Our Mission

The ravages of Hurricane Katrina

You can call it a game-changer. Or a national tragedy. The story of Hurricane Katrina is almost too painful to remember: 1,800 people lost their lives and damages totaled in the billions.

The government’s mismanagement of the evacuation of New Orleans left hundreds of residents stranded in a city for days without food and water.

Perhaps no better symbol of the government’s failure to help its citizens was manifest in the form of FEMA, which botched relief efforts, diverted electrical power being restored to hospitals in favor of gas pipelines, turned away tractor trailers full of water and supplies and delayed fire volunteers for days in Georgia by showing them training videos.

It was private industry’s assistance (Amtrak, for evacuation), and trucks (by Walmart, full of water and supplies) that mobilized relief efforts faster and more efficiently than the federal government. So too was the tremendous outpouring of support from citizens — telethons and other charitable donations exceeded $4 billion; $1 billion of that came from corporate support.

This is a very powerful statement and worth taking note. In times of distress, private philanthropy can match or even outpace government aid.

One can only imagine the additional sums these organizations could have continued to bring in, post-Hurricane, had they built email lists, planned direct mail campaigns or fostered matching donation programs with other businesses.

And that’s where Paisley Green comes in.

We consult with small businesses and nonprofits on online and offline direct response marketing principles, as well as PR.

There are more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations registered in the United States. And that every year, the federal government gives them approx. $450 million in grants.

But after the most recent market crises, federal aid to nonprofits is becoming more and more scarce. These nonprofits simply don’t have the money to meet their baseline operating expenses, and many must close their doors as a result.

Intelligent sensibilities are encouraging nonprofits to follow a more profitable business model so that they both make more money and are less reliant on federal aid.