Last night I was watching television while I compiled data for an AmeriCorps evaluation I am working on…and several times a new King Soopers commercial that I had not yet seen was aired. What I liked was that they were featuring their “good neighbor” efforts and mentioned four of the nonprofits they support by name. In the market, everyone knows King Soopers is one of our big grocery store chains but what we don’t often know is how much they do as a business to support the community. I shop at King Soopers about 50% of the time anyway as there is one conveniently near my home in Denver – and I am glad to know what they are doing. They will continue to get my business!

Check out their community page.

When I flew to Palm Springs on Sunday, I shared a row with Frank Schultz, owner of Tavern Hospitality Group. We started chatting and when I told him that I work with businesses on being more strategic and effective with their giving to maximize impact, he was a little put off. He went on to say that his company’s giving to the Children’s Hospital in Denver was not for PR purposes but came from his true desire to help children in need. I told him very sincerely that was GREAT and I am all for that – that I was not suggesting otherwise. I then tried to explain that I also am not a big fan of companies that ONLY “do good” because they want to “look good.” I believe most consumers are savvy enough to discern a “snow job” when they see one. If a company has some major dings in other areas of their operations, tossing a few dollars at a nonprofit doesn’t turn the Titanic and build credibility. “Goodwashing” is no better than “greenwashing” in my view. If you don’t really care about a cause you are supporting, stop and take the time to find some other one you do care about to support. Thinking about the many business owners I have talked with over the years, it is just so RARE that I have found small or mid-market companies truly just going for the PR benefit. I find most have a genuine desire to do good but sometimes just don’t quite know how to do it to make the most impact for their cause using their scarce resources.

That said…I do think being strategic and intentional with scarce resources is very important. Frank told me about a wonderful project his company does for Children’s Hospital. They have a 10-week concert series on Sundays when there are no surgeries etc. going on. Each week a different band sets up in the hospital foyer so they kids on all the floors can watch and listen. It sounds like it is a big hit with hospital staff, the children and their families, and his company. He told me very sincerely about being given “the tour” of the various floors in the hospital and how gut wrenching it was to see such sick children. He said seeing those children makes him feel so grateful for the things he has and that he is able to share music with them. Several venues owned by his company offer music -the Soiled Dove in Lowry and Cowboy Lounge in LoDo. Using his connections, he is able to get bands like The Fray that are now so popular that they have outgrown some of the smaller local venues to agree to play for the children to support his efforts. Very cool!

I asked how he lets his customers know about what he does. His response was that he thinks not telling about it is a “sign of character” in the owner. While on one hand, I see what he means. However, I pointed out that his customers would be even more loyal if they knew and that many of them would love to help out in some small ways – like rounding up their food and drink tab as a donation. I suggested that he could leverage his connections with customers, vendors, and other businesses to also support the cause and he could then do EVEN more good. So he started to warm up to what I was saying.

Strategic giving for me means leveraging a company’s assets and connections to do the most good in the community. Being a good neighbor (and being known as a good neighbor) doesn’t mean a company is being crass and totally self serving when the actions come from the heart and are done in a way that make a real difference. It a fine line to walk when sharing the stories of the great things your company does – but doing it also helps inspire other companies and people to get involved, as well.

David Hancock with Morgan James Publishing wrote a nice blog post, To Give is To Receive, on the Digitizer Group Blog encouraging businesses to think about ways to be involved with causes beyond just writing a check.  Here is the link.

Nonprofits always are seeking cash donations and if you have dollars to give, they of course appreciate that.  However, if you are looking to offer your company and employees a deeper, richer experience with the community…chances are giving cash alone will not do it.  There are so many other ways to offer much needed support to causes.  I have a menu of 65 ways that I use with my clients to help them figure out what combination of giving approaches works best for their specific situation.  Think of your giving as a portfolio.  Cash may be one thing you offer…but what other resources do you have or have access to?

I had the opportunity to interview David Eisner, the former CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, in October about his sense of current trends in business giving.  During our time, he mentioned that one thing that gets in the way of businesses thinking beyond checkbook philanthropy is in fact nonprofits themselves.  Many of them are still firmly rooted in the “tin cup” mentality of charitable donations and do not think partnership with benefits for both organizations.  Hence, when you are approached, you may be asked for a donation.  I encourage you to engage in a different conversation with the nonprofit rep about what else you could do to support their efforts.  You may be surprised what can develop!

My forthcoming book on business giving strategies outlines the range of ways to make a real difference in the community through contributions of dollars, time, and other resources as well as commerce-based promotions and relationships.

