EILEEN FISHER’s clothing is designed with the intention of improving and simplifying life for women, and so are its community involvement programs.

As a medium-sized company, EILEEN FISHER has over 30 stores and revenues of $177 million in 2004. And it uses some of these resources to support two principle causes: women’s wellness and women’s empowerment. It does what it can to ensure that women receive good health and wellness care, achieve emotional, physical and spiritual balance, have help in standing up against violence, and have the tools to become financially independent.

The company has three different types of programs to support these causes. First, it gives grants. Grants range in size from $500 to over $20,000 for long-time partners; and grants support both nonprofits and for profits being run by women entrepreneurs. Second, it gives donations in kind. These are most often gift certificates for charity fundraisers given by stores to local nonprofits. Finally, EILEEN FISHER has in-store events twice a year with new product lines. Each store sponsors a local nonprofit for the day, donating a portion of sales from that day to the organization and allowing them to come to the store to market their organization to customers. The event often helps boost sales for that day as well, making it a mutually beneficial experience and helping ensure the sustainability of the partnership itself.

Interestingly, EILEEN FISHER does not participate in any cause-marketing with this wide range of programs, nor does it attempt to quantify the benefits of the programs. The company believes that this is inconsistent with the philosophy of giving. It doesn’t even designate an amount to be given away each year, choosing instead to evaluate grants and partnerships on a case by case basis.

This helps EILEEN FISHER ensure that it is giving to truly deserving programs, rather than striving to give out enough to meet its quota, or withholding money from truly deserving organizations because it has reached its quota. That being said, the company does admit that social responsibility helps boost customer satisfaction when customers learn about programs, and helps the company recruit and retain employees.

EILEEN FISHER has put in place a relatively comprehensive and centralized structure in order to carry out these programs. First, the company has a Director of Social Consciousness, Amy Hall. Hall has four main responsibilities in supporting this involvement strategy: community partnerships, supply chain overview to ensure human rights are upheld in production, wellness programs, and environment programs.

In order to make sure that the company is choosing programs that are consistent with its philosophy of giving, Hall also oversees an employee committee to approve grants. Hall has three main suggestions for any company starting an employee committee: 1) have tangible guidelines 2) set a schedule, and 3) have employees from all divisions (finance, marketing, etc). These three simple rules have changed the committee from a ‘free for all’ to an efficient approval mechanism by providing a framework for members. The guidelines for approval also help dealing with one of the principle challenges the company has in working with nonprofits: a lack of clarity in goals and future plans. By having strict application guidelines, nonprofits have clear guidance on how exactly to frame their future plans for EILEEN FISHER.

The company also makes good use of social education networks available to it. In starting up programs, Hall contacted many people in the BSR (Business for Social Responsibility) network to seek guidance. She is also a member of various local organizations designed to link people supporting certain causes with organizations seeking grants. By utilizing these networks Hall helps to ensure that they are ‘not just writing a check, but rather creating relationships with greater depth.’

By Louise Doyle Based on interview with Amy Hall, Social Consciousness Director at EILEEN FISHER, conducted by Susan Hyatt.

More information on EILEEN FISHER can be found at: http://www.eileenfisher.com/