JMU Students Learn the Value of Corporate Social Responsibility

Many corporations have jumped the bandwagon to begin in-house social responsibility (CSR) programs. What exactly is CSR? Simply stated, CSRs are company outreach programs that promote positive social and environmental changes with the intent to make a significant impact on communities.

Recently, student teams from Dr. Theresa Clarke’s Google Online Marketing Challenge class jumped head first into creating CSR projects of their own. 

For the seventh year in a row, these teams placed well in the challenge. In fact, one JMU team earned the highest possible honor in this worldwide marketing competition – Global Winner! In addition to this prestigious honor, four teams won in the “social impact” category. The teams were tasked with developing a Google Adwords strategy, on a very low budget, to help drive more traffic to their selected nonprofit’s website.

“AdWords Business Global” Co-Winners Ashleigh Rojanavongse, Rachel Lam, Lauren Hale, and Kaci Lassiter were also named the “Social Impact Award” 3rd Place Co-Winner due to their work with Richmond-based FETCH a Cure, a nonprofit designed to provide pet owners greater access to information about pet cancer, senior care, and treatment options. For the student’s efforts, Fetch was awarded $5,000.

Fetch a Cure Director of Development Robin Moncol, says, “We were very thrilled with the award. It has had a huge impact on our small organization. We got connected with the students through board member Brian Forrester, CEO of Dynamic Web Solutions. During a guest lecture, Forrester explained the organization and students were thrilled to learn about Fetch. Students then contacted Fetch. Moncol said the students were amazing to work with and that their talent, hard work, and effort truly made the difference in their organization.

Specifically, she states “The global awareness was outstanding; the three-week campaign increased traffic to our website outrageously. The social impact award funds will help families cover the cost of cancer treatments for their pets. The global awareness is helping people here in our community.”

James Carter, Monika Kelpsaite, Carly Calhoon, and Aly Wilkins were named “AdWords Business” Semi-Finalist & “Social Impact Award” 2nd Place Co-Winner, earning $10,000 for Cat's Cradle, a nonprofit organization in Harrisonburg, Va., that is dedicated to ensuring and maintaining a safe, compassionate community for cats. Cat’s Cradle was so thankful to JMU that on their homepage they posted their excitement: “Great News:  A team of JMU grads and undergrads teamed up this spring for the Google Online Marketing Challenge, won second place globally and $10,000 for our organization!!”

Rory Salzberger, Kelly Pollhammer, Melissa Kniceley, and Hannah Johnson were named “AdWords Business” Semi-Finalist & “Social Impact Award” 3rd Place Co-Winner, earning a $5,000 charitable donation for Shooting Touch, a Boston-based organization focused on harnessing the power of basketball to improve the lives of youth in the areas of health, education, and character globally.

Executive Director Lindsey Kittredge, says “It was amazing what the students did. I’m speaking as an executive who doesn’t have time for online research projects to drive people to our website. The student team looked at it from a bird’s eye view, from the outside, and they could see the organization from a different perspective.

“They were able to come in and see what was lacking. It was awesome. Their campaign is giving us exposure on upcoming events. We were pleased with the job; they were thorough and complete in their thought process. They determined how to leverage us in a different light. Their work made a difference in our organization; it provided a great starting point for us to move forward. We will incorporate Google analytics into our organization, and build on it. I give complete congratulations to JMU as a university in general for giving students the chance to engage in tasks that help communities; this focus on corporate social responsibility helps empower students to do great things.”

Jonny Thompson, Melissa Jackson, Samantha Huff, and Jordan Epler were named an “AdWords Social Impact” Finalist for their work with Still Meadows Enrichment Center and Camp in Linville, Va. This nonprofit camp is a special needs facility in a country setting that provides year-round therapeutic activities for children and adults with developmental and/or physical disabilities.

Kristen Lanier, former board member at the camp, says, “They were really helpful, very responsive, and very professional. They were great to work with, very flexible and helpful. We were pleased that they selected us and helped us. We appreciate their work and efforts.”

Clarke says, “Through the Challenge, our students brought significant marketing and financial contributions to worthy nonprofit organizations in our community.  They made a positive difference for their clients by furthering their online marketing programs and then collectively winning $20,000 in nonprofit support from Google.” 

Congratulations to Dr. Clarke and her trove of talented JMU Marketing students!

WANT TO HELP? If you are interested in becoming involved or in supporting future teams, please contact Department Chair Andy Wood, wood3ja@jmu.edu, 540-568-2332.  If you would like more information about Dr. Clarke’s Internet Marketing Practicum course, please visit http://theresabclarke.com/gomc.