Case Studies

Client: St. Vincent de Paul

Crisis management: SVdP Flat Rock Fire

Situation
The Society’s thrift store and donation center in Flat Rock was destroyed by a four-alarm fire late in the afternoon on December 1, 2006. The timing was unfortunate because December is one of the busiest months for donations and for giving assistance. The store primarily served the poor and working poor through referrals for clothing, furniture and household items and also offered people an affordable place to shop to stretch their dollar a little further during hard times. The fire displaced these resources that were critical to basic needs of families in the downriver area.

Strategy
We reacted fast to enact a crisis communications plan. The fire sparked an outpouring charitable will among people all over Southeast Michigan who wanted to donate items to replace those lost in the fire. Local TV stations WXYZ-TV Channel 7 and WDIV-TV Channel 4 were also eager to pitch in and help with a fundraising effort. First, we instructed the media to report that donations were being accepted at the Society’s 10 other thrift stores in Southeast Michigan. Within days, we partnered with WXYZ-TV Channel 7 to launch a 15-hour telethon that featured moving stories about people who depend on the Society, and took tens of thousands of donation calls. Additionally, we coordinated with WDIV-TV and assembled an arsenal of tractor-trucks at Oakland Mall in Troy that operated as a make-shift donation center.

Result
The Flat Rock Fund—as the fundraising effort came to be known in the days that followed the fire—raised $175,000 and filled 24 tractor-trailer trucks. The partnership we bridged between the Society and WXYZ-TV is a charitable alliance that continues to this day. Held each December, the St. Vincent de Paul/Channel 7 Telethon raises hundreds of thousands of dollars each year for the Society—making it one of the Society’s most lucrative fundraising efforts.