Giving Back: Why and How CE Works with Nonprofits
Giving Back: Why and How CE Works with Nonprofits
This time of year, the spirit of giving takes centerstage — between its namesake feast we celebrated last week, to a pervasive (and rather persuasive) atmosphere of gifting and donating that settles over the last few weeks of the year. The reality is though, that most of us don't wait for any certain season to get involved in giving back.
Cultivated Entertainment was built around a business model that balances many different types of clients — there are projects we do that are long-term and highly involved, projects that come on and get completed lightning quick, projects that we just can't wait to post on all our social channels, and projects that (for privacy reasons) no one outside the company will know about. But, among all of these, we have always maintained nonprofits and charities as clients. We work with organizations on a global, national, regional, and local scale, using our abilities as talent bookers to make an impact. As individuals, we deeply believe in their causes and feel incredibly fulfilled by getting involved in a unique way.
One of our deepest relationships as a company is with Stand Up To Cancer, an organization that raises funds for cancer research through online and televised promotions. This past summer, we helped book and coordinate their bi-annual telecast, bringing in film and TV stars to host the gala and fundraiser. This is the second telecast we've collaborated on with SU2C, but just a small part of the overall work we do with them. There is almost no one unaffected by the impact of cancer, and our team is no exception. It is incredibly rewarding to know that we are helping SU2C fulfill their mission, raise funds, and fuel research in ways not many people can.
At this point you may be wondering just how talent booking helps. A while ago, we discussed the power of aligning a brand with talent, and for nonprofits and charities, the model is very similar. SU2C is a unique case, as their business model is designed around celebrity engagement. For them, we strategize for each activation and use our outreach and connections to make them come to life. However, for some of the smaller or more regional organizations, having talent as the face of their cause opens them up to exponentially more exposure. We've been working this year with My Friend's Place, who are local to Los Angeles and focus on providing resources for youth experiencing homelessness, especially within the LGBTQIA+ community. Being partially based in Los Angeles, it is important to us to be able to get involved with and give back to our own city. In just the past few months, we've brought in talent to host workshops and programs for the youth, as well as aligned stars with broad reach and fanbases to help raise awareness for them. Just last week, My Friend's Place was able to post a video recorded by Jack Black sharing information about their cause.
Another model that is similar to My Friend's Place is that of Concerted, a program that aims to revolutionize and egalitize the concert-going experience by having tickets that can be earned through volunteer work. As a phenomenal concept that is working on gaining traction and getting a hold with mainstream artists, the connections we helped them make to touring artists performing the cities they're operating out from will be beneficial in opening up more similar opportunities as they grow.
There are so many different ways that bringing talent to nonprofits and charities can assist with their missions, but there are also many ways in which it assists us as people and as a company in moving through and putting action behind our societal grief and wishes for the world. When the US was experiencing a particularly steep wave of anti-AAPI sentiment a few years ago, the outrage, fear, and sadness of an entire community was put in the spotlight for the first time in too long of a time. We partnered with The Asian American Foundation to bring talent to their cause, but that impact was felt deeply within the walls of CE. One of our team members, a Japanese-American, felt not only supported at that time, but galvanized. She was inspired to add her Japanese last name into her signature and integrate it more openly in how she conducted business, claiming and owning her identity with pride. To experience this alongside her and the entire AAPI community was profound and meant so much to us.
For the reasons we touched on above, many more we don't have room to fit, and an untold amount we can't wait to continue discovering, it is so pivotal to Cultivated Entertainment as a company to always be involved with giving back. It's not only through our work — we donate a percentage of all purchases made on the site to NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. We will always center ourselves and our company mission on what we believe in. We encourage nonprofits of all scopes and missions to reach out to us if they are interested in seeing if talent can provide impact for their cause. We can't wait to keep making waves!