Paul Newman, Mission-Based Marketing & Corporate Giving

I was very moved this past weekend after reading and watching the memorials and tributes to Paul Newman (1925-2008). I can’t tell you how many times I read or heard the word “class.” And it’s true: Paul Newman was a human being that got it right.

Among his many legacies was that of his Newman’s Own corp. and its pledge to donate 100% of its profits to charity—at the time, unprecedented for a major corporation—as well as his establishment of the Hole In The Wall Gang Camps for cancer-suffering or terminally-ill children. Here’s a Newman quote that exemplifies this life orientation: “I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out.”

Some further reading about his philanthropy and Newman’s Own got me thinking more about corporate giving and mission-based marketing. I worked nearly 14 years in a non-profit. And many of my good friends and colleagues still do. Often times I find the non-for-profit section humble to a fault—so humble that they won’t even promote themselves and their goals by using their own great stories, the legacies of their founders, and the impact of their customers’ (or clients’ or readers’) contributions upon the world. Do you believe in your work? Then leverage what you can. Everything you can. And do it boldly. Even Newman was hip to this: his exposed philosophy for Newman’s Own was "Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good." We need to be doing more than just telling our stories on some back page of our Website or on a brochure. Like Newman says, there’s no shame in it. Check out Newman’s Own current homepage and the wonderful video there, for starters. But there are many, many other non-Web-based ways to exploit your successes for a greater good.

Similarly, there are lessons here for the for-profit business as well. Corporate giving is more than something to be used to improve your company’s image. Even if a company can only give a small percentage, this can be another effective way to fulfill your company mission, thank your customers, and live out your brand—based on who you give to, when, and why. Businesses that are aware of and thoughtfully honor their social contracts create a win-win both for the health of their business and for the public. See the international forum Comittee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) for established standards for giving, trends, and further information or support; see also the annual Social Capitalist Awards, sponsored by Fast Company, and the Social Responsibility area of their website for more proof of this effective act of business leadership.

References: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/movies/28newman.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=Paul%20Newman%20Dies&st=cse&scp=1; http://www.newmansown.com/; http://www.givingstandard.com/index.html; and http://www.fastcompany.com/topics/social-responsibility