Deluxe Corporation Foundation and SCORE Partner to Help Launch 1 Million Small Businesses By 2017

With Deluxe grant, SCORE will recruit 11,000 small business mentors to counsel aspiring entrepreneurs

WASHINGTON and ST. PAUL, Minn., March 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Deluxe Corporation Foundation has provided a $285,000 grant to help SCORE, a non-profit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and helping small businesses in the U.S. The grant will help SCORE grow its trained volunteer base by 50 percent, or an additional 11,000 mentors, over the next three years. With this larger mentor base, SCORE will be equipped to support the start or expansion of an estimated 1 million additional small businesses in the United States by 2017.

"SCORE is focused on increasing our mentor base to meet the needs of the rapidly growing U.S. small business market. The generous grant from Deluxe Corporation Foundation will enable us to attract new, highly qualified mentors and improve our ability to match them with small businesses," said Ken Yancey, SCORE CEO.  "Today SCORE mentors support nearly 400,000 small businesses. This grant from Deluxe will help us achieve our goal of helping to grow 1 million successful small businesses by 2017."

This is the second major grant the Deluxe Foundation has provided to SCORE since 2009. Additionally, Deluxe Corp and SCORE are active partners on Project REV, a year-long small business marketing lab. Deluxe was named the 2010 SCORE Outstanding Corporate Small Business Supporter and Advocate.

"We serve more than four million small business customers nationwide and with Project REV we have seen first hand the value of one-on-one coaching for small business owners," said Lee Schram, Deluxe Corporation CEO. "The Deluxe Foundation grant, directed to the growth and development of new SCORE mentors, is an excellent investment in the future success of more small businesses."  

The Deluxe Corporation Foundation grant will allow SCORE to:

• Develop marketing materials to recruit new mentors
• Create benchmarking and skill assessment tools to aid in selecting qualified candidates
• Host a national SCORE leadership conference
• Develop a national volunteer skills database to match mentors with small businesses
• Coordinate national and local partnerships to identify and attract potential volunteers
• Create local public service announcements and social media campaigns to recruit mentors
• Execute a research study to measure and track the characteristics and habits of successful SCORE mentors to create more efficient and effective recruiting efforts

About the Deluxe Corporation Foundation

Since its creation in 1952, the Deluxe Corporation Foundation has awarded more than $90 million to education, arts and human services programs. To learn more, visit www.deluxe.com/about-deluxe/foundation.jsp

About Deluxe Corporation

Deluxe Corporation is a growth engine for small businesses and financial institutions. Through its industry-leading businesses and brands, the Company helps small businesses and financial institutions attract and retain customers. The Company employs a multi-channel strategy to provide a suite of lifecycle driven solutions to its customers. In addition to its personalized printed products, the Company offers a growing suite of business services, including logo design, payroll, web design and hosting, business networking and other web-based services to help small businesses grow. In the financial services industry, Deluxe sells check programs and fraud prevention, customer loyalty and retention programs to help banks build lasting relationships and grow core deposits. The Company also sells personalized checks, accessories and other services directly to consumers. For more information about Deluxe, visit www.deluxe.com.

About SCORE

Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 9 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE provides small business mentoring and workshops to more than 385,000 new and growing small businesses. More than 13,000 business experts volunteer as mentors in 350 chapters serving local communities with entrepreneur education to help grow 1 million small businesses.  

For more information about starting or operating a small business, call 1-800-634-0245 for the SCORE chapter nearest you. Visit SCORE at www.score.org and connect with us at www.facebook.com/SCOREFans, www.twitter.com/SCOREMentors and www.scorecommunity.org.

SOURCE SCORE Association