elephant communications investing in the community from beginning to end of 2013

This Christmas, elephant communications have decided to forgo the tradition of designing and sending out Christmas cards and instead spend the money on buying presents for the children of Great Ormond’s street hospital.

An intrinsic part of the elephant business model is its community investment programme that runs alongside their client work - investing time, money and skills into the community to deliver an authentic and meaningful social footprint.

Each year elephant donates 5% of its profits to causes the team believes in. This year the team has bought an elephant parade statue from the Elephant Parade national tour presented by intu. The funds support the work of the Asian Elephant Foundation and their work on Asian elephant conservation. ‘Triumphator’ an elephant design by Sophie Coryndon is currently touring the UK with intu, owner of some of the best shopping centres in the UK, meaning the investment is raising awareness as well as funds.

The elephant team has made a further donation to support the community outreach programme of the Philharmonia Orchestra, based at the Royal Festival Hall.

The team has also invested 150 hours this year to providing pro bono help to small business start-ups. With growth key to the economy and elephant research suggesting small businesses often fail to make full use of marketing and PR in growing their ventures, elephant has met more than 30 small business owners to give them tips on how they can promote their businesses.

Sharing its research work, the team has also been invited to give talks at a number of universities during 2013 and has launched several competitions offering internships to students interested in a career in PR.

2013 has been a milestone year for elephant, the team has doubled in size and the consultancy has worked on a range of prestigious UK and international briefs. The community investment programme has also been an important part of elephant’s year. Giving something back is part of the consultancy’s ethos and gives the business a soul it is proud of.