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Community giveback event alongside The Salvation Army includes a cookie giveaway, donations, and a helping hand to a small business on Random Acts of Kindness Day
February 12, 2024 – New York, N.Y. – Semrush (NYSE: SEMR), a leading software company that helps businesses grow their online visibility, and Crumbl, the fastest growing cookie company in the U.S., have partnered on a series of community giveback initiatives to spread kindness in New York. Semrush and Crumbl are teaming up to help combat the rising rent crisis for small businesses, by providing one with a unique level of support in honor of Random Act of Kindness Day. Both companies are also planning several other acts of kindness for the local New York community to inspire others to pay it forward:
- At the Crumbl’s Chelsea location, 238 7th Avenue, thousands of free, packaged cookies will be given out to members of the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET on Friday, February 16. Each person will be given two cookies, one for themselves, and one for them to hand out to another person as a random act of kindness.
- At the Chelsea location, Semrush and Crumbl will give out hot chocolate to those waiting in line for their cookies. The Salvation Army will have a donation box (for cash and QR code-enabled digital payments) inside the Crumbl store in the event people waiting in line want to give back.
- From the Crumbl store in West Village, boxes of cookies will be delivered to selected New York City schools for teachers and students to enjoy.
- Semrush will donate $10,000 to the Salvation Army Greater New York Division for the purposes of providing backpacks and school supplies to 300 low-income students.
- Semrush and Crumbl Cares are choosing to support Annie’s Blue Ribbon General Store, who sells products to schools, teachers, and students, among other items, by helping to pay rent. Annie’s Blue Ribbon General Store will be the recipient of a check for the equivalent dollar amount of two months business property rent.
- Semrush will also provide Annie’s Blue Ribbon General Store with a free, 12-month Semrush Guru subscription. Annie’s can use Semrush tools to rapidly create content with generative AI-enabled tools, check and improve their keyword positions, enhance their Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy, and bolster their social media presence.
Semrush and Crumbl have set out to make a difference to a small business–Annie’s Blue Ribbon General Store–at a time when business property rent is at an all time high.
According to Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Voices Survey, 68% of businesses would be unable to continue operations if they didn’t maintain their line of credit or business loan, while almost 40% of small businesses surveyed by Alignable in the U.S. are late on paying rent.
Meanwhile, between December 2022 and December 2023, Semrush’s keyword search volume data revealed that U.S. Google searches for ‘NYC rent crisis’ and ‘rent crisis 2023’ increased by 800%, ‘NYC loans for small business’ increased by 4,900%, and ‘crisis loan to pay rent’ increased by 191%.
“Small businesses account for almost half of our country’s GDP, and almost two-thirds of new jobs,” said Semrush CMO Andrew Warden. “Semrush is a company that’s committed to helping businesses of all sizes improve their digital marketing game, so we wanted to take this opportunity to pay it forward and say ‘we’re here for you’ during a particularly challenging time. We’re proud to team up with another like-minded business in Crumbl and we look forward to spreading kindness as much and as often as we can.”
Crumbl, now with 900+ stores across all 50 states, started as a small business with a single store in Logan, Utah. Crumbl Cares, the philanthropic arm of the gourmet cookie company, has set out to support education across the country. They believe there is power in learning and want to provide support for children and teachers around the nation.
“We're truly excited to contribute to this event focused on choosing kindness,” says Bracken Christensen, Director of Crumbl Cares. “Gathering friends and family for such a meaningful cause is inspiring. We’re glad to be in New York to support the local community, and hope it offers a lasting and positive impact not only here, but across the nation.”
Among many causes, The Salvation Army is dedicated to giving school students what they need to be successful each year, supplying low-income students with free backpacks and supplies, after school educational and recreational programs, music lessons and instruments, and summer sleep-away and day camp.
“We wanted to thank Semrush for their generous donation, and we’re always excited to contribute to the efforts of companies that care deeply about Corporate Social Responsibility,” said Jennifer Groff, Corporate & Community Engagement Director for The Salvation Army’s Greater New York Division. “The Salvation Army works extremely hard to break the cycle of generational poverty by giving low-income students the opportunity to access resources often only available to higher-income families.”
"We are honored to be a part of this special collaboration between Semrush and Crumbl for National Random Acts of Kindness Day and will honor the spirit of this partnership and work to pay it forward in our community as well. We love what this day represents and are aligned with the mission to honor students, teachers and schools to keep the good vibes going all year long,” said Ann Cantrell, Owner of Annie’s Blue Ribbon General Store.
Those interested in receiving free cookies and hot chocolate are encouraged to visit the Crumbl store in Chelsea between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. ET on February 16. Media are most welcome to attend and conduct interviews, vox pops, and capture imagery on location. For more information and details on the event, visit semrush.com/lp/kindness
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About Semrush
Semrush is a leading online visibility management SaaS platform that enables businesses globally to run search engine optimization, pay-per-click, content, social media and competitive research campaigns and get measurable results from online marketing. Semrush offers insights and solutions for companies to build, manage, and measure campaigns across various marketing channels. Semrush, with over 107,000 paying customers, is headquartered in Boston and has offices in Philadelphia, Trevose, Austin, Dallas, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belgrade, Berlin, Limassol, Prague, Warsaw, and Yerevan.
About Crumbl
Crumbl is a popular dessert franchise with a mission to bring friends and family together over a box of the best cookies in the world. Crumbl was founded in 2017 in Logan, Utah, by Jason McGowan and Sawyer Hemsley. In just six years, Crumbl has grown from a humble cookie shop to the fastest-growing dessert chain in the US, with over 950 locations across all 50 states, plus Canada and Puerto Rico. Its rotating menu offers new flavors every week, while regularly bringing back crowd favorites and unique original recipes, all served up in Crumbl’s iconic Pink Boxes. For weekly lineups, don’t miss the weekly flavor drops posted every Sunday at 6pm MST on all of Crumbl’s social media accounts. Visit Crumbl online at crumblcookies.com, on social media (@crumblcookies), or at any of its nationwide locations.
About The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army provides physical, emotional, and spiritual support to individuals in need, without discrimination. Today, it's the largest provider of social services in the US with over 7,600 centers serving more than 30 million people annually. In Greater New York, over sixty facilities including 38 community and worship centers, eight group homes, three rehabilitation centers, three homeless shelters, and other programs empower 687,173 New Yorkers throughout the five boroughs, Long Island, and the Lower Hudson Valley.
Semrush Media Contact: jesse.platz@semrush.com
Crumbl Media Contact: melissa.arnoldsen@crumbl.com
Salvation Army Media Contact: rebecca.smoot@use.salvationarmy.org
