Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation Wins Two National Awards for Excellence in Communications

DETROIT, March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation earned two national awards for Excellence in Communications — one gold and one silver — in the 2010 Wilmer Shields Rich Awards Program. The awards, given by the Council on Foundations and the Communications Network, recognize outstanding communication efforts that increase public awareness of foundations and corporate giving programs.

The BCBSM Foundation earned a gold award for the Foundation's 2008 annual report, Social Responsibility: Driving the Mission, and a silver award for the BCBSM Foundation Web site, bcbsm.com/foundation, which provides information about the BCBSM Foundation, funding criteria, available grants and guidelines for submitting letters of interest.  

"The work submitted demonstrates Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation's commitment to public accountability and effective communications and service as a model of excellence for other grant makers," said Steve Gunderson, president and CEO, Council on Foundations.

The awards will be presented at the 61st Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations on Tuesday, April 27 in Denver. The BCBSM Foundation has won 39 awards for Excellence in Communications since 1988.  

"We are honored to receive these coveted awards for our communications efforts," said Ira Strumwasser, executive director and CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation. "In the world of organized philanthropy, earning these awards is equivalent to winning Olympic gold."

Strumwasser continued by sharing the Foundation's strategy for consistently creating exceptional programs and communications when compared to some of the biggest and most prestigious corporate foundations:

• Assemble an exceptional core team that is able to develop programs designed to improve the quality of community care.
• Work with talented and creative graphic artists and superior writers and communicators that can explain what your foundation does and seamlessly communicate and visualize those messages to all interested stakeholders.
• Secure complete support from the corporate CEO and board of directors that are passionate about the work of the foundation.  
• Finally, work in an environment and with a company that values and encourages performance excellence at all levels.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation is dedicated to improving the health of Michigan residents by supporting health care research and innovative health programs. The foundation's grant programs are conducted in Michigan by Michigan-based researchers and nonprofit community health care organizations.

Over the past 25 years, the BCBSM Foundation has contributed approximately $25 million in grants for research and $5 million for community health programs. This funding has resulted in enhancements to quality, patient safety and access to care for the people of Michigan. The foundation also supports efforts to control the rising costs of health care through research, demonstration and evaluation projects.

The BCBSM Foundation is the philanthropic affiliate of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. The foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information, visit bcbsm.com/foundation.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a nonprofit organization, provides and administers health benefits to 4.7 million members residing in Michigan in addition to members of Michigan-headquartered groups who reside outside the state. The company offers a broad variety of plans including: Traditional Blue Cross Blue Shield; Blue Preferred®, Community Blue(SM) and Healthy Blue Incentives(SM) PPOs; Blue Care Network HMO; BCN Healthy Blue Living(SM); Flexible Blue(SM) plans compatible with health savings accounts; Medicare Advantage; Part D Prescription Drug plans, and MyBlue(SM) products in the under-age-65 individual market. BCBSM also offers dental, vision and hearing plans. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network are nonprofit corporations and independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more company information, visit bcbsm.com.

SOURCE Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation