Louisville’s Signarama Downtown: The Sprinkling on the Cupcake of Work

As CEO and owner of Louisville, Kentucky’s Signarama Downtown, Maggie Harlow had always committed to philanthropy — doing what she could, how she could, to help local organizations. But the myriad requests for signage and other applications were chaotic. In response, she launched Signs of Support, a program through which organizations seeking donated printing services could apply for a grant — a chunk of the whole amount the company chooses to donate in a given year. That program, launched in 2006, thrives today and helps Signarama Downtown focus its efforts where the need is greatest.

Thomas Nance, chief solution provider, (left) and Maggie Harlow, CEO and owner, with Raybo.

Harlow says, “The program solves multiple problems and lets us figure out who we want to give to instead of those who ask first.” She adds that the structure not only helps the company see the impact of its charitable work but also makes it easier to say no because there is a formalized process for selection. As for how the program benefits Signarama Downtown, she says it gets employees involved — they realize they have a stake in it. Also, she says, the program helps to feed the company’s customer pipeline.

One of the goals with Signs of Support, Harlow shares, is to keep it easy and not have an arduous application process. “We keep a really low bar,” she says. “We’re not asking for eloquent paragraphs.” Each year, the company receives between 75 and 150 applications requesting donated services. On average, about 20 grants are awarded, the total value of which is about $15,000. Thomas Nance, chief solution provider at Signarama Downtown, says the company uses a grading scale to evaluate submissions ranging in scope from simple to complex. Applicants not awarded a grant are given a 20% off coupon for services.

Asked if the program fits with her core beliefs, Harlow says, “For me, when I opened a business, it was one of the things I wanted to do. I wanted to be able to use the company to express my values. It’s been great to see the impact that we’re making.” Nance describes the program as “a complete feel-good thing. It’s really valuable to me and to most of our team that we’re doing good things for the community.”

Great ideas tend to spread, and Harlow is proud to report that roughly 20 other Signarama franchises have adopted the Signs of Support concept, turning a single program into a broader movement. She says the Signarama corporate entity strongly supports franchisees helping each other out and asking each other for advice. Nance adds that it’s interesting to follow other Signarama locations on social media and see how they have chosen to implement their versions of the Signs of Support concept.

When asked to share a few examples of how the program’s grants have provided significant benefits, Harlow shared a few.

• Signarama Downtown produced yard signs to alert the community that a historic building housing a community center was in danger of being sold. The signs helped generate a strong turnout for a hearing about the building, resulting in funds being committed to rehab
  the building.
• A very small nonprofit needed window lettering for its offices and applied to Signs of Support for help. For such a small job, the benefits were significant — the client shared that it was the first time they’d ever seen a physical representation of their logo. Seeing it, they said, provided a sense of pride.

Serving the Needs of the Community

Paula Garner, president and CEO of Maryhurst, a Louisville-based behavioral health services organization serving the needs of adolescent girls who have backgrounds of severe abuse and neglect, says Signs of Support has helped her organization in numerous ways. She says Maryhurst has worked with Signarama Downtown since 2014 — first as a customer and later as an applicant and recipient of Signs of Support grants. Garner says she was initially connected with Signarama Downtown because she had heard of Harlow’s philanthropy.

Funding from Signs of Support has helped the visual needs of Maryhurst in various ways. Funded projects include the production of nameplates for the organization’s three offices and identifying the organization’s 300 employees. She says that while the nameplates were a “practical need,” she adds they contributed strongly to the working environment in those spaces. Another grant project, recently awarded, will provide directional signage at the entrance of a school. Weatherproof signage that can be used as sandwich boards, she says, will be used to offer services, build visibility in the community, and work to spread the organization’s mission.

About Signs of Support, Garner says, “I find it to be extremely valuable. Whether through the grants or paid services, they (Signarama Downtown) know who we serve and the essence of who we are.” She says the Signarama Downtown team has been particularly useful in helping them think through the signage needs for her organization — a service she considers invaluable. “For us to know that we have that kind of partner to help us further our mission — it’s very meaningful.”

The Value in Values

Regarding Signs of Support, Harlow says she can’t imagine her business ever stopping the effort and speaks to the significant value of for-profit businesses serving nonprofit organizations. “If it wasn’t for small businesses being willing to give time, I don’t know how the nonprofit world would function,” she shares. Should other companies serving other industries undertake similar efforts? She says not necessarily: “We’re in a space where we can give away what we do.” That said, giving some time or writing a check are other valued types of support.

While Harlow says she would never be able to measure the ROI of Signarama Downtown’s charitable efforts, she adds that the program’s “halo effect” is quite significant. She says that because of the program, the company was named by Junior Achievement of Kentucky and Indiana to its Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame. Signarama Downtown, she says, has a reputation for giving, “which has helped our business because people know us and are talking about us.” Nance adds, “It’s refreshing to go to work and feel good about what we do. [The program] is important for our team and is a part of our culture.”

On a personal level, Harlow says, Signs for Support has been a “profound experience,” and shared that she had just received two letters from organizations that were program beneficiaries, saying what the donations meant to them. Referring to the personal benefits of the program, she says, “this is the sprinkling on the cupcake of work — making a difference in the community.”