September 3, 2007 – FXR links to charities
Manitoba-based snowmobile outerwear maker FXR has developed a Cancer Care and Support charity program. For the 2007-08 selling season, FXR will donate $10 to cancer-related charities for each woman’s jacket sold. Half of the donation will come from the buyer — jacket prices have increased by $5 — and FXR will match the other $5. The donation involves no additional work on the part of the dealers, said Judy Friesen, dealer account manager at FXR.
Donations will be made in Canada and the U.S., and the per-charity breakdown has yet to be determined. At least two programs earmarked to receive funds are the Kelly Shires Foundation and the Pink Ribbon Riders, whose fund-raising efforts go directly to financially assisting affected women and their families.
Donations will not be limited to these charities, Friesen said. Dealers have been asked to submit names of charities that they support to be considered in the donation pool.
Friesen did not indicate how much FXR expects to donate, but she said the company does good volume with its women’s jackets. One jacket, the Women’s Team Jacket, will have a pink ribbon logo embroidered on the back. Other jackets will have a pink ribbon on the tag.
Friesen has no empirical evidence that linking a product with a charity will increase sales. However, she said she received an enthusiastic response when the company was involved in a local breast cancer charity event.
“They were so thrilled to have us onboard, and for us, it’s such a small thing we can do,” she said.
FXR is one of several companies with a link to breast cancer charities. Other companies with a public donation history include Quebec-based Choko Design and Oregon-based HMK. psb