How we help

We help in one of three ways: 

Workwear Group

In 2021 Workwear Group – who expertly create uniform and workwear solutions for a wide range of industry and government customers - engaged Cavill + Co to find their flagship cause partner. Working through the HeartSmart® process we identified the best fit cause area ‘helping vulnerable Australians to work’ and then set about finding the perfect partner. In December a partner was secured and Workwear Group proudly announced a 3-year partnership with The Big Issue, together Supporting Meaningful Work for All.

al.ive Body 

In 2019 design duo Alysa & Lysandra Fraser (of The Block fame) approached Cavill + Co as they were close to launching a high end range of bathroom products - as pure as they were beautiful.  The name was al.ive Body. Knowing their millennial audience well, and having a personal commitment to giving back to the planet, they wanted the al.ive Body range to support an environmental charity.

Working to a tight deadline, Cavill + Co identified and researched several charities and al.ive Body partnered with One Tree Planted, to seed a forest of trees in Australia.  Cavill + Co advised around legalities, logos, language and congruence between product and cause. We also helped developed some positioning statements for the launch.

As of May 2021, al.ive Body and their customers have funded the planting of 40,000 trees. Through the duo’s incredible digital reach and influence, they’ve also raised awareness of environmental issues and the simple act of tree planting.

Zinfra 

In 2018 Zinfra, a leading engineering, construction and energy company, enlisted Cavill + Co to redefine their CSR focus and then secure the perfect charity partner to focus their community investment (money, expertise and staff volunteering).

Working through our Framework process we helped Zinfra to create a new CSR platform with guiding principles and identify a cause that aligned to stakeholder expectation, brand personality, business focus, company values, geographic scope, staff aspiration and more.  Having identified the cause as  ‘infrastructure in a crisis’ we then set about seeking the perfect cause partner utilising our HeartSmart® process.

In 2019 they forged a partnership with Kids Under Cover, who prevent youth homelessness by providing studio accommodation in family backyards, plus other support services.  In the early months of the partnership Zinfra helped transport ‘cubby houses’ to the Kids Under Cover Cubby House Challenge at the International Flower Show. Numerous staff volunteered over the 3-day event, which boosted engagement and motivation.

Vodafone Foundation

 In 2014 Cavill + Co was engaged by Vodafone Foundation to help re-focus the Foundation’s activities. Working through our Framework process, a new platform was established: ‘to harness the power of mobile technology to create a healthier Australia’. Foundation activities were reshaped and it identified a gap for a new partner. Working through our HeartSmart® process, over 55 non-profits responded to the tender and ultimately Hello Sunday Morning was chosen for a 3-year partnership.

Hello Sunday Morning is a young, dynamic web-driven non-profit that is changing Australia’s relationship to alcohol. To continue their rapid growth & enhance their impact, they needed to get their award-winning web program into the hands of young people – and that meant a smartphone app.

Vodafone Foundation committed more than $300,000 over 3 years to support the development of Hello Sunday Morning’s technology, including a new Smartphone app, called Daybreak.

In the first few months of the partnership, the app was featured as best new app in the App Store, with over 10,000 downloads and Hello Sunday Morning’s online sign-ups doubled to 50,000. The cause and app deeply resonated with Vodafone’s young team members who embraced the cause by signing up, volunteering at Hello Sunday Morning events, donating and posting regularly on social media.

The partnership with Hello Sunday Morning was renewed for a further four years until Vodafone became TPG Telecom and a new purpose was introduced for the Foundation.

In 2019 it was reported that the Daybreak app delivered tangible economic benefit by improving work productivity and reducing household expenditure – with an estimated 149% ROI.  More info can be found here.

SEEK

In 1999 Cavill + Co was approached by SEEK – back then a digital start up looking to shake up the print media employment industry.  Now, of course, they’re a global leader in the online employment space. Back then, SEEK were looking for a cause partnership that would make systemic change, enhance the Seek brand, utilise staff expertise and motivate their mostly young team members.

Our research identified ‘volunteering’ as a good cause because

i) it was a good fit with the brand

ii) the upcoming year – 2000 – was the UN International year of volunteering, and

iii) the volunteering sector in Australia was rather antiquated – with volunteer opportunities managed manually. 

Working through our HeartSmart® process, we found the perfect partner in Volunteering Australia, who had been wanting to create an on-line volunteering portal to provide a fast and efficient way for Gen Y to contribute their skills to society –but didn’t have the expertise or the cash to do it.

Volunteering Australia had been in discussion with Boston Consulting Group, who had developed a feasibility study, who then came on board as a 3^rd and critical partner, to manage the daunting task of launching a new website matching consumers to charities.

