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June Newsletter 2022

Corporate social responsibility messages

LEAD STORY

The Reasons Behind Corporate Social Responsibility Messaging

by Douglas Spencer

It’s June so that means it’s LGBTQ+ Pride month. Cue corporations to layer rainbows on their logos and hand out rainbow-colored this, that, or the other thing at parades across the country. This support is relatively new and is a welcome contrast to the decades of, at best, indifference and, at worst, persecution.

“Other times, it's really the brand marketing equivalent of a racist saying, 'I'm not racist. Many of my best friends are Black!'”

Corporate social responsibility messages are not unique to LGBTQ+ equality. From Pride to Breast Cancer Awareness and Black History Month, there are plenty of corporate social responsibility messages out there at any given time. From my perspective, there are five main motivations for corporate social responsibility and the messages that promote it:

  • Build the Corporate Brand. Organizations like to demonstrate their corporate social responsibility through messages of support or education. According to the Digital Marketing Institute, many companies—such as Ford Motor Company and Wells Fargo—are going all-in on supporting social causes and reaping rewards.

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month

As mentioned above, June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. It’s an important opportunity for members of the community to come together, rejuvenate, and been seen as well as heard.

Pride launched in June of 1970 in New York City, one year after the pivotal Stonewall Riots. Today’s Pride events tend to have a more celebratory tone than those in the beginning, which were focused far more on defiance, demonstration, and demands for equality. Of course, those still exist as LGBTQ+ communities continue to experience vilification and marginalization. Here are just a couple of reasons why observing Pride months is important:

Visibility. Equality cannot happen without visibility. Misconceptions and misinformation tend to disintegrate when applied to someone in your own life instead of nameless others.

WEBINAR RECORDING AVAILABLE FOR FREE

How to Tell if Your Message is Failing You

In conjunction with Top Nonprofits, Spencer Brenneman President Douglas Spencer recently led a webinar, “Your Message, Your Fundraising, and More.” If you missed it, no problem! A recording of the webinar is available on YouTube free of charge.

If you have questions, or want to download the worksheet and presentation, visit here.

MISSION DRIVERS
Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce

In this recurring feature of Focal Point, we profile people and organizations on a mission! If you have someone to suggest, let us know! This month, in honor of PRIDE, we’re featuring our client, the Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce

The Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce cultivates inclusive relationships between LGBT-owned businesses and the corporate sector to drive economic impact throughout the Commonwealth. They do that by:

  • Fostering meaningful relationships amongst and between member businesses and corporate partners;
  • Supporting their members and corporate partners in their goals for improvement; and
  • Championing the innovative practices that ensure LGBT inclusion in our marketplace and their contributions to driving growth throughout the Commonwealth.

For more information, visit https://malgbtcc.org/.

MESSAGING ON A MISSION

Listen Up: New Episodes Available!

Check out our two episodes of Messaging on a Mission from May! From grassroots messaging to the tech behind targeting, there’s a lot of good information waiting for you!

If you or your organization have a story to share about how your message impacts your work, don’t be shy! Let us know! We’re always looking for new guests.

Well Said

“When we speak, we are afraid our words will not be heard nor welcomed, but when we are silent we are still afraid, so it is better to speak.”

— Audre Lorde

Audre Lorde was an American writer, feminist, womanist, librarian, and civil rights activist. She was a self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,” who “dedicated both her life and her creative talent to confronting and addressing injustices of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia.” As a poet, she is best known for technical mastery and emotional expression, as well as her poems that express anger and outrage at civil and social injustices she observed throughout her life.

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