Instead of the self indulgence and dissipation so many of our stars fall into, Newman leveraged the incredible gifts and luck he'd been blessed with to make the world a better place.  

 

He created the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps.  He co-founded the Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy.  He transformed his passion for homemade salad dressing into Newman's Own, a company that has generated over $250 million for charity.  He kept making great movies.  He did so much more AND he seemed to be having a great time in the process.  (If you've never read his book on the company's founding, get a copy -- it's fabulous.)

 

Few companies or causes will ever be blessed with such a charismatic movie star philanthropist at their helm, but there are many lessons to be learned from the Newman's Own experience.  To cite just two:

 

1) A cause-related message is great, but it alone is not enough to sustain a company.   Newman's Own turns out terrific products -- that is what has kept it going for all these years and why it will continue now that Paul Newman is gone.

 

2) A cause-related culture can help employees go above and beyond.   I've been to the Newman's Own offices -- you would not be believe how lean the staff is that keeps that company humming along.

 

I've been told that Paul Newman didn't like the phrase cause marketing attached to what he was up to at Newman's Own.   Whatever you call the mixture of cause and commerce he created, Paul Newman was an inspiration and will be sorely missed by all of us trying to do well by doing good.

  

David Hessekiel

President

Cause Marketing Forum, Inc.