Crate & Barrel Partnership with DonorsChoose.org Receives Award

Furniture World Magazine

Crate and Barrel and DonorsChoose.org received the Cause Marketing Forum’s Silver Halo Award, America’s highest honor for companies that “do well by doing good” through joint projects that are both profitable and promote social causes. Since 2006, Crate and Barrel and its customers have given more than $700,000 to public school classrooms through a unique Giving Card program created by DonorsChoose.org. DonorsChoose.org is a nonprofit organization that enables individual donors to fund specific classroom projects submitted by public school teachers online. Crate and Barrel distributed more than 128,000 DonorsChoose.org Giving Cards to its customers as a ‘thank-you’ for their business—and those Giving Cards were redeemed online at DonorsChoose.org to help more than 400,000 students. Research following the campaign found that Crate and Barrel customers not only saw the company as more “community-minded” but spent more at Crate and Barrel following the DonorsChoose.org Giving Card experience. “The positive responses from our customers have been tremendous, and we are excited to continue our partnership with Donorschoose.org,” says Crate and Barrel CEO Barbara Turf. Crate and Barrel will continue its partnership support in 2008. “The Cause Marketing Halo Awards demonstrate the good that can be done when businesses and nonprofits team up,” said David Hessekiel, president of Cause Marketing Forum, Inc., the program’s organizer. “It’s a competition in which we all win.” “In 1990 cause marketing spending was $120 million—this year it is forecast to reach $1.5 billion thanks to dynamic programs like DonorsChoose.org Giving Cards,” said Hessekiel. About Crate and Barrel: Crate and Barrel was born from an idea that newlyweds Gordon and Carole Segal had while washing and drying their dishes in the early 60's—"there must be other young couples like themselves with more taste than money." They decided to open a store, and running out of money for fixtures, turned over the crates and barrels that their newly imported merchandise was shipped in—and thus was born a retail phenomenon. Now, 46 years and more than 160 stores later, Crate and Barrel has set the standards for value, design and customer service. Barbara Turf is the CEO of Crate and Barrel, succeeding co-founder and CEO, Gordon Segal. Prior to becoming President of Crate and Barrel, Ms. Turf held the post of Executive Vice President of Merchandising and Marketing for many years, maintaining responsibility for all aspects of product selection and branding. About DonorsChoose.org: Founded in 2000 by a young teacher at a Bronx high school, DonorsChoose.org has been recognized as “America’s most innovative charity” by the Stanford Business School and Amazon.com. DonorsChoose.org is a non-partisan organization and does not endorse any political candidates, nor make contributions to any political campaigns. Since inception, over 41,000 public school teachers across the U.S. have used the site to secure funding for $20.5 million in books, art supplies, technology, and other resources that their students need for learning. Any individual can give to classroom projects at www.DonorsChoose.org.