Attention Brands: The Time for Thoughts & Prayers Is Past

Right now, business, non-profit entity and volunteer organization leaders are struggling – like all of us – to make sense of the murder of George Floyd, the protests and the resulting unrest. They are also trying to figure out how to respond. Some are handling it better than others.

What has emerged in the last day or so is what I talked about in my June 2 video message to such organizations on this issue – words without purposeful action are simply not enough. The days of expressing outrage, support or thoughts and prayers without doing something about the situation are behind us. If organizations wade into issues of systemic racism, social equality, social justice and the many other societal ills wrapped up in this moment we find ourselves in, their actions must speak louder than their words. Anything less is an abject failure.

Accordingly, our public relations agency is advising clients making public statements to first evaluate the situation in the following way:

1. Does your public statement align with your organization’s core values or mission?
2. Are you making a meaningful, purposeful contribution to the national or local dialogue?
3. What clear action are you taking to contribute in some way to addressing, in whole or in part, the issues at the center of this national crisis?
4. Does it make sense for the media to turn to you for a perspective?

I believe if you aren’t part of the solution, you’re likely — at a minimum — contributing in some small way to the problem. However, this doesn’t mean you have to save the world in a single tweet or take on the issue of resolving societal problems in one overwhelming effort. There is so much purposeful action your company, your non-profit or your member-driven association can take that can begin and contribute to all that must come next in this country.

Here are a few thought starters we recommend for your leadership, your employees and your volunteers to consider as you look for ways to make a meaningful contribution in these unusual times:

• Call on your employees, and your senior leadership, to volunteer at inner-city youth organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and others
• Start or support a GoFundMe campaign for racial and social justice groups
• Ask your members to volunteer to go into cities like Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Atlanta or others to help clean up the streets
• Establish a scholarship fund for disadvantaged youth
• Start a mentorship program within your organization that specifically works to provide opportunity to disadvantaged youth
• Launch a letter-writing campaign to state and federal officials to insist that they take meaningful action to address issues like racism, poverty and justice reform
• Encourage volunteerism with organizations that serve underserved communities
• Start a dialogue in your organization or in your communities about issues of inequity, racism, disenfranchisement and unconscious bias

I was recently reacquainted with a quote from Benjamin Franklin, thanks to an outstanding article in Law.com by Bryan Parker that reads: "Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are." This is as true for public entities as it is for individuals, but I would add that justice will not follow unless that outrage is accompanied by meaningful action.

It’s also important to keep top of mind: those affected by current events are not merely some faceless other. Your employees, those within your membership, your vendors – maybe even some among your leadership – are men and women of color. They are experiencing this moment much more intensely than those of us who experience it only through the news or anecdotes shared over Zoom calls. Leaders have an obligation to remember this important fact, they have to listen to understand better, and they have to act accordingly.

Otherwise it is all just thoughts and prayers, and frankly, we’ve had too much of that for far too long.