Delaware Valley Businesses Encouraging Employees to Contribute Funds, Volunteer Time To Hurricane Relief Effort, Survey Indicates

Lubetkin & Co. Communications, LLC
Communications, Public Relations & Technology Counsel708 Crestbrook Avenue
Cherry Hill, N.J. 08003
(856) 751-5491

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http://www.lubetkin.net

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

News Media May Contact:
Steven L. Lubetkin, Managing Partner
(856) 751-5491steve@lubetkin.net

Delaware Valley Businesses Encouraging Employees to Contribute Funds, Volunteer Time
To Hurricane Relief Effort, Survey Indicates

Companies Urging Employees to Contribute at a Greater Rate than They Are Giving

   CHERRY HILL, NJ October 11, 2005 -- Just under half of the Delaware Valley small businesses and nonprofit organizations participating in a recent survey are doing more to collect donations from their employees to help with Hurricane Katrina and Rita relief effortsthan they are contributing from company funds, but nearly all the respondents said they are digging deep into their own personal funds for the relief efforts.


   According to the online survey conducted by Lubetkin & Co. Communications, a Cherry Hill-based communications and public relations consultancy, 45.3 percent of the survey respondents said their companies or organizations were collecting funds from employees for the relief effort, but only 37.7 percent said those companies or organizations were contributing company funds.

   The results seem to suggest that the hurricane relief efforts are being driven forward primarily by individuals emotionally moved by the devastation, said Steven L. Lubetkin, managing partner of Lubetkin & Co. Its interesting that the companies responding to the survey are urging their employees to give money at a greater rate than the companies themselves are contributing.

   Nearly 92 percent of respondents said they were contributing their own money to the effort. About 49 percent of those whose companies are donating cash said their companies were donating $2,000 or more to the relief effort. About 42% said their firms donations were in the $500 range or below, and 20% indicated that some portion of their companies contributions came from a company foundation.

   Nearly 88 percent of the respondents said they personally were giving gifts of $500 or less. The other 12 percent said their personal gifts were between $500 and $1,500.

   Other relief activities that respondents said their companies were conducting:

· collecting goods for delivery to victims (22.6%)

· encouraging employees to volunteer with local relief groups (21.7%)

· encouraging volunteering with relief groups in the affected area (13.2%)

· helping victims find housing (10.4%)

· actually providing housing for victims (5.7%)

   Almost one-fifth of the individuals responding said that,in addition to donating their own money, they were collecting goods for delivery to victims, 14 percent said they were volunteering locally, and 10 percent said they were collecting money from other people for the effort. Only one survey respondentindicated actually volunteering in the hurricane zone.
More male respondents than female (21.3% vs. 15.2%) said they were collecting goods for hurricane victims, and were volunteering locally (18% male vs. 12.1% female).

   Lubetkin & Co. Communications is a diversified communications, public relations, and technology counseling firm. It provides strategic communications advice, survey research, Internet broadcasting (podcasting), corporate photojournalism, and customized publishing services for corporate clients, executives, and other organizations. Its website is www.lubetkin.net. Lubetkin is a veteran corporate communications executive for Bank of America, Fleet, Summit Bank, Standard & Poors, Unisys, and Conrail.

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Survey Methodology: The results are based on an online,email-invitation survey conducted using SurveyMonkey.com. Approximately 1,000 email invitations were distributed to individuals in the Lubetkin & Co. Communications email database in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and several Pennsylvania Counties, and a reminder was sent to those who did not respond after the first week. Responses were received from 106 individuals, a 10% response rate. While the survey results cannot be validated for statistical significance, they provide directional information about the behavior of individuals and organizations within the survey universe. More information on the survey is available from Lubetkin & Co.