I just got an email from T-Mobile with the December 2008 T-Mobile Scoop newsletter.  In it, they gave  information about happenings for each month from January to November 2008.  The email said, “check out this year’s Top 10 highlights below. Then vote for your favorite. Or just take a fresh look at why they made the Top 10 list.” I was pleased to see that at least two of the Top 10 were about T-Mobile’s community involvement activites.

March: “T-Mobile helped plant over 500,000 trees.
Starting in March, T-Mobile and the Arbor Day Foundation offered to plant a tree
for every customer who signed up for Paperless Billing. To date, over 500,000 trees
are slated to be planted in storm-damaged regions like New Orleans. Go green.”

July:T-Mobile helped kids across the U.S. through Huddle Up(SM).
Over 2,700 T-Mobile employees rolled up their sleeves to improve community centers and schools in 18 cities. And T-Mobile’s Handset Recycling Program also donated $10,000 to each center and school. Way to go!”

On the T-Mobile Top 10 Poll Page, they showed a timeline with their 10 selections.  The graphic and text for March is to the left.  They included links so you can vote and get more information about that item.  Great idea! It is a fun way to remind customers about new products and services offered by T-Mobile AND let them know about their giving actions, as well.

So I voted for the tree planting project.  When I was done I was taken to a results page which gives a up to the moment graph showing how each of the Top 10 were doing in votes cast as a percentage.  That is a great idea!!

So, so exciting….BusinessWeek Small Biz published an article yesterday online, Make Giving Part of Your Business Strategy…and I am featured in it!

Amy S. Choi, the journalist that wrote the article, contacted me a couple months ago for an interview.  We had a great conversation and I really liked that she was writing an article that would include some “how to” tips for small businesses.  During our conversation, as I described the eight steps of effective business giving that I use in my work, I also mentioned some of the great companies I had interviewed for my book as examples to make my points.  Later I sent her several folks contact info, should she choose to get more information.

From my list, Amy chose to also interview Jason Linkow, owner of Metafolics Salon here in Denver.  A great choice!  The man is so nice and a savvy, businessperson with a lot of integrity.  I have written several earlier blog posts about him.  I have been checking daily for this article.  Today I found it by searching for his name on the BusinessWeek site. (Never though to search on my own…duh!)  So there was a great photo of Jason and Amy’s really well done article.  And Amy quoted me, as well - several times actually.

“Once you’ve settled on a cause, think about the various nonprofits that support it, and ask which would help you best achieve your business goals. “There is a way to be strategic and get business value out of your giving, and still do it in an authentic way,” says Susan Hyatt, founder of philanthropy consultant Business Nonprofit Connections. Are you trying to raise visibility? In that case, choosing a small organization to which you can become a major benefactor would be a good strategic move. If you’re looking to improve recruitment and retention or to boost morale, canvas employees for their opinions about worthy causes. For those looking to increase sales, it’s worth asking if a nonprofit’s other patrons might be potential clients….A lot of companies don’t know exactly what they’re giving, which is ridiculous,” says Hyatt. “If philanthropy were a business unit, you would know what you were spending to the penny.”

Then establish some metrics. That means preparing to track what your employees are doing and how much time they give, and the value of in-kind gifts and pro bono services. If you’re giving cash, ask your organizations to tell you how they spent your money, and consider the payback. Did you gain greater visibility or any new clients? You don’t need to quantify the returns on every dollar spent, but if you don’t keep track of what you’re doing, it’s hard to know the benefits either to you or your cause.

If you’ve chosen an organization you don’t already have a relationship with, start building one by contacting either the development director or the executive director, depending on the size of the nonprofit, says Hyatt. If you know someone on the board, start there. Or, if you want to support a specific program, reach out to the program director. Although the frequency of your contact will vary depending on what kind of support you plan to offer, plan on a minimum of quarterly updates. This will give you a chance to explore future opportunities and evaluate the impact of past giving. “You want to create new opportunities, not show up and deliver a check,” says Hyatt.

It’s important to start small. As your business grows, or shrinks, you can adjust your giving accordingly. Decide where the donations will come from in your budget, whether it’s human resources, public relations, or marketing. Appoint a person in the company to monitor these efforts, making sure that the work is recognized as part of their job duties.

You’ll also want to think about how to celebrate your success. There is a fine line between good marketing and appearing self-serving, and the instinct may be to resist saying anything. But remember, most customers want to do business with companies that do good, says Hyatt.”

Very fun!

I got an email announcement today from United about their ongoing support of the American Cancer Society (ACS).  It appears United is doing a series of bears to sell to raise money for ACS.  This year’s bear is called Maye I Hugyou.  As a nonparent, I once again admit I don’t get the teddy bear attraction but clearly it is a promotion that is working for both United and ACS.  I do like that it was not a one time partnership but is something longer term.

