When standing in the checkout line at Whole Foods, I periodically see a display with tear off tags ($1, $2, or $5) inviting me, the customer, to select a tag in the amount I would be willing to donate to the Whole Planet Foundation. The mission of the Foundation is to create economic partnerships with the poor in developing world communities that supply Whole Foods Market stores with product by providing microloans to encourage entrepreneurism.  Microcredit is one of the causes my company, Business Nonprofit Connections, Inc., supports through various local and international NGOs.  So…what’s a buck?  A good cause that I believe in and it’s easy for me to take a tag and make a small donation.  Requires no preplanning, no strategic thinking, and I won’t notice not having that money.  Even if I wasn’t such a microcredit fan, it is still easy to do.  Combine my buck or two with the money from a lot of other customers and it can really add up.  This is a great example of a way any retail business can engage their customers to support the cause selected by the company, build reputation and customer loyalty.  Requires no big up front cash outlay by the company – just some signage and tags and a way to track donations in the cash register system.

Today in the Baton Rouge Whole Foods checkout line, I saw the Whole Foods Market 2008 Calendar for sale for $2.00.  What a deal!!  I needed a calendar to hang in my office and this one was the perfect choice.  It is a glossy page calendar with great photos from various countries and of Whole Foods team members with $13 in savings coupons inside for a super deal of a price…AND…100% of sales of the calendar go to benefit the Whole Planet Foundation.  On the January page of the calendar, it states that Whole Foods covers Whole Planet Foundation’s annual operating budget and that donations received by the Foundation are directed to microlending programs in the developing world.   The calendar reports on every photo page that “As of November 2007, Whole Planet Foundation has authorized over $5.9 million to support microlending programs in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, India and Indonesia with plans to expand to east Africa in 2008. This support has helped 14,429 entrepreneurs create small businesses in the developing world.   Average loan size is $157 with an average repayment rate of 99.8%.” 

Go buy your own calendar while they are still available! 

For information, go to:  www.wholeplanetfoundation.org  

I have been having trouble with my computer since I loaded Microsoft Office 2007.  Instead of doing the smart thing and taking my computer to some tech guy to run a diagnostic, I have been trying to figure it out myself.  Never a good move…  Anyway, I have spent a bunch of time on the Microsoft website lately.  While clicking around in the site, I found a link to Microsoft’s ”i’m Initiative” from Windows Live Messenger. (http://im.live.com/messenger/IM/Home/?source=banner_WLM_MSCOM_typing_DL)  There I learned more and liked what I saw. 

Every time you start a conversation using i’m, Microsoft shares a portion of their advertising revenue with the social cause organization you preselect from their list of ten when you sign up to use their free service.  So how does it work?  “It’s simple.  It’s free.  You IM, we give.”  Microsoft provides instructions for how to get started.  First you download the Windows Live Messenger (8.1 or higher) instant messenger service at no charge.  If you already have it, there is a link that gives you information about how to proceed.  Then you place a text code corresponding to the cause of your choice into your Display Name.  They make it easy by providing the list of the ten organizations and the codes you need to use as well as graphics that make it very clear how to do it.  (http://www.im.live.com/Messenger.IM/runonce/default2.aspx?source=homepage) As per their example, if you wanted your Display Name to be “Tude Palma” and the contribution every time you IM to be made to UNICEF, you would set up your Display Name as “Tude Palmer *unicef.  Pretty easy, eh?

The ten nonprofits Microsoft supports through this initiative are:

·         American Red Cross

·         Boys & Girls Clubs of America

·         Humane Society of the United States

·         National AIDS Fund

·         National MS Society

·         ninemillion.org

·         Sierra Club

·         StopGlobalWarming.org

·         Susan G. Komen for the Cure

·         U.S. Fund for UNICEF

I think this is a creative example of cause marketing (for a free service) to build reputation and customer loyalty through Microsoft’s partnering with its customer base to give back.  They encourage you to use their service and then use some of their advertising budget (NOT their charitable donations line item!) to give back.  An interesting spin on advertising, eh?   If you are going to IM anyway either for personal or business reasons, using Microsoft’s free Windows Live Messenger, why wouldn’t you also set up your account to do good at the same time?  I have not done much instant messaging yet but I am definitely going to sign myself up with UNICEF as the beneficiary and have my network of consultants do the same.

My only suggestion for an upgrade here would be to make sure this is more widely known.  And somewhere on the pages about the Initiative to not only list the codes with the names of the 10 nonprofits selected by Microsoft, but also to give a one sentence description of what each organization does.  I personally am familiar with all of them except ninemillion.org but is everyone that might want to IM for free and give back?  Probably not.  At least the names of the nonprofits could be links to take you easily to their websites.

When I went to the United Airlines home page (http://www.united.com) tonight to sign in and print out my boarding pass for tomorrow, I noticed a link saying “give a teddy bear to a child” under the United News and Details section in the center of the page. The link took me to a landing page that describes United’s promotion with the American Cancer Society.

