Reading is The way up® began as a nine-month public relations campaign that City National Bank launched to increase awareness of the plight of California public school libraries, elevate the bank’s brand awareness, and engage its stakeholders—customers, employees, and opinion leaders.
CauseConnect was hired to transform the campaign into a sustainable marketing program for CNB and then provided consulting services to the bank on this award-winning program for ten years.
Services included writing and publishing a Reading is The way up® Community Service Toolkit, creating and managing a national teacher grants program, establishing a continuing national partnership with Barnes & Noble Booksellers, creating a 501(c)3 fund to secure charitable gifts from colleagues and clients, identifying and screening school partners, establishing a volunteer reading program, and producing special events.
Over a decade, Reading is The way up® donated $1.6 million to elementary, middle and high school teachers for creative literacy projects; reached close to one million students; and donated over one million books through schools in California, New York, Nevada, Nashville, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C.