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Now that the U.S. is officially out of Afghanistan, many of us fear for the hundreds of thousands of U.S.-affiliated Afghans facing uncertain futures.
One reason brands should consider getting involved in the rescue effort is the role of brand purpose in driving growth across industries. Investing in social impact has become standard business practice, allowing us to meet this moment with the financial power to significantly help our displaced allies.
The key is this: Don’t overthink it. If your brand’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) platform doesn’t have a logical tie-in to Afghan support, act anyway. Time is of the essence.
We can’t get hung up on whether our actions are on-brand. We’re in an age when the expectation of brands is to behave less like business entities confined by strategy and more like humans with the capacity for spontaneity, and the heart to help people in crisis. Here’s a guide on how brand purpose can live alongside brand humanity.
Rely on local partnerships
Airbnb is providing temporary housing to 20,000 Afghan refugees worldwide. This generosity comes as no surprise, as the brand has a decade-long track record in sheltering people displaced by natural disasters and political persecution.
But you don’t need to have a track record in disaster relief to help resettle Afghans. In fact, you don’t need a single relevant brand action in your company’s entire history to justify helping now. What you need is a partnership—preferably one steeped in local, cultural context with boots on the ground and a history of results.
The International Rescue Committee is a viable option for brands wanting to invest in a tried-and-true, global resettlement organization. IRC president and CEO David Miliband released a statement calling for support for at-risk Afghans, those fleeing as well as those staying.
“The 31st of August has been set as a deadline for the U.S. military effort; it cannot be the deadline for seeking to help Afghans,” Miliband said in a statement.
Engaging a partner like the IRC can help you demonstrate brand humanity to your workforce, consumer base and competitors.
Honor the complexity
Walmart’s 2013 brand initiative Veterans Welcome Home Commitment, ensuring employment for any eligible honorably discharged veteran, has resulted in hundreds of thousands of hires. It was therefore entirely in-keeping with the brand’s ethos when it came out in support of Afghan nationals who had served alongside U.S. troops.
The company’s foundation also promised a $1 million investment to refugee organizations. If your brand doesn’t have a running veteran support program, expansive customer reach or a million dollars to donate, there are still ways to help Afghan service members.
Contributing to Keeping Our Promise fortifies its broad range of resettlement programs for our wartime allies, chief among them assistance with the particularly time-intensive process of securing Special Immigrant Visas.
For Afghans already in the U.S., the organization helps secure cars, kids’ bikes and community connections that address the key pain points of resettlement. They also help Afghans navigate the emotionally wrought territory of having family members in danger in Afghanistan.
Brand engagement with a multifaceted organization such as this, one whose impact ranges from foreign clerical requirements to stateside community building, can be a great way for your brand to show humanity, honor complexity and spread your resources across the vast landscape of need.
Inspire your teams
United Airlines and other commercial carriers stepped up to assist in the Afghanistan evacuation effort in accordance with the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, a government program that calls on commercial airlines to assist in crisis.
Naturally, their product and service—plus the government request—made the brand action a no-brainer. But without a fleet of aircraft and a staff of pilots, how can your brand help evacuate our Afghan allies who didn’t make it out?
The answer is simple: donate miles.
Travel charity group Miles4Migrants uses donated frequent flyer miles and credit card points to help people “impacted by war, persecution or disaster start a new beginning in a new home.” Miles4Migrants, with the help of local refugee-assistance organizations, helps people who are approved to resettle but can’t afford airfare. And because of the critical evacuation needs in Afghanistan, other organizations such as Lonely Planet are tweeting out offers to match donations to Miles4Migrants.
Show internal teams your commitment to brand humanity. Announce your donated miles. Invite your colleagues to do the same. Start a challenge, keep a leaderboard—even if your ESG platform has nothing to do with travel or refugees. Even if your ESG platform doesn’t yet exist.
This is the moment when our shift toward a purpose-driven economy can pay invaluable rewards to our fellow global citizens. Our rally to all brands right now: Take action in whatever Afghanistan impact area moves you. Brands have the ability to do two things at once: maintain their ESG platform and respond to a humanitarian crisis.
Remember: You don’t need to make it on-brand—you just need to make it happen.
