Chesapeake Energy gives local nonprofits celebrity exposure

The people of Oklahoma City are proud to cheer for their NBA team, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

But what if local nonprofit organizations could enjoy the same support professional basketball teams experience?

Chesapeake Energy Corporation wanted to find out. The organization, for its partnership with six Oklahoma City nonprofit organizations, earns first place in PR Daily’s 2013 Corporate Social Responsibility Awards for Best Corporate-Community Partnership.

Chesapeake’s goal was to bring the exposure of a professional basketball team to organizations that don’t often get the attention they deserve. The local organizations Chesapeake chose were: Big Brothers Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, Make-A-Wish, Boys & Girls Club, Girl Scouts, and The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.

The hub of the campaign was CheeringforChampions.com, a site that provided visitors with information about each organization and how to donate to them. Chesapeake’s in-house multimedia team produced TV spots and promotional behind-the-scenes videos about each organization, and even established a text-to-donate number for organizations that didn’t already have the functionality.

Additionally, the Oklahoma City Thunder hosted an ad for the organizations on its home page, and ran TV and radio spots during game broadcasts. These spots reached audiences in not only Oklahoma, but Arkansas and Kansas, as well.

But Chesapeake wanted to give the nonprofit organizations true celebrity exposure. The Chesapeake Energy Arena (the home of the Thunder) featured concourse signage, program ads, and scoreboard promotions so no one could leave the arena unaware of the organizations and how to support them. The Thunder even recognized representatives from each of the six nonprofit organizations during the third quarter of a home game, and explained how Oklahoma City residents could donate to or volunteer with them.

By the end of the campaign, CheeringforChampions.com saw more than 19,000 visits and 664 requests for volunteering information. The promotional videos garnered more than 200,000 views, and Facebook posts received more than 187,000 views.

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