throughout the weekend. Most children who qualify for reduced or free lunches often struggle through those two days without sufficient supplements, and a backpack full of food is a discreet way to help.
When we heard about the initiative, we knew we wanted to get involved. We had an upcoming sponsorship at the annual SXSW Interactive conference, and we wanted to give those conference-goers a way to get to know us and also to support a worthy cause. So we proposed a plan to fill 1,000 backpacks with the help of the attendees — to be specific, it was a plan to super-awesomify the backpacks — and then we let the rest of the world in on the plan as well.
Anyone and everyone could super-awesomify a backpack with flames, mustaches and more. And once we reached 1,000 super-awesomifications, we started the process of funding several Feeding America backpack programs. We picked the food banks closest to our Emma offices, so that means we got in touch with the organizations in Denver, CO; Nashville, TN; Victoria, TX; Spokane, WA; and Minola, NY (those last three are the ones closest to our offices in Austin, Portland and New York City).
We think this backpack program takes an innovative approach to a difficult problem, and we’re so pleased to be involved. If you’d like to learn more, click here to find a backpack program near you. And if you’d like to see some of those super-awesomified backpacks, you can view them online at myemma.com/backpack, hot pink embroidery and all.
Resources
Feeding America’s backpack program
More about Emma’s Giving Back program
“Southern Fried Design-a-thon” report
Two Emma designers were on hand to help a non-profit.
How 24 hours and two Emma designers helped reinvent a Nashville non-profit’s brand.
On July 24, both Jimmy Thorn and Elizabeth Williams, superstar Emma designers, stepped away from creating email templates and designs for Emma customers and took on a new design challenge.
The trick? This one came with a 24-hour crunch. They teamed with more than 30 other creatives at CoLab Nashville (and several rounds of 5-hour energy drinks) to create a new logo, marketing strategy, website, video package, brochure and social media presence for the Nashville non-profit YouthTurns, a program through Reconciliation Ministries. It’s a group that does tremendous work to serve and support kids whose parents are in prison.
Why do it?
Jimmy loved the challenge. A fresh project, a blank canvas and a zealous group of creatives collaborating. Some good fried chicken and unlimited drinks didn’t hurt either.
Elizabeth was a bit more skeptical. Social Media Club passed along the information, but with tons of deserving causes, why pick this one? But then she attended a meeting where a young boy walked in and tugged at her heart strings. He described his life with both parents in prison, and how Reconciliation Ministries provided a support structure that encouraged him to refuse the life that his parents had chosen for themselves. Today, he’s a college graduate.
How did it pan out?
The pressure was on. The brainstorming sessions began at 11 a.m. Saturday, when Jimmy and Elizabeth split off with a group of six to focus on the name and brand identity. After a brief fire alarm interruption at 5 a.m. and some Jimmy Hendrix breakthrough tunes, they were still going. They still had to finalize the new look of the website.
The whole Design-a-thon team huddled back Sunday morning. Amidst the yawns and snores were satisfied smiles and a sense of accomplishment. After $80,000 worth of donated support and service, this hometown non-profit had a new identity — YouthTurns — plus a communication strategy and hub for donors, mentors and deserving children to access information and contribute to the cause. They had a new, sophisticated logo and brand design. And a new site that entices donors and supporters to stay connected and keep contributing.
And remarkably, the hodgepodge of designers, coders and marketers established a brand with a plan in 24 hours, pushing their boundaries and stretching their creative limits. And now they can more effectively help improve young peoples’ lives, breaking the cycle of imprisonment. Not bad for one night’s wake.
Want to learn more?
You can find opportunities to donate, volunteer or get involved with YouthTurns online. Take a minute to get to know these guys and the fantastic work they’re doing.
GeekforGood.net, CoLab Nashville and Social Media Club Nashville collaborated to make this event happen, so keep an eye on those groups if you’re in the Nashville area and would like to join in next time.
You can also read more about how Emma gives back to our community and to causes we care about here.
What about you? Do you or your colleagues give back with your creative efforts? What’s been your experience?
Emma Joins Up with Hands On Nashville
On Saturday, a few of us Emma staffers joined up with 1,200 other volunteers as a part of Nashville’s largest day of community service, put together by Hands On Nashville. We couldn’t resist the opportunity to give back to the community *and* get to know one of our favorite local nonprofit clients.
Our team ventured to Cumberland Elementary for the morning, and our job was to cover the hallways (and ourselves) with paint. We felt like Rambo saving the day, if, um, Rambo ever decided to trade in his machine gun for a paintbrush. Here are Erin, Kim and Hilary showing off their painting skills.
But the most rewarding part came at the end of the day, when the school principal gave us big ol’ hugs and thanked everyone for their time and work. Coming together to help the community is such a great feeling, especially when you can see how it helps someone like the principal and all the students at Cumberland Elementary.
Big props to Hands On Nashville organizing an incredible day of giving back. If you’re in the Nashville area, you can learn more about getting involved by signing up for their (stylish!) email newsletter here.
[tags]Hands On Nashville, Nashville volunteer, myemma.com[/tags]
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