Montblanc ’Signature For Good’ Initiative Raises $5 Million

Thanks to the support from customers worldwide, Montblanc has achieved a record-breaking result with their latest partnership benefiting UNICEF. This will enable their continued joint mission to help give children around the world access to quality education.

The Montblanc ’Signature For Good’ initiative launched by Montblanc in March 2013 during the Academy Awards, had originally aimed to raise $1.5 million over 12 months to support UNICEF’s education programmes. Funds raised through the Montblanc ’Signature For Good’ collection of limited edition writing instruments, leather goods and men’s accessories reached a final record-breaking $5 million donated to UNICEF by the luxury Maison.

The funds will help provide quality education for the most vulnerable and marginalized children through UNICEF’s Schools for Africa and Schools for Asia initiatives, as well as through programmes in Latin America. While each piece in the collection offers understated elegance, handcrafted quality and the finest craftsmanship, the Montblanc ’Signature for Good’ collection was also designed with a higher purpose. Each piece has a truly special meaning because its purchase  helps to positively impact children’s lives, giving them access to better education, and a chance to fulfil their potential. Every writing instrument, leather good and jewellery piece in the collection featured an individual number associated with a ’brick’. The brick symbolizes the building and running of schools indicating that the owner of the product had a symbolic share in the programme and contributed to building better and brighter futures – brick by brick.

“While we set ourselves an ambitious target, we are humbled and delighted to have exceeded our original goal, over three times the amount we had hoped for”, explains Jérôme Lambert, CEO Montblanc International. “Such an achievement is the result of the enthusiasm, dedication and support from everyone who shares UNICEF and Montblanc’s belief in the importance of giving every child access to quality education.    Helping build a better future for themselves and  their communities.

“Education is a fundamental human right and yet a staggering 57 million children around the world are not enrolled in primary school,” said Caryl Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. “UNICEF is grateful for Montblanc’s long-term commitment to improving the lives and futures of children, and the communities they live in, by supporting access to a quality education.”

“Every dollar raised makes an impact, giving more children the opportunity they deserve to build a better future for themselves and their communities. With our heritage firmly anchored in the culture of writing, we believe that education is key to everything, and it should be universal” explains Jérôme Lambert, CEO Montblanc International.

The final amount raised through Montblanc ’Signature For Good’ will be handed over by Actor Pierre Niney to Caryl M. Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, on September 16^th, 2014.

For more information about The Montblanc “Signature for Good” collection and Montblanc and UNICEF’s efforts, visit www.montblanc.com

About Montblanc/UNICEF Partnership

Montblanc has supported UNICEF since 2004. Because cultural commitment is an integral part of Montblanc’s brand philosophy, Montblanc wishes to take an active role in the international promotion of education and cultural values. With a heritage deeply rooted in the culture of writing, Montblanc shares UNICEF’s commitment to ensure all children have access to a proper education to learn how to read and to write. Montblanc has raised over $5 million dollars for UNICEF’s education programmes worldwide. The “Sign Up for the Right to Write” and the ’Power to Write’ global fundraising initiatives were launched in 2004 and 2007 respectively. In 2009, Montblanc renewed its commitment to UNICEF’s work to build a better future for children through access to quality education funded with proceeds from the “Signature for Good” initiative. This campaign ran again in 2013 and 2014 with parts of the proceeds raised from the sale of the new ’’Signature For Good’’ Collection going towards vulnerable children supported by the Schools for Africa and School for Asia initiatives, as well as UNICEF education programmes in Latin America[1].

About UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to save and improve children’s lives, providing health care and immunizations, clean water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief, and more. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF supports UNICEF’s work through fundraising, advocacy, and education in the United States. Together, we are working toward the day when ZERO children die from preventable causes and every child has a safe and healthy childhood.

For more information, contact:Andrea Sioris, U.S. Fund for UNICEF, (212) 880-9136, asioris@unicefusa.org