Stonyfield Farm has the mission to promote healthy food, healthy people, and a healthy planet. And its product, internal business operations, and community involvement programs support these goals. For its philanthropic initiatives, Stonyfield focuses solely on environmental causes. It supports these by 1) using its own best environmental practices, 2) donating to environmental causes, 3) supporting family and organic farming, and 4) educating the public.

This philosophy is an integral par of how Stonyfield does business, and the company has seen three main benefits to it. It has helped gain customer loyalty, decreased the time it takes Stonyfield to introduce and bring to market a new product, and increased media attention. In short, its unique approach to community involvement (such as randomly giving out hundreds of samples) has increased brand awareness.

It supports causes through partnerships with monetary donations, in kind donations, and services. Stonyfield donates 10% of its profits to environmental nonprofits, provides an advertising and education platform on its yogurt covers, has instituted creative recycling programs for its products, and invests in tree planting and renewable energies to offset the emissions from yogurt production. Eligibility for donation from Stonyfield is pretty simple — interested nonprofits must help the environment, show results, and promote Stonyfield somehow.

This last requirement is especially crucial, as president and CE-Yo Gary Hirshberg has found that nonprofits often overlook these business needs. He stresses the need to remain adamant in requiring that your business gets something out of the donation, as this exposure can be a central part of marketing efforts for the company. Hirshberg also stresses the need for these partnerships to be long-term and consistent with company values. Short-term relationships that are not truly grounded in the values and actions of the business will provide neither business not community benefits, and will ultimately backfire. Stonyfield has been patient with its relationships, waiting years until they are fully developed and continuing dialogue with partners during conflicts.

On top of partnering with nonprofits, Stonyfield also helps its farmers. It does this by supporting family and organic farmers, and helps farmers with the financially daunting task of switching to organic. Over 80% of its products are certified organic, in part due to these close relationships with farmers. The company is in fact working to double the number of organic family farmers in the country through increased sales and awareness.

By Louise Doyle Based on interview with Gary Hirshberg, President and CEO of Stonyfield Farm, conducted by Susan Hyatt.

More information on Stonyfield Farm can be found at: http://www.stonyfield.com/

I logged into my Constant Contact account today to get my next newsletter ready and found they had sent me an email about their give back program, Cares4Kids. Great idea to send all customers an email offering customer participation in their program and gaining visibility for their efforts.

“Cares4KidsTM is Constant Contact’s charitable program that enables our customers to “give back” to their local communities. Through Cares4Kids, Constant Contact customers can share the success they’ve found using Constant Contact by giving their favorite child-focused, social or educational nonprofit charity a free Constant Contact account!”

How Cares4Kids Works
Every Constant Contact customer in good standing can nominate one organization for a free account. If the nominated organization is deemed eligible by Constant Contact, they will be accepted into the Cares4Kids program and will receive a free Constant Contact account.

To learn more about the program requirements, or to nominate a nonprofit for the program, visit: www.cares4kids.com.

Nonprofits that don’t meet the Cares4Kids program requirements are entitled to our standard nonprofit discount. Visit www.constantcontact.com/pricing to learn more.

Brighton was launched in 1991 with a single collection of belts. Over the years, Brighton has become an accessory company with something for everyone. Handbags were added to the line in 1993, followed by small leather goods, watches, fragrance, jewelry, home accessories, eyewear and most recently, luggage.

On their website they list two major efforts in which they have been involved.

First is the “Go Red” Campaign. Brighton has been contributing since 2005 and has donated $813,679. Their website says, “Over 480,000 women die each year as a result of cardiovascular disease. That’s more than the next five causes of death combined, including all forms of cancer,” said Laura K. Young of Brighton Accessories. “Fortunately, there is a lot that can be done to prevent heart disease and stroke, but raising awareness is critical.” Brighton participates in the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women movement, which is aimed at making women aware of their risk for heart disease, the #1 cause of death, and take action to reduce that risk. These monies were donated to the National or Regional levels of the American Heart Association.

Second is the “Power of Pink” Campaign. Brighton has been contributing since 2003 and has donated $1,788,000. Their website states, “Brighton decided in 2003 to create a bracelet annually to give hope and encouragement to everyone who is committed to fighting and eradicating this life-threatening disease. The journey we started has been rewarding and heart-warming. Beyond spreading hope and happiness to thousands of cancer survivors and their loved ones, these bracelets are helping to re-shape the future and rid the world of a dreaded disease. Here are a few of the wonderful charities these monies have been donated to: The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, The City of Hope Cancer Center, Concern Foundation and Susan G. Komen Foundation.”

For more information, go to: http://www.brighton.com/retail/about_us/giving_back/

At Macy’s checkout in the Cherry Creek Mall in Denver, I noticed a sign on the counter inviting customers to donate $3.00 to benefit Reading is Fundamental. Macy’s offered a $10 savings pass for future purchases of $50 or more with every $3.00 donation. They added my $3.00 donation onto my purchase price and when I got my receipt I could see both the jacket I had purchased listed as well as the $3.00 donation. Being at the check out like that, it was easy to make the donation – on a $100 purchase it was a small add-on – why not support the effort?

When I went to the Reading is Fundamental website, I found out a bit more. “This summer, Macy’s will give customers the opportunity to make a $3 donation to RIF. Last year, Macy’s raised over $1 million for RIF programs. Learn more about the RIF and Macy’s “Be One for the Books!” partnership.” For more information on Reading is Fundamental, go to: http://www.rif.org or http://www.rif.org/about/partners/macys_beoneforthebooks.mspx. For more information on Macy’s community involvement, go to: http://www1.macys.com/store/about/community/index.jsp