Citi is a global bank who provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with financial services and products.
New York, NY
Finance
Citi helps small businesses keep their doors open during COVID-19
Citi, a leading financial services firm serving companies in 160 countries, partnered with Mastercard and leveraged Goodworld’s social impact platform to launch a direct response campaign to help small business owners and entrepreneurs keep their doors open during the coronavirus pandemic.
Small businesses are the foundation of Citi’s communities. So when COVID-19 impacted them severely, they wanted to help. Citi, in partnership with Mastercard, teamed up with Start Small Think Big, a nonprofit organization dedicated serving under-resourced small businesses led by individuals of color, women, and members of other disadvantaged groups by providing financial relief and vital services they desperately need.
Start Small Think Big stated, “most of our entrepreneurs are reporting sales declines of 80 to 100%”.
Due to these losses, their mission was to provide diverse entrepreneurs with emergency funds, legal, financial and marketing services. Citi needed a creative platform to kickstart their new #AllForSmall campaign. So, they sought out Goodworld’s design services.
Citi elevated their partnership with Start Small Think Big by launching an #AllForSmall microsite to engage their customers, which was custom designed and developed by Goodworld's creative team. The campaign website provided three ways for individuals to get involved: shop online at a participating small business, make a donation or volunteer.
Together, Mastercard and Citi pledged to give 5 cents for every purchase made at an eligible small business, and donate up to $1M to Start Small Think Big.
Citi and Mastercard quickly reached their goal, donating over $1M to Start Small Think Big to help with pandemic relief. The site also received an impressive amount of engagement for a charitable campaign, with over 40K pageviews within 3 months. Citi created meaningful connections with their community and improved their customer experience by providing opportunities to give back during their #AllForSmall campaign.
“About a half of every purchase at your local small business is recirculated locally, in the form of payroll, goods or services purchased locally, spent locally, donations to area charities. So that means that those purchases at your small business, they're that much more efficient in terms of keeping the local economy alive.”
