DirectTV and Corporate Citizenship

We all know what a good citizen is; they are someone who is mindful of others, provides help or compassionate assistance in what ever ways they can and who is generally well aware of their effect on the world around them.

So, how can a corporation be involved with citizenship? DirectTV Satellite TV can answer that question, since they have numerous programs and efforts aimed strictly at helping the world around them and improving the living conditions for both individuals and entire communities.

They have active programs in health, education, disaster relief and the environment, and through them the communities where their employees live and work, and in areas where their non-profit partners are focused, are greatly improved.

The “Focus on Health” initiatives include the “Fast Forward to a Cure” program that raises funds through charitable walks and runs performed by DirectTV employees, and their friends and families. Though these events take place in a wide number of places, each has the shared goal of providing badly needed funds to a worthy cause. Some of the beneficiaries of these events have included the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

The health program also includes regular blood drives with DirectTV employees able to donate while at work. They also host “on-site” drives at various locations in order to help with the nearly five million people needing blood transfusions or donations each and every year.

Educationally, DirectTV Satellite TV supports lifelong learning, beginning in classrooms around the country. They offer two distinct programs, “DirectTV4Schools” and “DirectTV Goes to School”. While “DirectTV4Schools” is a financial contribution made to a new customer’s school of choice, the “DirectTV Goes to School” provides educational programming packages and equipment to qualifying schools across the country. To date more than five thousand schools use the company’s services.

How can a television programming provider help in cases of natural disaster? Well, DirectTV used its vast network of resources during such crises as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the devastating wildfires in California in late 2007. They bring their equipment directly into the communities in trouble, creating mobile communication centers for emergency teams and installing services in temporary and emergency shelters. The company also makes donations of food and water and offers cash contributions to help their employees during such catastrophic events.

Finally, the company shows its dedication to global improvement through its many “green” efforts. Their website has an entire area dedicated to encouraging customers to go paperless through their “Goodbye Paper. Hello Green” campaign which rewards any customer who converts to paperless billing, auto bill pay and email updates with a nice one time credit on their monthly bill.

Additionally, they fill the page with information about the environmental impact of the average consumer’s use of such items as paper, water and other natural resources. The site also directs customers to the current channels with a “green” theme, including such well-known and popular broadcasters as the “Sundance Channel”, “HGTV” and “Planet Green”.

Clearly DirectTV feels indebted to its millions of customers and communities that use their services, and is making many efforts to give back something back to as many as possible.