Farmers Insurance Group of Companies received a Silver Anvil Award of Excellence from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). The Award of Excellence, which recognizes outstanding strategic public relations planning and implementation, was presented to Farmers during the 2008 Silver Anvil Awards Evening held June 5 in New York City.
Farmers received the Award of Excellence for its National March of Dimes Fundraising effort in 2007 in the Community Relations category. “We are pleased and very proud to receive the PRSA Silver Anvil Award of Excellence for our March of Dimes efforts,” noted Farmers CEO Paul N. Hopkins. “In 2007, Farmers 15,000 agents nationwide, along with our employees and their families raised more than $4.5 million for the year,” he added.
“As part of the overall effort, we held a very special one day fundraiser we call 'Be a Hero for Babies Day.' Farmers held fundraising events across the country on June 7, 2007, and we raised $2.7 million. We set our goals high because the need is very high. Premature births touch more than half a million babies and their families every year,” Mr. Hopkins said.
“The Award of Excellence represents some of the finest and creative campaigns that truly exemplify what public relations is all about,” said Joice Truban Curry, 2008 PRSA Silver Anvil Committee chair and president/CEO, c3 Communications, Inc. “This year, we had some phenomenal Silver Anvil entries. It was one of the toughest years for our judges. This year's Award of Excellence winners should hold their award in the highest of regards.”
There were nearly 900 overall contest entries this year and Farmers was one of nine finalists for the two top prizes. Our winning entry featured Farmers' complete 2007 March of Dimes body of work (fundraising, community involvement, media relations/earned media, internal and external communications and agent and employee involvement). To date, more than 1,200 organizations have received Silver Anvils for excellence in strategic public relations planning and implementation.
Farmers Group, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Zurich Financial Services, an insurance-based financial services provider with a global network of subsidiaries and offices in North America and Europe as well as in Asia Pacific, Latin America and other markets. Farmers® is the nation's third-largest Personal Lines Property & Casualty insurance group. Property and casualty products are underwritten and issued by the Farmers Exchanges and their subsidiaries, which Farmers Group, Inc. manages but does not own. Headquartered in Los Angeles and doing business in 41 states, the Farmers insurers provide Homeowners, Auto, Business, Life insurance and financial services to more than 10 million households. For more information about Farmers, visit our Web site at www.farmers.com.
About the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)
The Public Relations Society of America, headquartered in New York City, is the world’s largest organization for public relations professionals with nearly 32,000 professional and student members. PRSA is organized into 109 Chapters and 10 Districts nationwide, and 19 Professional Interest Sections and Affinity Groups, which represent business and industry, counseling firms, independent practitioners, military, government, associations, hospitals, schools, professional services firms and nonprofit organizations. The Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) has 296 Chapters at colleges and universities throughout the United States, and one Chapter in Argentina.
Contacts:
Jerry Davies, 323-932-3662
jerry.davies@farmersinsurance.com
or
Mark
Toohey, 805-907-2216
mark_toohey@farmersinsurance.com
