Through my work with the Corporation for National and Community Service, I attended the annual conference for Executive Directors of Governor’s Commissions on National and Community Service in DC in December.  (NOTE: For those of you who don’t know, each state (except SD) has a Governor appointed nonpartisan board that selects and oversees the AmeriCorps programs in the state and serves as a catalyst promoting service as a strategy to address critical local issues.)  At the conference, there was a session presented by Shannon Maynard, Executive Director of the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, and Michelle Pullaro, East Coast Regional Director of the Taproot Foundation on the Pro Bono Summit being held in New York City in February.

The Pro Bono Summit brought together more than 150 top corporate, government, and nonprofit leaders, to:

• “Create a new definition for pro bono service that directly addresses nonprofit groups’ most pressing needs, including:
  • financial management
  • technology
  • organizational development
  • communications and marketing
  • human resource management
  • fundraising assistance
• Identify the benefits to companies of providing pro bono services, and expand the pro bono ethic among the corporate community
• Share best practices in providing pro bono services

Participants at the Summit also kicked off The Pro Bono Challenge, a three-year campaign to leverage $1 billion in skilled volunteering and pro bono services from the corporate community. To date, more than 18 companies have become Pro Bono Champions, collectively pledging to provide more than $118 million in professional services to help nonprofits address critical social needs.”

The Pro Bono page provides links to some great resources:

• Making the Case for Pro Bono Service (762 KB PDF)
• Pro Bono Examples (653 KB PDF)
• Spotlight Your Pro Bono Story – If you are a company or nonprofit who would like to highlight your successful pro bono partnership, e-mail Julie Proulx at jproulx@cns.gov. Please provide a brief description and contact information (phone and e-mail) so that someone may follow up with you.
• Profiles of Recipients of the 2008 Pro Bono Awards (59 KB PDF)
• What Corporations Are Saying about Pro Bono (12 KB PDF)
• Related Research and Readings (2 MB PDF)

Check out the Pro Bono Junkie’s Blog by Aaron Hurst at Taproot Foundation for current updates.

I am in San Francisco this week doing training for AmeriCorps.  Last night I talked two colleagues into going with me to an award winning vegan restaurant, Millennium on 580 Geary Street.  Wow – it was one of the best dinners I have EVER had on the road anywhere in the world! 

Millennium is part of Joie De Vivre Hospitality.  I heard Chip Conley, Founder and CEO, speak at Millennium to a small group from the Co-op America’s Green Business Conference a couple years ago while we sampled fabulous vegan treats.  I was so impressed by Chip – such a smart, energetic guy and really committed to running his hotels and restaurants in socially responsibile ways.  His book, Peak, is a must read. 

Millennium is a great restaurant – that happens to be vegan – which is also what makes it so exciting.  One of my foodie colleagues asked before we got there, does it serve gluten stuff made into different shapes?  Not hardly!  Their website says, “Millennium Restaurant is dedicated to supporting the essential earthly concepts of organic food production, small farms, sustainable agriculture, recycling and composting. We cook with fresh produce delivered every day, and choose organic whenever possible. We believe that a gourmet dining experience can be created out of vegetarian, healthy, and environmentally friendly foods. We are proud to state that our restaurant is completely free of genetically modified foods.”  Trying it is to be a believer!

Having heard him speak and having read his books, I am a big Chip Conley fan.  However, last night, in addition to eating totally scrumptious food, I was thrilled to see on the back of the menu the “Millenium Restaurant Philanthropy Statement.”  “Millennium Restaurant is affiliated with Joie De Vivre Hospitality.  JDV is a grass roots organization that strives to have a positive impact on our community.  Millennium Restaurant celebrates health & wellness for the body and soul.  As part of our on-going philanthropic efforts, we have partnered with Episcopal Community Services to support C.H.E.F.S. – Conquering Homelessness Through Employment in Food Services.  This Bay Area organization gives under-privileged adults the education & training necessary to develop the skill-set needed to find employment within the food & beverage industry.  In addition, we have also sought to forge a relationship with the District 6 Rooftop Garden Project located atop our very own Tenderloin YMCA.  This project is dedicated to providing members of the tenderloin community a sanctuary for growing produce, trees, & flowers.  We invite out guests to learn more about how you can contribute to these important institutions.  For more information about the C.H.E.F.S., please visit their website: www.ecs-sf.org/programs/chefs.html.  If you are interested in receiving a donation from Millenium Restaurant, please call Erica: 415.345.3900 x11 or email your request to eculp@jvdhospitality.com. ”

What’s not to like?!  Be sure to check Millennium out next time you are in San Francisco!  I went back twice this week myself to take various colleagues for a gastronomic delight and sent others from our training another night!

Did you get your New Year’s Resolutions set for your company’s 2008 community involvement?  Did you set specific goals?  Did you develop a written action plan with goals, tasks, and responsibilities clearly defined?  We are almost two months into 2008 now, how are you doing?  Have you stayed focused?  Made progress?  If you did not do a plan yet, it is definitely not too late…start one today!

