Nautica Raises $125K for Charity: Water to Fund Water Project in Nepal

NEW YORK, June 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Nautica®, a leading global lifestyle brand, that is inspired by, passionate about, and committed to all things water, raised $125,000 for their new cause-marketing initiative that ties deep to its heritage; one that will help bring clean, safe drinking water to those in need. On March 22, 2012, World Water Day, Nautica launched its Give Change to Make Change campaign with charity: water, a non-profit organization that uses 100% of public donations to directly fund clean water projects in developing nations, by asking consumers to round up their purchases to the nearest dollar in all Nautica stores.  The $125,000 raised by Nautica will fund a large-scale spring protection system in Nepal, bringing clean, safe drinking water to approximately 3,000 people in the area.

"Nautica is proud to support charity: water and its powerful mission to help people in need around the world by providing clean and safe drinking water to them," said Karen Murray, President of Nautica.  Added Scott Harrison, Founder and CEO of charity: water, "We've been very impressed with the passion and drive of the Nautica team to help make this campaign such a huge success. The water crisis is vast and it's going to take a huge effort from all of us to help the 800 million people currently living without clean water. Nautica's generous donation will help make an important dent."

Currently 29.3 million people live in Nepal, where 12% of those do not have access to clean water and 69% do not have access to sanitation. Half of the children in the state are underweight and 60% of childhood deaths are due to malnutrition, intensified by dirty drinking water.  The Nautica water project will provide 10-15 tap stands, supplying clean and safe drinking water to approximately 3,000 inhabitants.  The project building is estimated to begin in early July and to be completed by January 2014.

The Nautica brand is supporting the campaign through various marketing platforms, including at retail, through e-commerce and via social media.  The campaign kicked off with a fundraising round-up program, in which each consumer was asked to round up his/her purchase to the nearest dollar to help raise money for charity: water.  Additionally, there are flat donation options in stores as well as on Nautica.com. All forms of social media are engaged in the project, including the Nautica brand's Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, flickr and 360Blog, with videos, photos and campaign details updated continuously.

Promotional product is complementing the in-store campaigns; all staff wear t-shirts, buttons and wrist bands on "Water Wednesdays" each week endorsing the campaign with slogans like, "Give Change to Make Change" and "NAUTICA + charity: water = Change".

Wrist bands are also available at the registers for shoppers who donate, and window and in-store signage are displayed prominently throughout the stores.

As the sponsorship continues, the campaign will launch in international stores in a similar manner, and co-venture product will be developed for the campaign.

For more information, visit Nautica.com/charitywater.

SOURCE Nautica