Share Our Strength supports nationwide food assistance and education programs and each year mobilizes thousands of individuals to organize events, host dinners, teach cooking and nutrition classes and serve as anti-hunger advocates. In an effort to sustain these activities, the organization maintains a strong commitment to creating community wealth – resources generated through profitable enterprise, such as cause-related marketing partnerships – to promote social change.

In 2000, Tyson, in coordination with its public relations firm, launched a search for a national cause-marketing partner to focus its hunger relief activities around its 65th anniversary. After reviewing applications from numerous nonprofit organizations, Tyson chose Share Our Strength. The company was attracted to the organization not only for its diligent work in meeting critical demands for food relief but also for its investment in long-term solutions to hunger and poverty. For Tyson, the partnership brought a focused strategy to the charitable outreach the company had been providing for years and reinforced its position as a food industry leader. Similarly, for Share Our Strength, it was an opportunity to strengthen and expand its ongoing anti-hunger activities as well as pursue its community wealth strategy.

• National sponsorship of Operation Frontline, Share Our Strength’s nutrition education program taught by volunteers in 90 communities nationwide;
  
  
• Six and a half million pounds of product donations to local food distribution agencies across the country;
  
  
• Tyson team member volunteer programs at each of Tyson’s 80-plus facilities, in which employees hold food drives and fundraisers to support the partnership and volunteer to teach Operation Frontline classes, including in-class food safety demonstrations; and
  
  
• Advertising and marketing support in the form of promotional mention in Tyson’s advertising campaign, “Tyson. It’s what your family deserves.”

Moving forward, Tyson’s retail and food service divisions and Share Our Strength plan to launch cause-marketing initiatives that will raise additional funds for the partnership.

Tyson and Share Our Strength have been able to leverage the power of technology to advance these partnership goals. Share Our Strength secured an in-kind contribution of a web-based donation program that enables the two partners to move poultry efficiently to the local agencies where it is needed. As soon as a Tyson facility has product available, the company enters the quantity and location into the web-based program, which then transfers the information in real time to Share Our Strength. Share Our Strength directs the product to a nearby and suitable agency.

• More than 8.6 million pounds of chicken and other product had been provided to more than 250 hunger-relief organizations worldwide.
  
  
• The sponsorship had enabled the Operation Frontline program to expand into five new markets: Chicago, St. Louis, Houston, Manchester, N.H., and Elmira, N.Y.
  
  
• Tyson had increased awareness of the role of nutrition education in fighting hunger through a “traveling road show,” which encouraged participation in Operation Frontline.

Fit: According to Byck, a critical success factor for this partnership as well as others is relevance. Tyson’s business and Share Our Strength’s mission are complimentary, thus the partnership resonates with all stakeholders involved.

Employee Buy-in: By providing opportunities for Tyson employees to become involved with the partnership, the organizations increase buy-in at all levels. The more commitment that exists throughout an organization, the greater the chance that the partnership will continue beyond the tenure of the few key people who championed it.

Integration: By integrating various components into the partnership agreement, Tyson and Share Our Strength have been able to create value for both mission and business purposes as well as to develop what is sure to be a long-lasting relationship.

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Last updated: December 2001