Marketing, Fan Engagement & CSR

Football CSR initiatives

Football clubs everywhere are judged on how many trophies they win, which star players they can attract and how loudly and passionately their fans can sing. But they are also judged on how they engage with the wider community. Many clubs engage in original and innovative initiatives that bring important issues to the wider public consciousness. In this first edition, we will take a closer look at one shining example: Chile’s Colo-Colo.

Fans love to see their club mascot come out onto the pitch before kick-off. One club has capitalised on that fan interest for a good cause. Colo-Colo, Chile’s most popular and successful team, linked up with a Santiago animal shelter to highlight the plight of rescue dogs by leading them onto the pitch as mascots.

After players emerged from the tunnel with furry friends, the Unión de Amigos de los Animales shelter saw an increase in the number of adoptions to happy homes.

The players themselves also enjoyed the experience. The dogs were specially trained in advance to prepare them for the noise and the atmosphere of the big game. The project was a great – and heart-warming – success, but it is not the only social initiative the club is working on. In addition to providing help boxes for club members in need, the homeless and fans with reduced mobility, the forward-thinking Santiago outfit – whose full name translates as Colo-Colo Social and Sports Club – has joined forces with the foundation behind the first school for guide dogs in Chile.

They have launched a free project that offers members of the Colocolina fan community access to specially trained Labradors if they need help with mobility or rehabilitation. The organisation also runs a “puppy raising” programme, through which families adopt a dog in training for one year to help prepare them for their final term at the guide dog school.

Colo-Colo Vice-President Ignacio Franjola Valenzuela led the way by adopting one of the puppies himself:

“Now little Lucky lives with me and I am his socialiser, so I take him to the stadium on matchdays to prepare him for the difficult tasks the guide dog school carry out.”

Thanks to the widespread publicity generated through the club’s involvement, many other members have volunteered to help and have also had dogs placed with them.

Valenzuela added: “The waiting list for new puppies is long and we hope that the Colocolinos will be great trainers of these incredible companions, who are destined to transform the lives of many visually impaired people. There are more than 50,000 blind people in Chile. Therefore, given our firm social commitment, it is fundamental for us to be able to go to the aid of those who need it most and we hope to be able to find new ways to help them soon.”

If your club has set up an innovative corporate social responsibility initiative, we would love to hear about it and maybe even feature it in a future edition of the FIFA Professional Football Journal.

Let us know at prof.football.journal@fifa.org.