The email says, “United Airlines and the American Cancer Society are again teaming up and inviting you to bring smiles to children undergoing cancer treatment. For a contribution of $50 or 7,500 Mileage Plus miles to the American Cancer Society, you can help comfort kids undergoing treatment. United will arrange for a huggable, limited-edition 18-inch Gund teddy bear, Maye I. HugyouSM (the adorable blue-eyed sister of last year’s teddy bear Kenny Hugyou), to be sent to a child undergoing cancer treatment.

Funds and Mileage Plus miles raised will support the American Cancer Society’s efforts to save lives from cancer by investing in research to discover cancer’s causes and cures, educating and empowering people to avoid the disease or find it early, helping people facing cancer overcome obstacles in their personal cancer fight, and fighting for laws to keep our communities healthy and cancer free.”

So if you are in need of a cute teddy bear, check this out.  It is for a great cause.

When I went to the American Cancer Society website, I did a search for “United Airlines” but did not come up with any mention of the 2008 teddy bear promotion.  What I did find was an article written about the success of last year’s Kenny Hugyou.  “Thanks for your support of the Kenny Hugyou campaign…Working with you and our campaign partner, United Airlines, we achieved exciting results:

• More than 10,000 kids with cancer received a huggable teddy bear over the Valentine’s Day weekend.

• More than 40 million frequent flyer miles and $250,000 in cash donations went to the American Cancer Society’s Angel Flight program, which provides free air travel for patients who receive cancer treatments far from home.”

Great results!  Hopefully they will get the same or better response this year!

Here are some food for thought items as you consider your company’s support of your favorite causes. 

1. Consider the size of the nonprofit you are interested in supporting and how that relates to the size of your company.  In this case, both United and ACS are BIG players but ACS gets a lot of other big company support, as well.  So, on the ACS website, even United’s efforts with the teddy bears are not featured while the promotion is going on to get more participation and recognition.  If you are a small company, getting visibility for your good works with a huge nonprofit organization like ACS from that nonprofit will be even more difficult.  It’ll be up to whatever you do to get the word out and let your own supporters/customers know about it.
2. You can make it part of the agreement that the nonprofit needs to offer a link to your company’s website for whatever the promotion is, or have them issue a press release about it which gets posted on both your websites.  Be sure to negotiate such things on the front end to avoid any gaps in expectations.
3. Think about how you can develop a longer term relationship with a cause or nonprofit to show your true to commitment to it.  And…see if there are ways that each year you can deepen your involvement to whatever the next step is, to get even more benefit for the cause and for your company.
4. United used the same language on their website page as in their email blast.  This does not have to be tough or seriously time consuming to get the word out.

Good luck!  And, call me if you need help with designing an effective cause marketing promotion.

The New York Times published an article by Stephanie Strom on November 28, “A Company Gives the Gift of Cleanliness.”  In her article, Stephanie gives great examples of how companies are offering pro bono services for the public good drawing on their particular expertise.  I love seeing examples where companies make this kind of a strategic link for their philanthropy.

The article states, “Anyone who thinks the Space Needle in Seattle looks cleaner these days is right, thanks to the scrubbing it got over the summer from a German cleaning company, Alfred Kärcher.

The landmark is just one beneficiary of Kärcher’s corporate giving program, which has cleaned many of the world’s most famous structures, including the Christ the Redeemer sculpture overlooking Rio de Janeiro and the presidents’ faces on Mount Rushmore.

Kärcher’s program is an example of how companies are increasingly using their equipment and expertise in corporate philanthropy. Federal Express, for example, lends a fleet of trucks to nonprofits, and Pfizer sends employees to put their skills to use with nonprofit groups around the world for several months at a time.”

What are your company’s core strengths?  Products or services?  How can you offer these to support community organizations?  Especially if cash is tight, using a pro bono approach to staying involved in the community can make a big difference (for both the nonprofit and your company) - maybe even more so than just making a straight cash donation!

OK…so after all the hype about Starbucks joining the (RED) campaign and the ad on Facebook getting people to sign up to go in after 7:00 am to get a drink in honor of World AIDS Day, I was underwhelmed.  I did go get my morning coffee at 7:00 am today for World AIDS Day, as I had RSVPd yes on Facebook for that.  I ordered one of the new Gingersnap Lattes which confused the baristas as that is not my usual drink.  They seemed totally confused when I said I was doing it in honor of World AIDS Day…The (RED) logo and signage was up but I expected more promotion/awareness raising by them.  Oh well…a missed opportunity in my opinion.