In late 2000, in time for the International year of Volunteer in 2001, SEEK Volunteer was launched.

We’re especially proud of this partnership because it has truly changed the profile of a typical volunteer in Australia from retirees to young people.  The partnership is now in its 24^th year, and in 2003 the partnership was honored with a Prime Minister’s award and was a finalist in the Financial Review Sponsorship awards 2004. In 2013 advertising agency Leo Burnett won an Epica award for its 2012 campaign ‘volunteer to promote volunteering’.

The partnership enhances SEEK’s commitment to technology, innovation and matching and has more than exceeded all their commercial objectives and social aspirations.

SEEK Volunteer has truly changed the face of volunteering in Australia.

Dan Murphy's

In 2008 Dan Murphy’s asked Cavill + Co to find them a cause partner that would inspire their mostly millennial team members.  Utilising the HeartSmart® process we found the perfect partner in Coastcare, who protect coastal and marine environments.  As a volunteer-driven organisation Coastcare benefited from an injection of passionate volunteers as well as exposure, education and fundraising through Dan Murphy’s stores across Australia.  In the second year of the partnership, Dan Murphy’s created a cleanskin wine with funds going to Coastcare – adding to the $300,000 already committed by the retailer.

MLC Community Foundation

In 2008 MLC Community Foundation engaged us to seek out and secure a flagship cause partner. Utilising our HeartSmart® process, we partnered them with Lifeline Australia. Investing $3.15m over 7 years the partnership expanded and enhanced a new service ‘Lifeline Online Support Chat’.  This enabled Australians to seek help online as well as over the phone, which proved to be invaluable for remote and rural Australians and women experiencing domestic violence. The partnership fulfilled the MLC Foundation’s charter to enrich the lives of Australians and support the work of employees. In 2013 the MLC Community Foundation refocused exclusively on mental health. In 2014 MLC Community Foundation won a social impact award from SIMNA (Social Impact Measurement Network Australia).  In 2014, Lifeline’s Online Crisis Support Chat saw a 43% reduction in self-harm and suicidality, a 27% increase in belonging and a 21% reduction in call out (ambulance/police) services.

IAG Foundation

In 2016, IAG Foundation asked for Cavill + Co’s help to refocus the Foundation’s philanthropic activity and create a new evaluation tool to enable team members to quickly assess future opportunities/proposals arriving at the Foundation’s door.

Working through our Framework process, we analysed and refined the IAG and Foundation purpose (community resilience), their brand spirit (Closer, Braver, Faster) and culture. We conducted external research to identify current community concerns and desires. All of these became our Guiding Influences for the Foundation.

In keeping with their brand spirit – Brave - IAG were willing to tackle the tough issues. The IAG brand purpose was about ‘making the world safer’, yet IAG had to avoid investing in anything that could be seen to reduce insurance claims (as a Philanthropic Foundation it was essential there was no commercial agenda). We landed on ‘mental wellness and resilience’, ‘job readiness’ and ‘health & wellness’ as the top 3 priority cause areas. 

Using the ‘Guiding Influences’ above, we created a set of criteria that became an efficient evaluation tool.  Existing cause partnerships were assessed and those not aligned were exited (kindly and respectfully). IAG commissioned Cavill + Co to provide skills and training to one of the partners that were let go. Long-term existing partner Lifeline Australia was retained as it met the new Foundation purpose and criteria – new mental health tools & workshops were created with the additional investment to Lifeline.

Cavill + Co created an infographic detailing the evaluation elements, acting as a reference for all employees and Board members when approached by charities. A snippet can be seen below.

In addition to the Foundation, IAG continues to support Lifeline to this day. IAG’s insurance business NRMA joined forces with RACV in 2020 to provide $2m to Lifeline. 

CUA

In 2007 CUA (now Great Southern Bank) engaged Cavill + Co to secure a flagship cause partnership as part of the bank’s new brand positioning ‘a change for the better’ (the message being that moving to a member-owned bank was a good change).  Stakeholder analysis identified the preferred cause to be ‘wellbeing’ and further market research revealed that ‘financial concerns’ was one of biggest contributing factors to stress, ill-health, relationship & family breakdown. With the cause area refined to ‘adult financial literacy’, we utilised our HeartSmart® process to seek out and secure the perfect cause partner - Relationships Australia.  Together they built some new valuable resources to arm Australians with the life skills to affect positive change. This included the annual ‘Relationships Indicators Survey’.

In 2009 and 2010 CUA won an Australian Business Award for Community Contribution.

