Seattle’s Best Coffee, following in its recently announced tagline to be “Anywhere Great Coffee is Needed,” announced that it is providing support to nonprofit organizations in the form of coffee—and a $5,000 donation.

The brand recently launched its “Brew-lanthropy Project,” an effort to reward nonprofit organizations across the country that are doing good works in their communities.

Jenny McCabe, director of communications and public relations for Seattle’s Best, says the “Brew-lanthropy Project” reflects the newfound brand voice that Seattle’s Best has been sharing for the last several months.

“We like to say that great brands not only tell you what they’re about, they also show you what they’re about,” McCabe says. “For us, that’s what this is. This is a demonstration of the things that are important to us.”

Under the leadership of president Michelle Gass, who took the reins of the Starbucks Corporation brand in 2009, Seattle’s Best has redesigned its branding, announced several partnerships with other retail companies, and launched a “Levels” system of coffee roasts to make its coffees more accessible to customers.

The brand is now inviting customers to nominate nonprofit organizations on its Facebook page. Winning organizations will receive a coffee break–area “makeover,” a Seattle’s Best brewing system, free coffee for a year, $5,000 toward their cause, and the chance to be featured in a brief documentary that will be shown on the brand’s Facebook page.  

“Having a purpose, a reason for being, is really important, and that will be part of our DNA,” McCabe says.

“This is sort of pushing it to another level, and putting our marketing dollars behind an idea that can do good, and bringing our coffee to people who are doing good things.”

The first nonprofit to be chosen by Seattle’s Best is Blackstone Bicycle Works in Chicago, which reaches out to area youth.

McCabe says another goal of the “Brew-lanthropy Project” was to engage fans on social media.

“We have a high priority on building a robust community on Facebook, but we won’t build that at the sake of keeping our fans engaged,” she says. “We’re not going to just go for numbers and buy a bunch of likes. We’re going to continue to do really meaningful things on Facebook.”

By Sam Oches