Wal-Mart, KPMG, Unilever and XRG sit on the top shelf of Enactus’ sponsors. But undergirding the practical education for college business students worldwide are another 420 corporate partners annually giving $20 million to the nonprofit’s entrepreneurial cause.
While those four companies represent the $1 million-donor club, household names are sprinkled throughout, from Microsoft and Kraft in the $100,000 range to over $50,000 by 3M and Walgreen Co. Lesser-known names in America are EEI Corp., Chow Tai Fook, Evonik Industries, Nufarm and Sasol Ltd. Yet even harder to identify are companies in Enactus’ hometown; there is one: American Dehydrated Foods Inc., a regular contributor of $25,000. Traveling 50 miles east on Interstate 44, Evergreen Investments LLC in Lebanon is in the third tier, capped at $500,000, but otherwise southwest Missouri is largely absent from the corporate partner list.
Why they giveThe funds support entrepreneurial action that teaches leadership, teamwork and project management among the 70,000 Enactus students in 36 countries.
“Business leaders care a whole lot more than they get credit for about world leaders,” said Donna Patterson, the chief global fundraising officer for Enactus who just returned from two weeks of business development in Germany and Belgium. “They believe they’re helping to shape leaders.”
A repeated return on the sizable corporate investments is the built-in talent pool. A handful of companies, including Enterprise Holdings Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc./Sam’s Club, hire by the hundreds each year.
“We look to Enactus most prominently as a recruitment partner,” said Marie Artim, vice president of talent acquisition for Enterprise Holdings, a sponsor at the $100,000-$200,000 level.
A 15-year corporate partner after a successful pilot recruitment program, the St. Louis-based car rental company has hired roughly 850 Enactus students in the last seven years.
“They are really a great match for the skills and abilities we look for in our management training program,” Artim said, citing work ethic, communications and critical thinking.
Each year, Enterprise hires about 8,500 for management training that serves as a pipeline for leaders to climb the car rental ranks. Enactus is Enterprise’s largest pool for recent graduates, but Artim said the company also finds talent through other student organizations, college campus visits, an employee referral program and online job sites.
This week in St. Louis, corporate recruiters will pursue students during the Enactus National Exposition at the America’s Center April 13-16.
Former Enactus student Kelsey Bright will represent presenting sponsor Hershey Co. at its recruitment booth less than two years after landing a job with the chocolate maker.
She’s looking for retail sales representatives, a position Bright accepted after her Belmont University Enactus team won the national championship and World Cup competitions 2011-12.
Bright is not too far removed from the corporate interview process.
“My resume and interviews were just covered with Enactus,” said Bright, who still counts her Hershey employment by months: 22. “Enactus probably played the biggest roles in my interviews.”
Sponsorship structureCorporate partners hover around 400 each year. In 2013, Enactus had 365 on board, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.
“Because of the natural progression of corporate business with mergers, acquisitions, struggling business quarters, etc., we lose and gain and lose and gain,” Patterson said, noting an emphasis on global companies the last three years has numbers up about 10 percent.
The entry-level investment in the United States is $25,000. Globally, donors often start at $5,000 or, in Africa, at $2,000, Patterson said, and all 36 countries have membership benefits in at least three levels.
Enactus officials have had a puzzling response among local corporations.
“One of the frustrations is we really don’t have them. They come and go,” Patterson said, pointing to past relationships with Noble & Associates Inc. and Baron Design & Associates LLC. “We’ve tried to have conversations with both O’Reilly [Automotive Inc.] and Johnny Morris [of Bass Pro Shops] and just haven’t gotten down that path.”
Amsterdam-based auditor KPMG is the largest current sponsor, with nearly $1.3 million contributed and investing in 28 of the 36 countries. Patterson said XRG’s $1 million bucks funds the China program.
Among the longest-running sponsors are Jack Link’s protein snacks, Rudolph Foods Co. and Wal-Mart.
Above the initial commitments – up to $100,000 in the U.S. and Canada – additional donations provide corporate electives, such as directing the money toward event sponsorships or a women’s empowerment initiative.
Enterprise, for instance, has funded the faculty advisory council the last five years. Artim said the support is in recognition of the Enactus teams’ work with professors and executives.
ROI bucketsOther companies known to hire Enactus students include Unilever, Well Fargo & Co. and Frito Lay Inc.
“Companies look to our students as students that don’t just have book learning, [but] they have leadership talent, project management talents and presentation skills. They’re looking for someone who has that head for business and heart for the world,” Patterson said.
In addition to recruitment, Patterson said corporate partners gauge return on investment through buckets such as their charitable and social responsibility, employee engagement and branding. The Enactus student population in the U.S. goes 18,000 deep.
Enterprise officials mark ROI by the talent coming on board.
“The strongest return we have is the hiring we’re getting and the quality of hires we’re getting. The program matches that,” Artim said from her St. Louis office.
With experience in Enactus competitions in front of corporate executives – officials say over 800 will be at the National Expo – Hershey’s Bright said the recruiting process can be a two-way street.
“At the career fairs, you can go and shop around, for lack of a better word, go and visit the company booths. We had some companies come visit us as well,” she said.
Hershey recruiters came to her college campus in Nashville, Tenn., and now Bright calls on 25 retailers in south Cincinnati.
“Hershey will continue to partner and support Enactus, and we’re always looking to further our brand awareness and recruit students through the organization,” she said.[[In-content Ad]]