Savings & Loans Credit Union 

(now People’s Choice credit union)

In 1999 Cavill + Co was working with the Women’s & Children’s Hospital to embed a corporate partnerships strategy as part of a major redevelopment, when we received a phone call from Savings & Loans – South Australia’s oldest credit union. 

Savings & Loans were about to launch a new credit card into a saturated market, and considered aligning with a cause to provide a vital point of difference. Cavill + Co were actively involved in creating and leveraging the partnership that engaged South Australians in a project like never before.

At the outset, Savings & Loans wanted to make a significant commitment. They set a target of generating over $1m over 5 years through credit card sales. The Hospital asked for Savings & Loans to help to raise awareness and communicate the urgent need for donations – because there was a perception in the marketplace that the Hospital was 100% government funded (the redevelopment was only partially funded).

The Visa card was designed featuring a beautiful and emotive mother & baby image, launched and supported by TV, print & outdoor advertising and instore merchandise – banners and flyers. Significant publicity was gained (7.30 Report, morning shows) thanks, in part, to this type of partnership being so innovative (at the time) and having such great talent in S&L brand manager Stephanie Morrison. The Hospital also promoted the card at major entrances. Every staff member – in branches and offices – were briefed on the card’s benefits.  The $1m was raised 18 months early and Savings & Loans committed a further $1.5m bringing the total to $2.5m.

The partnership was so fruitful for both parties, that it endured for 9 years, ending when Savings & Loans became a national Credit Union and felt it appropriate to fund projects Australia-wide. A key element of what made it successful was the communication to cardholders through their monthly statement showing them how much they had raised individually, as well as collectively.

Savings & Loans saw an increase in staff satisfaction (from 54% to 89%), gained 30,000 card holders, improved brand perception and staff morale and saw the Women’s & Children’s credit card become their most successful credit card of all time. All objectives were exceeded. In 2002 they were awarded a Prime Minister’s award for the partnership. In addition to the $2.5m direct contribution from Savings & Loans, donations to the Hospital increased by 200% (due to the extensive awareness generated by Savings & Loans).

Watch our case study video – it’s a little old (and daggy) but a great story.

Pfizer

In 1999 Pfizer asked Cavill + Co to find them a cause partner for their 150th anniversary celebrations in Australia.

Working through the HeartSmart® process, a shortlist of five non-profits tendered for the partnership (from 70 applicants). Royal Life Saving Society Australia (RLSSA), the nations’ leading water safety educator, was selected for a 3-year partnership, with a cash commitment of $130,000 pa.

RLSSA’s primary commitment was to reduce toddler drownings in the 0-5 age group. The key priorities were to increase community awareness of the cause of toddler drownings, educate parents on water safety and gain political support & increased funding from Federal & State governments.

Pfizer embraced this as their social objective, and their commercial objectives centered on demonstrating the Life is our Life’s work tagline (by tangibly saving lives), to show good corporate citizenship in the eyes of community & government and to engender team spirit & pride with staff volunteering.

The campaign was themed ‘Life 150’ to align with the 150^th anniversary, and a target was set to save 150 lives in 3 years. All activity focused on an existing program called ‘Keep Watch’. The media launch was attended by the Federal Minister for Sport & Tourism, and Marathon swimmer Susie Maroney (ambassador) & Sam Reilly, and was held at Parliament House Canberra.

The communications program included RLSSA community service announcements (CSA’s) branded with both Pfizer and RLSSA. Pfizer produced and distributed 350,000 brochures and posters to GP’s & pharmacies throughout Australia, as well as child-care centres, hospitals and swimming centres. A CD Rom was developed and distributed to 8,000 health nurses. An information cassette was placed in Bounty bags for new mums, and Mother & Baby and Parents magazines ran advertorials. Remember this was all before digital media!

The staff were involved by raising money for the RLSSA Appeal, distributing program materials to pharmacists & GPs and many did water safety & resuscitation training courses.

Compared to the previous 3 years, the community saw a 40% reduction in toddler drownings (from 61 a year to 35 a year). Still too many lives lost. Research confirmed that 85% of mums were aware of drowning prevention techniques. Federal government and 4 State governments increased their funding to the program thanks to Pfizer lobbying. For Pfizer all objectives were exceeded with positive feedback from staff, customers, government and the community.

The partnership was renewed for a further 3 years, and by year 5 the goal of saving 150 lives had been reached. The number of deaths per year continued to decline.

