Give Something Back Business Products donates over 50% of after-tax profits to non-profits chosen by customers and employees. It is part of the growing group of competitive businesses modeled after Newman’s Own. Cofounder Mike Hannigan shares some of the in’s and out’s of creating the largest independently owned office supply company in the Western US and pillar of corporate community involvement.

Hannigan emphasizes that first and foremost, this is a business, and people need to remember that. The pre-requisite for starting the company is knowledge of the product and market one will be entering. It is a very competitive market, and customers won’t choose a company solely because of its philanthropic programs. The office supply company for example is highly competitive on prices, with the recognition that office managers of other companies will focus on meeting their budgets first. The donations might however help a customer choose Give Something Back over a similarly priced competitor. He even goes on to say that the business and donation philosophy are not really strategically linked. Unlike many integrated cause-related businesses, for example, Give Something Back will donate money to environmental causes, but still sells primarily virgin (rather than recycled) paper because that is what customers demand.

The company has found that there are three primary business benefits to its philanthropic policies: marketing, customer retention, and employment recruiting. It doesn’t even advertise. Part of the reason it’s able to do this is because of the positive attention and publicity it receives when winning awards for business philanthropy and rapid growth. Second, although customers won’t choose Give Something Back solely for the company philosophy, they have proven to be more loyal. For example they will often give the company second and third chances when it makes mistakes, a big help to the relatively new company.  Finally, this philosophy helps in employee recruitment, as Hannigan has found that the company recruits people that are interested in being more involved rather than just receiving a pay check.

In order to equitably distribute money and empower these employees and customers, Give Something Back uses a voting system to distribute its profits every year. It is structured such that each metro area receives a different ballot, to distribute their proportionate profits to the local community. In order to make it on the ballot, charities must apply for the grants and be approved by an independent auditing agency chosen by Give Something Back. On average, there are 50-60 organizations on each ballot; and it has donated over $3 million to Community Based Organizations (CBO’s) since its inception in 1991. Give Something Back is not cause-related, so any CBO can apply to be on the ballots. Furthermore, because of its private status, Give Something Back has the ability to exercise more freedom in additional programs to help the community. Two examples of this are making a loan with company assets to a community organization needing to expand (a loan much larger than the average grant) and finding wholesale prices for schools needing supplies rather than selling to schools.

One mistake that Give Something Back made in the beginning was trying to be involved in the decisions of non-profits to which it donated. Hannigan stresses that this was a mistake, as he knows the business he runs just as non-profit leaders know their non-profit world. The business now makes it a point to be very hands-off with CBO’s who receive grants. A final lesson learned for the company is to have structured programs in terms of giving and human resource (HR) management. Part of this structure is having HR employees designated to help encourage the giving climate within the company, and keep reminders of recent events. It also has an Annual Donation Meeting where charities come to the company and present to employees and customers what they have done with the grants. These policies help to ensure that ‘the positive energy felt because of a positive impact is reinforced regularly by a conscious management strategy.’

By Louise Doyle Based on interview with Hannigan Hannigan, cofounder of Give Something Back Business Products, conducted by Susan Hyatt. More information on Give Something Back Business Products can be found at: http://www.givesomethingback.com

With their open kitchens and stone pizza hearths, each of the Piatti restaurants reflect the warm charm and welcoming atmosphere of a traditional Italian trattoria. Piatti restaurants are gathering places where friends, family and neighbors eat, drink and socialize while enjoying the sense of community found in Italy’s most popular trattorias.

Piatti prides itself on being involved in the communities where they have restaurants. Their website provides a bried description of their philosophy toward community involvement and lists the names of organizations they have supported in the past.

For more information on Piatti’s community involvement, go to: http://piatti.com/community.html.

Last night I attended Cirque do Soleil’s performance of Corteo in Denver. The show was awe-inspiring due to the amazing performers from around the world and the top notch effects used to create the atnosphere. However, I enjoyed the show even more because I know Cirque provides much more than great entertainment – they are also very actively engaged in supporting communities and at-risk youth.

I first met the community involvement staff from Cirque du Soleil at a Business for Social Responsibility annual meeting several years ago. I was impressed by them and their work to support at-risk youth around the world, even where they will never actually perform because of the basic philosophy they embody about empowering youth based on the organization’s founder’s own roots as a street performer. “In the early 1980s, a group of young street performers, dreamers and self-taught entrepreneurs had the vision and drive to create Cirque du Soleil. Long before the days when they would stimulate the imaginations of audiences, the first Cirque du Soleil Artists performed their shows in the street. If their dream eventually came true–a dream built on boldness, risk and imagination–it was partly because there were older people who believed in them, regardless of their age, image or status as street performers.

The rationale and values behind Cirque’s social action are grounded in this history where youth, risk, dreams and marginality come together for a better world. Now that Cirque du Soleil has the international reach to forge alliances the world over, it has chosen to commit itself to helping youth in difficulty, especially street kids. We focus on helping these young people by allocating 1% of revenues each year to outreach programs targeting youth in difficulty.”

Today, Cirque do Soleil is involved in three spheres of activity supporting communities: Social Arts, Fundraising, and Community Involvement. Cirque supports fundraising in two ways. First are Benefit Performances. Cirque du Soleil tickets are donated to organizations assisting youth at risk, with proceeds from ticket sales going to support their work with young people. Original activities are carried out to assist organizations working with youth at risk (solidarity marches, auctions, etc.) Second are Donations where preview tickets are donated so that community organizations’ client groups can attend our shows for free. Cash, merchandise and show tickets are donated to organizations working with young people for use in auctions, raffles or other special events.

In terms of community involvement, the Cirque website states: “In places where we have a business presence, we try to get involved with the community: internally with the employees and externally with our neighbours. Within the organization, we also seek to encourage social and community involvement on the part of all employees. We have chosen to offer fair trade coffee at work and to explicitly promote this type of commerce; we support employees’ volunteer work within their communities; and more. Dialogue with the local community is established in several ways: by supporting community movements, encouraging the community to participate in some of our activities, supporting events important to neighbourhood residents, participating in working committees, etc.”

In addition, Cirque has established a partnership with Oxfam. At the Corteo performance, evidence of the partnership was very visible from banners in the entrance to projecting the Oxfam name along with their sponsors before the show and during intermission. “Since 1997, Cirque du Soleil and Oxfam International have established a long-term partnership for the benefit of youth at risk. Operating in more than 120 countries, Oxfam is a confederation of 11 autonomous non-governmental organizations in North America, Europe and Asia, committed to working together to fight poverty and injustice around the world. In addition to sharing with Cirque the expertise it has gained in the field, Oxfam sends volunteers to assist the Cirque du Monde program. For its part, Cirque supports Oxfam by organizing promotional and fundraising activities.”

For more information, go to: http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/company/socialaction/default.htm.