The beginning of a new fiscal/calendar year is a perfect time to revisit your company’s community involvement mission and strategy and to make specific plans for the coming year.  If you don’t have a written plan, it is way too easy to dilute your impact by being all over the map with your contributions, become overextended with your scarce resources, and cause confusion among employees and other stakeholders about the focus and true commitment of your company’s philanthropic actions.  Also, without a written plan as your map, it is hard to know when you have achieved what you set out to do.  While the feel good part of community involvement is great, there is the potential for much more significant impact for all concerned with just a bit of planning and strategy

The following are the two minimum steps we suggest all businesses take at this time of year.  In the first step you need to revisit last year’s contributions – even if only briefly.  In the second step, you need to set some goals and targets for the upcoming year. Hopefully, you already have instituted in-depth systems for both these processes.  If not, this should help get you started.  If you need help, send us an email at info@bnconnections.com.

The following series of questions are meant as food for thought as you or a committee of employees and/or other stakeholders make your 2008 plans.

Reviewing 2007:

• What organizations or causes did our company support over the past year?
• What process did we use to select them?  How did that work?
• How did we support them (dollars, in-kind, people, commerce)?
• What was the total dollar value of all of our contributions (not just the tax deductable amount)?
• What percentage of either our gross revenue or net profit was our total contribution?
• What significant benefit did our support leverage for the community?  For our company?
• Were our community involvement efforts consciously tied to our business goals?
• What lessons did we learn this last year?  What do we want to be sure to do again?  What do we want to change?

Planning for 2008:

• What resources (cash, in-kind, people) do we anticipate sharing in 2008? How much of each?
• Do we have options for engaging in commerce-based activities with nonprofits?
• What is the target percentage for our overall contribution? (1%, 2%, 3%, 5%, 10%, 100%,??)  Of sales?  Profit?
• What is the targeted total dollar value?
• Are there financial trends for our company that we need to pay attention to when thinking about our community involvement?
• Given this projected level of resources, what strategy will we use to allocate our resources this year?
• What causes or organizations will we focus on working with or supporting this year?  Why?
• How will we select them?  Is there a process or is it first come, first served?
• Do any of these link with our other business goals for 2008?  If so, how?
• Are there times of year that are not good for heavy involvement due to existing commitments and work flow?
• How will we time our various types of involvement for this year?  One big project?  Something each quarter?  Ongoing?  Or…?
• What are our specific goals?
• What action steps do we need to achieve our goals?
• Who (person, department, team or??) will have responsibility for which pieces?
• What are our tracking and reporting expectations?
• How and with whom will we share information about our effort?

Joe Water provided a link on his blog, Selfish Giving, to a Jeff Trexler post on www.uncivilsociety.org, titled, “Charitable causes trivialized” at the Super Bowl”.  In Trexler’s post, he talks about Advertising Age critic Bob Garfield’s video critiquing the Super Bowl ads and “cause marketing gone wrong”.  Trexler says, “Garfield’s take on the Dell Red ad is well worth noting: it turns AIDS into a “chick magnet.” And be sure to watch long enough (around 4:30) for an essential critique of McDonald’s senseless conflation of its “I’m Lovin’ It” slogan with cancer. Garfield’s core point: our “ROI culture” seems to have erased an earlier generation’s understanding of the rhetoric of corporate charity and branding.”

I downloaded the podcast and watched the video myself.  Take a look, if you have not already seen it.  The text below the video states, “”Is it right to turn cause marketing for AIDS or cancer cures into such a hard sell for the Dell or McDonald’s products?”  Good food for thought.  

I believe businesses need to let consumers know how they are supporting important causes.  According to a 2006 poll on Millenials by Cone Inc., a marketing agency in Boston, 89 percent of Americans between 13 and 25 would switch from one brand to another associated with a “good cause,” if products and prices were comparable. Their 2006 Holiday Shopping Survey found “More than six-out-of-ten shoppers said that they are likely to consider a company’s reputation for supporting causes when purchasing gifts this holiday season.”

One way to harness the power of business to support causes is through cause marketing (though there are also many other options for support of nonprofits for companies to choose from.) Cause marketing is defined as “a commercial activity resulting from a partnership between a company and a nonprofit organization to market an image, product or service for mutual benefit”, according to Business for Social Responsibility’s publication from the late 1990s on Cause Related Marketing.  In a typical cause marketing relationship, a company donates “a portion of each purchase made by customers during a specific period of time to an organization representing a cause or issue.”  Some cause marketing campaigns do not “channel money to nonprofits; some engage principally in educational or awareness-building activities.”

