CSR Business Programs of Target and Chevrolet in Canada

Being a Canadian call centre that considers its CSR business values in its every business decision, we are only too happy to promote the initiatives of like-minded Canadian companies. We have featured many here in recent posts on Bell’s Let’s Talk Day, TD Bank Group’s latest CSR program results and my beloved Toronto Blue Jays winning the MLB award for their work through the Jays Care Foundation. I have also written about the many reports and lists that rank Canadian companies in various CSR-related capacities like the 50 Best Corporate Citizens in Canada 2012, the 30 Top Green Organizations in Canada According to Employee Engagement, the 55 Greenest Canadian Employers 2012, the 50 Top Diversity Employers in Canada 2012, the Top 50 Canadian CSR Business List, Canada’s Top Employers for 2013,  the top 10 Canadian boards according to gender representation and the Top Canadian Boards According to Visible Minority and Aboriginal Representation.

What all this attention highlights is that CSR business initiatives have become a very mainstream issue and they can have an impact on how a brand is perceived and the consumer’s response to that brand. Today I am highlighting two major brands giving back through creative CSR programs – Target Canada and Chevrolet.

Target Canada

As you may have heard, American retail giant Target has come to Canada. The retailer has a long history of philanthropic projects in the US and will be continuing that tradition in Canada by the looks of it. In February 2012, Target opened a pop-up store that featured the designs of celebrated Canadian designer Jason Wu and pledged an “amount equal to 100 percent of the sales from” the venture to the United Way Toronto. Additionally in December 2012, Target held Give With Target where “visitors to the Target Canada Facebook page helped [the big box corporation] allocate a $1 million donation by voting for their choice of one of six Canadian nonprofit organizations through [their] popular Give with Target Canada app.” The organizations participating in Give With Target were: ArtsSmarts, ArtStarts, YMCA in Canada, Food Banks Canada, First Book Canada and Pathways to Education. These types of initiatives are a great way to generate good will towards your brand to a new market. Target recently opened the first three of their twenty-four Ontario locations and we look forward to featuring more Canadian inspired CSR initiatives in the months and years to come.

Chevrolet

Chevrolet is another company making CSR strides through their much publicized hockey helmet program Chevrolet Safe & Fun Hockey. The program gives free Bauer helmets to children starting out playing Canada’s favourite pastime. The program for the coming season will be open until April 30th. The criteria for being a part of the program are quite simple “each eligible child is entitled to receive (1) one helmet. To be eligible, your child must have been born in 2007 and be registered to play minor hockey in Canada.” The reason the program is for this age group is because that is when most children play the sport for the first time and Chevrolet wants to help make this experience both positive and safe.

Here’s hoping that other Canadian business leaders follow suit and find creative ways to give back to communities they serve. We will gladly continue to applaud such inspiring and successful efforts like the ones made by Target and Chevrolet.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.