Emma’s Philanthropy Style Fuels Company’s Culture While Building a Better World
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 19, 2011 — There are 53,000 more trees in the world today, thanks to email marketing company Emma.
Having passed the milestone of planting more than 50,000 trees, Emma recently announced that it is directing its considerable philanthropic efforts toward helping young minds.
“I work for a company that not only treats me well but also treats others well,” said Mary Claire Zibart, marketing coordinator for Emma. “We respect each other’s ideas and have lots of say about how we want to help Emma shine. The fact that every employee genuinely cares about helping others is what makes our office a dream work environment.”
Emma brings its customers into that culture by making a charitable donation every time a new customer comes on board. For the past four years, this meant planting five trees for every new customer by partnering with Plant It 2020, a worldwide tree-planting organization founded by singer John Denver.
From Growing Trees To Growing Minds
After planting what amounts to a small forest, Emma announced in September that it is now turning its philanthropic efforts to education, a switch driven by Emma’s employees.
“As Emma grew, education became a bigger topic with all of us. So we picked a new cause in September. We began donating $5 to DonorsChoose every time a new customer joins us,” said staffer Gina Nykerk, who is leading the transition.
DonorsChoose is an online charity that allows donors to contribute to educational needs that fall outside of a teacher’s typical classroom budget. Over the last three-and-a-half years, Emma has helped 17,936 students in 37 states through DonorsChoose. Now it will do even more for the organization.
“We will still be involved with Plant It 2020, but on a smaller scale. We’re excited about the switch and look forward to seeing the outcome of our work,” Nykerk said. “We enjoy the personal level of this charity – the kids send handwritten thank you notes from the classrooms, and that's always a huge hit around the office. Those definitely keep us on fire to do more each month.”
A Unique Style of Philanthropy
The Emma brand revolves around style, which is more than providing the stylish email designs that are the company’s hallmark. It means doing everything, including philanthropy, in a way that is uniquely Emma, never settling for the bland, the expected or the easy. Employees are introduced to Emma’s unexpected style of philanthropy on their first day on the job, when they are surprised with a $250 donation to the charity of their choice.
Emma re-enacts that experience every holiday season by handing out $250 checks on behalf of employees, who each pick a cause of their choice. In recent years, some staffers have teamed up to combine efforts (and money) to do larger good. Last year, for example, several staffers joined forces to give $2,700 to The Contributor, a Nashville newspaper written and sold by homeless and formerly homeless people as an alternative to panhandling.
“We’re motivated by our employee’s passions. We love the idea of small teams moving quickly on projects and initiatives that mean the most to them, whether that’s creating a new product or charitable giving,” said CEO Clint Smith.
Company-wide, Emma gives five percent of annual revenues to fund things that employees believe in. Staffers are given full control in deciding what organizations the company supports, which is a further nod to Emma’s entrepreneurial corporate culture of encouraging everyone to contribute to the company’s success.
“Knowing that we share the same values in giving back was one of the things that initially drew me to Emma,” said staffer Christy Montoya. “Our company culture has evolved from what Emma staffers are passionate about.”
Free Email Marketing Services For Good Causes
Emma goes beyond giving money and also gives its expertise through the “Emma 25” program, the Good Works Account for agency clients and an annual 24-Hour Design-a-thon. The Emma 25 program annually awards 25 charitable organizations with free email marketing and survey tools for the lifetime of the organization. Customers nominate causes (a new nomination period begins this October), and then Emma staffers choose the final 25. For agency clients, the Good Works Account is a free email account to use for the charity of their choice. It encourages agencies to make philanthropy a part of their culture, as it is at Emma. In the annual 24-Hour Design-a-thon, the Emma design team devotes an entire day one weekend to creating media kits and campaign materials for a non-profit client.
“Philanthropy is the heart and soul of Emma. It’s what they thrive on,” said Stephanie Silverman, managing director of Belcourt Theater, an Emma 25 recipient. “They are consistently generous in so many ways, whether it’s sponsoring travel to out-of-state conferences, meeting with us throughout the week to think of new ways they can help or sending volunteers to help out at events. It’s rare to find a business in which philanthropy is such an integral part of their business culture.”
Entrepreneurial Philanthropy
Not surprisingly, given the company’s culture, Emma’s ongoing, monthly philanthropic efforts help reward entrepreneurism and personal initiative through the Kiva organization. Kiva offers micro-loans to third-world entrepreneurs. Instead of giving flat donations, Emma makes small loans to business owners through Kiva, which nearly all get paid back in full, and allows Emma to grow the fund and help more entrepreneurs each month. They've helped more than 135 small businesses through this program.
The volunteer spirit also stays alive throughout the workweek, as employees are given time to volunteer with local groups and brainstorm ways to help others. At the Nashville office, every Wednesday around lunchtime is dedicated to delivering meals around the community for St. Luke’s Academy, two employees at a time. It’s a chance for staffers to buddy up and spend time giving back to a local cause.
Additional charitable organizations and other philanthropic efforts that Emma supports include:
- Ellie’s Run for Africa, a 5K fundraiser in Nashville that raises money for education in impoverished areas of Nairobi, Kenya. Emma sponsored this event and helped raise more than $49,000. A small group of staffers ran in the race, too.
- Bike to Jack and Back, a two-day bike ride from Nashville to Lynchburg that’s sponsored by Jack Daniels and benefits multiple sclerosis. Emma raised roughly $5,000 through a fun, company-wide auction and sent an entire team of riders and volunteers to the event.
- Hands On Nashville and Portland, a network that recruits, educates and coordinates volunteers for diverse community service project throughout Nashville and Portland. Emma staffers volunteer time to spruce up local schools.
- PDX11, a local Portland initiative that aims to put Portland on the map as the go-to place for software talent and investment opportunities. Emma has been heavily involved since the inaugural meeting of this innovative group.
- Halloween at St. Luke’s Academy, an opportunity for Emma staffers to scare the beheyhey out of kids at a community center’s Halloween carnival each year.
About Emma®
Emma is an email marketing service that helps small and midsize companies, non-profits and agencies market and communicate in style. Founded in 2003, Emma makes it easy to create attractive email campaigns and online surveys, send to large opt-in audiences and track the response in real time. Based in Nashville, with offices in Portland, Denver, Austin and New York, Emma’s 100+ employees serve more than 30,000 organizations worldwide. To learn more, please visit www.myemma.com.
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