Charity Starts At Home ~ Secrets In Lace

By Ali Cudby

How to Successfully Partner with a Non-Profit

When your company is built on retro foundations – authentic nylon stockings and vintage lingerie, with matching garter belts for every bra and panty set – what speaks more closely to your brand’s “underpinnings” than the PinUp girl aesthetic?

Secrets in Lace, worldwide leader in the manufacture and sale of fully-fashioned stockings made the old fashioned way, has married the look of the PinUp girl with another timely icon – period Naval aviation imagery.  The company joined forces with PinUp & Aviation Photographer Mike Malak to create a 2013 calendar with proceeds going to the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization whose mission is to support injured service members and their families while raising awareness of the challenges they face as they return home.

Secrets in Lace President and CEO Dan Whitsett and his wife were both in the Navy before founding Secrets in Lace in 1984, so they were all too familiar with the important work of the Wounded Warrior Project.  “We are truly awed by the work that the Wounded Warrior Project does each year,” says Whitsett, “and are happy to support our troops and their families.”  Secrets in Lace’s 2012 calendar enabled the company to donate $10,000 to WWP, an amount they hope to duplicate with their 2013 offering.

Hearing about Secrets in Lace’s successful venture is meaningful – it’s always good to see companies do good work – and also represents the opportunity to learn from another company’s best practices.

Here are four key elements that any retailer can use to build a powerful partnership with a non-profit organization:

1)     Choose a Non Profit With Personal Meaning to You.  Talking about lives forever altered by combat injury, the importance of the cause is visible across Whitsett’s face.  Both SIL founders come from careers in the Navy, and their son is currently active – so everything about their chosen partner has deep personal meaning.

2)     Align Your Brand with Your Partner:  Your partnership should ideally lift both the partner and be woven seamlessly into your core brand.  One reason the Secrets in Lace partnership is so powerful is that everything about the campaign ties together.  The lingerie pairs perfectly with the vintage aviation imagery, which speaks to Whitsett’s background as a Naval pilot.  Wounded Warriors Project a natural tie-in.  Being able to sell the calendar through their mail-order business is another benefit to all parties.

3)     Ensure Longevity In Your Partner:  Whitsett made sure to partner with an organization that was well vetted.  The Wounded Warrior Project was founded in 2002 and gives a high percentage of donations directly to the veterans they serve.   When you work hard to build a partnership with an organization, you want to ensure they will be around as your company grows, and that they are doing the good work they promise to deliver.  Online tools such as CharityWatch and CharityNavigator can help you assess potential partners.

4)     Quantify Success: Secrets in Lace created a specific product and made a quantifiable commitment to themselves for their goals.  The benefit of this is two-fold – it enables you to a) track your progress, and b) know when you’re done for the year.  One reason small businesses fizzle out on their philanthropic ambitions is that they overshoot the mark in identifying a goal and then it weighs on them, dragging down both their business and morale.  Start small and build from success.  By clearly articulating your target, you’ll know exactly where to aim and for how long.