Uber is rolling out its largest charitable effort yet in the United States this week — and perhaps bringing in some much-needed goodwill as a result.
The ride-hailing company announced the launch of its first-ever “national giving campaign” on Tuesday to raise money for No Kid Hungry, a group working to end hunger among children in the U.S.
Those riding Uber cars in more than 100 cities will have the option to make a $5 in-app donation, marking the first time Uber has made that option available. During the charitable campaign, which runs from Tuesday through Friday of this week, Uber will also run meal delivery promotions and donate all of the proceeds to the charity. The company has pledged to donate a total of 3 million meals through these efforts.
“This is something that as we grow, both in terms of ridership and the company, we want to do more to help,” David Plouffe, SVP of Uber and a former campaign manager for Barack Obama, told Mashable in an interview. “We are now a maturing company and with that comes responsibility to find ways to help.”
The announcement comes on the heels of multiple ethical controversies for the fast-growing company. In mid-November, a top exec at Uber reportedly suggested that the company could hire “opposition researchers” to dig up dirt on critical journalists. Travis Kalanick, Uber’s CEO, later apologized for the executive’s comments, but the criticism continued amid additional reports of Uber employees accessing “God view” to track trips taken by users.
According to Plouffe, the partnership with No Kid Hungry had been in discussion for more than two months, “much prior to the contretemps of a few weeks ago.” The charitable effort is part of Uber’s effort to shift away from what Kalanick previously described as its “scrappy, fierce” persona and focus more on a softer touch.
“I think this is a natural evolution for the company,” Plouffe says of the charitable partnership, noting plans to do “a lot more” of these efforts. “We are going to do what we can to be good corporate citizens.”
Uber announced hiring Plouffe in August to bring his experience managing political campaigns to Uber’s own “campaign” against the taxi industry, not to mention well-funded startups and tough regulators. “I will look to him as a strategic partner on all matters as Uber grows around the world,” Kalanick said in a blog post at the time.
When asked how his first months on the job have been — months filled with PR crises, amassive financing round and more bans on Uber’s service — Plouffe deflected with what appeared to be a joke. “It’s been completely completely uneventful.”
This article was taken from here.