Bulgari Partership

In 2009, to celebrate its past, Bulgari chose to start investing in the future of hundreds of thousands of unprivileged children around the world. Bulgari committed a minimum donation of €15M to Save the Children between 2009-2013.

Fundraising

Communication

Results achieved

Bulgari supports all Save the Children key strategic areas of intervention, including emergency relief, with a strategic interest on Education programs, as a premise for development. Thanks to Bulgari's commitment, Save the Children is improving the quality of education for children in very challenging contexts, those in conflict afflicted areas, those belonging to minority groups or in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Bulgari projects are providing learning environments to be safe and free from violence and exploitation for some of the most vulnerable and hardest to reach children around the world.

So far donation has directly reached 344,101 children and trained 10,160 teachers working in 1,235 schools in 20 countries around the world

The size of the donation together with the global scope and the diversity of the program supported, set new standards in corporate partnerships and is allowing Save the Children both to impact on large scale and to experiment innovative approaches.

Big numbers and small success stories

• In Afghanistan to increase alphabetization we have developed 40 mobile libraries for 25 schools in 15 communities and we have introduced innovative and fun methodologies to share the pleasure of reading such as "Reading Buddy".
• In China bilingual teacher training in Yining and Urumqi have involved 135 teachers who work with children speaking minority languages at home.
• In Southern Sudan, in the nomadic region of Jonglei, we take school to the cattle camps where over 900 children live and work. Only in the last few months 94 teachers (of which 38 women) have been trained to stimulate children participation to school in the provinces of Akobo West, Nyirol e Urol.
• In Albania we support the development of an inclusive environment at school, which means promote and facilitate the involvement of minorities such as Roma and Egyptian children in Tirana.
• In Democratic Republic of Congo, since 2009, almost 40 thousand children and over 700 teachers have directly benefit our projects
• In India, specifically in Adilabad, Chittoor and Vizainagaram we promote alphabetization through child friendly spaces and reading corners reaching 2700 children.
• In Indonesia, after years of conflicts, 10,504 children in the province of Aceh today can go to safe schools and receive an education of improved quality.
• In Ivory Coast we have made drinkable water available in 6 schools in some of the poorest areas of the country, as well as distributed 6,000 school kits, 1,000 school desks and chairs.

Field Visits

To witness and document the results of this considerable investment, a series of field visits with photographer Fabrizio Ferri are being organized. The first visit took place in China from September 5th to September 9th 2011. Bulgari representatives and celebrity Li Xiaoran met with beneficiaries in Yunnan to understand the impact of education projects in China.

What can a ring do (€70)?

• Books for 18 children in Brasil
• Setting up a school library in India
• Safe drinking water for 1 student and his family in Uganda
• Training for 13 teachers in Indonesia
• 50 boxes of color pencils for young migrant children in China

Global scope

The Bulgari donation is benefiting children in Albania, Afghanistan, Bosnia - Herzegivina, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Indonesia, India, Italy, Mexico, Montenegro, Japan, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Southern Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda and domestic programs in the US and UK.

Sustainability

In all Bulgari funded projects, Save the Children has been working using those solutions and methodologies that have shown to be effective after years of experience on the ground: promoting children's health and nutrition in the pre-school years, making schools safe, supporting teachers, supporting families and children's health, overcoming divisions by getting children, parents and communities involved. In all countries, Save the Children has worked very closely with local education authorities and governments and has adopted a range of modes of operation and levels of partnership with local NGOs too. This approach is essential for the sustainability of the programs and helps to build up the capacity of the local staff and reach a large number of schools.

Bulgari about the partnership

"Bulgari has always supported end encouraged a corporate culture expressing, through concrete actions, the values of social and environmental responsibility. Promoting initiatives of solidarity is for us the best way to put these principles in action. The partnership with Save the Children started as part of the celebrations for the 125th Bulgari anniversary, back in 2009, with a special silver ring and a pendant designed and sold to support a global campaign for education of the most disadvantaged children worldwide. Since the inception this project has given us great satisfaction and, further motivated by the significant results achieved, in 2010 we decided to renew the partnership and to support all Save the Children key areas of intervention. Furthermore, many field trips have been organized for the Bulgari management, some celebrities supporting the project and selected employees in order to visit our programs and see first-hand the impact of our commitment. I joined in one of these field trips myself, I saw Save the Children efforts on the ground and I personally appreciated how the generosity of individuals can make a life-changing difference for the most unprivileged. All the initiatives related to the partnership were received with enthusiasm by our clients and employees, triggering a sense of belonging and a positive climate. I am extremely proud to appreciate that our support is already having an impact in the lives of some of the most vulnerable children on earth and I am enthusiastic about keeping on supporting them in the future…"

Francesco Trapani, CEO Bulgari

Rome, December 2011

CRS and employees' involvement

At 3 years from its inception, the partnership between Bulgari and Save the Children is becoming a long term relationship and all initiatives that Bulgari is implementing have allowed to translate Company values, such as respect for human right, in concrete actions vis-à-vis the stakeholders. To keep strengthening it, Bulgari has also invested in internal communication and employees involvement. To close the loop between the specially-designed ring and Save the Children's final beneficiaries, a selected number of employees are given the opportunity to experience first-hand how difficult life can be for unprivileged children and how much of a difference Bulgari can make for them. A number of field trips for the Bulgari sales force are being organized to visit Save the Children projects in Indonesia, Uganda and Mississippi and the impressive engagement of Bulgari staff after these trips confirms the remarkable vision of this initiative. Furthermore, the communication campaign and events to promote the partnership have strengthened Bulgari's visibility beyond the classic channels, have allowed to explore new ways to influence brand reputation, have encouraged the approach of new clients and consolidated relationship with core existing ones.

"We really enjoyed the organization of the trip, which allowed us to see concretely what Bulgari funds can provide to these beautiful children and, now we understand better what fabulous work you do within the association, so necessary, both the equipment but also the importance of changing people's minds and make it clear to these communities how education is important."

Uganda 2011, Audrey Mercier, Bulgari

" I would like to say it's been the experience of my life. And I thank Bulgari and Save the Children for this opportunity. In our countries, we know that Uganda (in this case) it's a very poor country, they have been in a very long period of conflict, and they have a very difficult life (children in special). But in these days in this country, I've learnt much more than in all these years hearing from the news or seeing pictures in magazines. I'm very lucky, because something inside me has changed (in positive). And now I have the responsibility to explain all the people I know, about this situation. I wish everyone of us could have this opportunity, because it's a very good way to make people realize about this problem. Anyway, I hope someday we will change the world and we could save the children."

Uganda 2011, Sergio Gimeno, Bulgari