NewsCorp Australia

 In 2010, the digital arm of NewsCorp (then called News Digital Media) were supporting numerous charities through staff volunteering & fundraising, providing digital advertising at no cost as well as corporate donations. It was taking up a lot of time, with very little tangible impact. They wanted to distill their investment and effort into one cause, and one charity. Working through our HeartSmart® process, we identified the cause to be ‘mental health’ and in a competitive pitch process, Lifeline Australia were chosen as the partner for 3 years.  Part of Lifeline’s appeal was their plan to enhance and expand the new online counselling service ‘Lifeline Online Support Chat’ and there were lots of ways that NewsCorp could assist. The Online Chat was an important additional service to the existing helpline, because research identified that men – who were the most at risk of suicide – were more likely to reach out for help over email than pick up the telephone.  Lifeline’s existing partnership with MLC Foundation (brokered by us – see finance icon) had provided essential cash to build the platform, and it was perfect timing for Newscorp who went on to build a range of compelling digital assets to let Australians know that the service existed.

Many of Newscorp’s staff jumped on board providing their digital expertise as well as participating in Lifeline’s Stress Down Day event.  Over $2m of digital media space was provided in addition to staff fundraising efforts and valuable digital marketing expertise.  The level of engagement with the young digital team was unprecedented, and the Support Chat service proved to be invaluable, saving lives in the first few months.

Kmart

In 2016 Kmart asked Cavill + Co to help develop a new Sustainable Development Strategy for 2020. As a flourishing company, they felt that they could do more to help communities thrive, as well as inspire their people to become agents of change.

Working with our Framework process, we analysed the business drivers and influencers, challenges and risks, current strategies and programs relating to People, Planet & Profit.  Significant stakeholder research was conducted.  The resulting strategy aligned to the Kmart Vision, lived the Values, met team member & customer desires, expressed the brand character (optimistic), the UN Sustainable Goals (SDGs), and reflected the aspirations of the owner (Wesfarmers). The focus was shifted from helping those ‘in need’ (surviving) to helping people to thrive.

Many things came out of the collaborative process including a greater focus on young people (life skills) and the ‘Better Together’ platform which included initiatives for people and planet. New partnerships with leading youth charities The Reach Foundation, Headspace and Smiling Mind were forged (and the Graeme Dingle Foundation in NZ).

Since 2016 Kmart have contributed over $1m for causes that support young people.

al.ive Body 

In 2019 design duo Alysa & Lysandra Fraser (of The Block fame) approached Cavill + Co as they were close to launching a high end range of bathroom products - as pure as they were beautiful.  The name was al.ive Body. Knowing their millennial audience well, and having a personal commitment to giving back to the planet, they wanted the al.ive Body range to support an environmental charity.

Working to a tight deadline, Cavill + Co identified and researched several charities and al.ive Body partnered with One Tree Planted, to seed a forest of trees in Australia.  Cavill + Co advised around legalities, logos, language and congruence between product and cause. We also helped developed some positioning statements for the launch.

As of May 2021, al.ive Body and their customers have funded the planting of 40,000 trees. Through the duo’s incredible digital reach and influence, they’ve also raised awareness of environmental issues and the simple act of tree planting.

Workwear Group

In 2021 Workwear Group – who expertly create uniform and workwear solutions for a wide range of industry and government customers - engaged Cavill + Co to find their flagship cause partner. Working through the HeartSmart® process we identified the best fit cause area ‘helping vulnerable Australians to work’ and then set about finding the perfect partner. In December a partner was secured and Workwear Group proudly announced a 3-year partnership with The Big Issue, together Supporting Meaningful Work for All.

QANTAS

In 2003 Qantas came to us with a problem.  They had 20+ programs and activities relating to CSR & Doing Good, yet many were historical and not achieving any of Qantas’ current community objectives.  Through our Framework process and a series of stakeholder ‘Roo sessions’, we created a new community structure with strategically aligned objectives, drivers, priorities, criteria and measures, with an umbrella vision and strategy.  The cutting-edge framework enabled a robust assessment of all 20+ programs to identify which ones should remain, and it later became a company-wide evaluation tool for any external approaches for community support.

The new umbrella strategy was branded ‘Sharing the Spirit’ and comprised a handful of activities where Qantas could focus their money, energy and staff engagement.  It also aligned to Qantas’ recently-launched evolved brand platform. 

Contiki

In 2009 Contiki Holidays (owned by The Travel Company) wanted a flagship cause partner in part to help reverse negative brand perception and reposition the brand to a broader audience.  Research revealed that mental ill-health was a growing concern amongst Contiki’s target audience (young people) and so mental health was chosen as the cause area. Utilising the HeartSmart® process we secured a partnership with Inspire Foundation (now Reach Out) and together they built resources encouraging young people to check in and support mates.