Social Community Case Studies

Diversity in Westfield’s Workplace
Developing Leaders and Managers
Measuring Employee Engagement
Biometric Security at Westfield Shopping Centres
Stratford City
Strategic Partnering in Australian Communities
A National Campaign — Give Back to School

Case Study

A National Campaign—Give Back to School

During 2011, Westfield centres around the United States engaged in a community program that linked shoppers with their local centres and schools. Operating as part of the Westfield Family program, Give Back to School ran in 23 different malls and provided support to schools in each community.

Of the total list of winning schools, there were 16 elementary schools, one middle school and seven high schools.

Local shoppers participated in the program by donating clothes and school supplies through their local shopping centre - and Westfield donated US$2,500 to one school in each of the participating markets for a total of US$57,500. The school designated for support in each market was nominated by the local community through a shopper-voting mechanism. Votes were cast by shoppers who brought their receipts to the centre’s concierge desk, with each dollar spent contributing to a points tally for their preferred school. The program included a social media component whereby shoppers could boost their nominated school’s chances by voting online via Facebook. The winning school in each community received the cash prize as well as a celebration event at their local Westfield. The prize money was used to support school programs in arts and music, sciences, physical education, libraries and technology resources.  

As part of Give Back to School, Westfield worked closely with retailers to be able to offer in-store discounts during the back-to-school period in an effort to provide value to the community at a busy time of year in the retail calendar. Shoppers were also able to donate items to children through local organisations like Boys & Girls Clubs. 

The program enjoyed strong community engagement thanks to sustained shopper participation through purchase-linked voting, Facebook activation and in-centre donations. 

Of the total list of winning schools, there were 16 elementary schools, one middle school and seven high schools.

A total of 23 malls ran the program across eight states.