Perhaps another time, Starbucks could be sure to distribute a one pager that baristas need to read when they clock in for the day…and have them add something to their usual welcome for the day.  Maybe they could say Welcome to Starbucks…on World AIDS Day.  And let folks know that the three special drinks give back.  Or if someone like me buys one unprompted…take the 2 seconds extra for saying thanks - your purchase supports (RED) and AIDS in Africa.  I am a fanatic about following promotions like this - many others don’t take the time to track things as closely as I do - but they still care and would like to know.

So if your company is doing a cause marketing campaign, make sure you think through all the little details to make sure you get as much mileage (including sales!!) as possible from your efforts…including having salespeople let customers know.  It does not have to be a hard sell by any means but information - especially for the conscious consumer - is always great!  Give people the opportunity to like your company “even more” for your good works than they did before.  If they don’t know, they can’t, right?

I heard Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone, speak at Mark Victor Hansen’s MegaSpeaking Empire a few weeks ago.  He gave a great presentation during which he mentioned his business networking site, the Greenlight Community.  The site states “We are a global community of entrepreneurs and professionals who believe that our relationships drive our success and bring us joy. We are looking for a place to be helpful and to find new ideas, encouragement, friends, maybe even someone to kick our backsides when necessary, and ultimately, MORE SUCCESS, however we define that!”  Sounded good to me so earlier this week I signed up to participate. 

The first person to contact me was Maxine Karchie from Edmonton, Canada.  When I went to her Greenlight page to respond to her welcome post to me, I noticed the cover for a book, titled “The Future of Safety.”  On the cover was a logo that said “Profits to Charity.”  So I mentioned it and said I would like to know more.

She directed me to her blog post on the book which states, the book …”is now for sale with all profits going to two safety related charities. The publication, The Future of Safety,” is now available on our website http://www.hatscan.com.  Profits will go to: SMARTRISK helps people see the risks in their everyday lives and shows them how to take those risks in the smartest way possible so that they can enjoy life to the fullest. And Job Safety Skills Society (JSSS): Educating youth about workplace safety is the key to prevention.”  So I started digging a bit more.  The HATSCAN website says, “the “give-back” is to donate the profits of this project to two charities whose mission and values are aligned with HATSCAN’s mission and values; ZERO Injuries and young worker safety.”

The book was developed by HATSCAN.  “Founded in 1988, Hazard Alert Training Inc.’s (HATSCAN’s) goal is to be Canada’s provider of choice for core Occupational Health and Safety training.  The Future of Safety is “can’t-do-without” resource for Safety professionals, managers, regulators and persons in all occupations that impact workplace health and Safety. Here are the thoughts of 21 prominent experts from all workplace Safety disciplines and professions, drawn from across the nation … in their own words.”

So such a great tie in between the product and its contents and nonprofits whose missions are in alignment with that of the business.  I like it!

I have now seen Seymour Segnit speak at three big events - T. Harv Eker’s Millionaire Mind Intensive, Christine Comaford-Lynch’s Rules for Renegades Summit, and Mark Victor Hansen’s MEGASpeaking Empire.  He is a talented guy and is launching Life University’s new program, The BIG Weekend in early 2009.  The BIG Weekend is a three day event to be held in Los Angeles March 27-29.  The website states, “In 3 amazing days you will uncover what is holding you back, retrain the way you think and react to situations and break through any obstacles that held you back from living your ultimate life…This is no cookie-cutter approach to personal development. At The Big Weekend you will focus on those areas in your life that need attention, identify your issues and address them on the spot.”

I was signed up to attend the BIG Weekend in March - however, I am not able to make those dates.  When I went on the website to reschedule, I noticed a tab called Giving Back.  As you know, I am always on the lookout for such things.  So…

From the Giving Back page I learned that “10% of revenues, yes revenues from The Big Weekend go to support charities that promote education around the globe.”  The page goes on to state, “Giving Back: The Heart of The New U.  In a world of far greater global awareness, we are just beginning to see the opportunity – and the impact – that we as individuals and corporations can have on the world.  From its inception, Life University has provided an environment that gives back and supports our planet and our global community based on a founding belief: We are all responsible and accountable for the world in which we live.”

So nice job that one of five tabs on the Life University website is about giving back.  I would have liked to see a few more details about exactly what programs the 10% will go to, but I assume that is coming. 

Do you have a page on your company’s website that gives an overview of your giving philosophy and who and what you support?  If you don’t, I STRONGLY recommend you follow Seymour’s lead and get one going!!