“Give a teddy bear to a child who needs it the most.  Funds and Mileage Plus miles raised during the Kenny Hugyou campaign will support the American Cancer Society’s efforts to eliminate cancer as a life-threatening disease, educate individuals about cancer prevention, support those with the disease, and fund research to find new and better treatments.”  (http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,52401,00.html)  The promotion invites customers to “give a great, big bear hug and join United Airlines and the American Cancer Society® in bringing a smile to a child with cancer.” For a contribution of $50 or 7,500 Mileage Plus® miles to the American Cancer Society, United will arrange for a huggable, limited-edition 17 inch Gund® teddy bear, Kenny Hugyou (can-he-hug-you) to be delivered to children in hospitals across the country that have been pre-selected by the American Cancer Society. Contribute $250 or more and a second teddy bear will be sent to your home.  The bears will be delivered in February 2008.  Tax-deductible contributions need to be made online by January 31, 2008. All miles will be donated through United and that all cash donations must be made directly to the American Cancer Society.

Nice thing for United to do — I’ll be interested to see if they post any update about how the special promotion went when it is over.  The American Cancer Society is of course one of the well-known giant nonprofit organizations.  Cancer is tough at any age and especially when it involves children.  However, I am left with some questions.  Why the ACS?  Is this being run through United’s foundation or..?  Was this a strategic choice linked to business or specific stakeholder goals or…a nice thing to do?  Is there an employee component to this, or is it just for customers and people that happen onto the site?  It is almost sacrilegious, so I hate to say… I am a little underwhelmed about the link between an airline and teddy bears in hospitals.  Are they being flown in?

My sister gave me an ornament for Christmas this year – an angel made from a Sprite can.  I thought it was very cute…and then I read the attached card and saw what a thoughtful gift it was for me given my interest in business support for causes globally.  The front of the card had a stylized drawing of the angel with the words “angels with attitude” along the edges.  Inside, it said that the angel was made from a recycled soda can by Zulu teenagers orphaned due to the AIDS epidemic as an extra-mural youth entrepreneurism activity.   “Purchasing an angel will impact directly on the students , assisting them to feed, clothe, and educate themselves and at the same time giving them a sense of pride and selfworth.”

Even after reading the hangtag, I still had no idea what the angel REALLY symbolized.  When I went to the Angels Against Crime website (http://angelsagainstcrime.co.za/background.htm), I learned more about the tragic story behind the 25 year old Sutton family’s Zulu handicrafts business, Ilala Weavers, support of these angels.  Jeremy, one of two sons involved in the family business was murdered on the job in 2000.  “Jeremy was working with a group of handcrafters on a Beaded Angel, which was to be sold as a Christmas decoration. On the 30th August 2000, he went on a field trip into the Maputoland region of Kwa-Zulu Natal to meet with a group of crafters, to collect work and pay them for it. He hadn’t long been there, when two men approached him, one pulled out a gun and cold bloodily, in front of twenty people, shot him through the heart and took the money. The murderers have since been taken into custody and are serving two life sentences each.

The family decided to dedicate the Angel, which because of his work on it, had become known as Jeremy’s Angel, as a symbol against crime and of peace, and to use the proceeds from the sale of the Angels to curtail crime and to assist crime victims, by supporting organisations and projects which do this.”

The mission of Angels Against Crime is:” To promote peace and goodwill, create awareness and reduce crime by supporting education, training and skills development projects that create sustainable income generation and improved standards of living for the youth of South Africa.” (http://angelsagainstcrime.co.za/index.htm)  The four goals of the project are as follows. “To create employment for the rural people of Northern Kwa-Zulu Natal.  To Promote peace and goodwill. To assist campaigns and projects aimed at curtailing crime in South Africa. To assist those who have become victims of crime and violence.”

The website also provides consumer education on safe travel tips for South Africa.  The Ilala Weavers business website, http://www.ilala.co.za/, provides a link to the Angels Against Crime website, and offers the beaded and recycled can angels for sale through their website, as well. 

Industry: Vehicle services

Headquarters: Denver, CO

Founder: Ramon Elder

Founded: 1993

Markets: Virginia Village Neighborhood, Denver, CO

Interviewed: Ramon Elder, Owner

Virginia Village Texaco is a neighborhood Texaco gas station on the corner of Holly and Florida in Denver, CO. The location is an old style Texaco, with full service, where people pull in to have their gas pumped, their tires checked, and other services performed on their cars. Due to the full service offered, the firm is patronized by many senior citizens and other neighbors in the community. The firm thrives on its close relationship with its surrounding community, which it fosters through its community involvement practices.

Virginia Village Texaco’s community involvement is about supporting the neighborhood where the firm is located and getting support from the community in return. According to Ramon Elder, “if anyone is going to support you, it is going to be your neighbors.”

Virginia Village Texaco

1510 S. Holly,

Denver, Colorado, 80222