So you can choose not to like cause marketing as an approach but you need to realize that such efforts usually have been found to be very mutually beneficial for the business and the nonprofit.  When a nonprofit signs on with a business for a cause marketing campaign, they know full well their name and reputation will be used to increase sales for the business as a way also to generate dollars for themselves.  It’s win/win.

I don’t think either the Dell or McDonalds commercials trivialize the causes these campaigns were designed to support.  And remember these were ads during super prime time not public service announcements run at 2:00 am.  Dell does not try to directly tug at your heart strings to make a donation to AIDS, they are selling computers, raising awareness of (RED) and in the end people in Africa do benefit.  McDonalds is going directly for the heart strings connection through its ad.  Fine way to go and…why shouldn’t viewers know what the company is doing to support cancer victims, such as the one featured in the ad?  Most folks think they only support sick kids.

Seems like lot of hullabaloo going on to me…maybe some tweaks to the “earlier generation’s understanding of the rhetoric of corporate charity and branding” would make it more effective in 2008 as a way to generate resources to take on the world’s problems.

My last post about (PRODUCT) RED talked about the campaign and what it is designed to do, as well as some concerns about how socially responsible the products being sold actually are.  (RED) continues to create a lot of buzz – I think the Super Bowl ads run by Dell computer last Sunday featuring their (RED) laptop brought the campaign front and center as it was such a widely watched event. 

Today there was an article by Ron Nixon in the NY Times  titled “Bottomline for (Red).”  Nixon reports that at one Rwandan Treatment and Research AIDS Center, things have much improved according to the center’s managing director, Dr. Anita Asiimwe.  She “thanks an unlikely benefactor for all these improvements: the American shopper.”  In his article Nixon states, “Just over a year ago, the rock star Bono started Red, a campaign that combined consumerism and altruism. Since then, consumers have generated more than $22 million to fight H.I.V. and AIDS in Rwanda by buying iPods, T-shirts, watches, cologne and most recently — as anyone who watched the Super Bowl knows — laptops, with all of them branded “(Product)RED.”  Nixon then goes on to express concerns that in spite of the clear good from the campaign in Rwanda  –33 new testing and treatment centers built, medicine supplies provided for more than 6,000 women to keep them from transmitting H.I.V. to their babies, and counseling and testing financed for thousands more patients — there are issues with the campaign.  “Detractors say Red has fallen short. They criticize a lack of transparency at the company and its partners over how much they make from Red products, and whether they spend more money on Africa or advertising.”

Depending on the participating company and their (RED) item, there are varying amounts of money allocated from the sale of the product to the campaign.  For example, “1 percent of all spending on American Express’s Red cards goes to the fund, as do 50 percent of net profits from the sale of Gap Red items and $8.50 from each sale of a Motorola Red Motorazr.”

So this is a tough one.  Where exactly is the line between doing well and doing good in the eyes of consumers and companies themselves?  Corporate advertising dollars are used to promote the Product (RED) campaign.  Consumers buy (RED) items made by various participating companies because they want to offer their support of programs in Africa to combat the AIDS epidemic.  And for every item purchased some percentage goes to fund the programs and services.  The company wins – it’s good for PR, reputational capital, and sales to be part of this high profile campaign that IS doing a lot of good on the ground.  The consumer wins – they get a cool product that makes a clear statement about their values and they know their purchase helps fund good things.  Obviously  the company is in this to make money – and why not?  If these products weren’t generating income, many would NOT be donating dollars at this level in a focused campaign as part of an alliance with other companies as a way to counter the AIDS epidemic.  I agree where it gets sticky is in the allocation of resources – how much of the sales earnings go to advertising and how much to (RED) programs in Africa.  But, it is a chicken and egg problem - less dollars for advertising probably means fewer sales which results in reduced dollars to give so fewer people can be served.  

I am all about “all win”, authentic, enlightened self interested involvement by companies with causes and nonprofits/NGOs.  I believe that we need a new paradigm for how better to tap business resources to make things happen locally and globaly to address the social ills of our times — and it’s not all about charitable contributions.  I believe the “unwritten requirement” of having a totally altruistic, charity mindset limits possibilities for businesses.  For me, there is a difference between individual philanthropy and BUSINESS PHILANTHROPY.  Strategic community involvement means building on the core business strengths, mission, products/services, and resources of a given company to make a unique contribution in the world.  Increasingly, companies are choosing to use a commerce model instead of “handouts” which I think helps with sustainability for the effort and introduces innovation into solving social ills.  Clearly the model of charitable contributions alone has not solved the world’s problems.  Let’s try some new things!!

There was a little announcement in the Denver Post’s Colorado Business section about Staples making a $10,000 donation to Tree by Tree – Mile High Million to be used for planting trees in nine metro Denver communities.  It also mentioned Greenprint Denver – a group I had not heard of.  So…I Googled “Greenprint Denver.”  Turns out Greenprint Denver is “an action agenda for sustainable development for the City and County of Denver that demonstrates local government can be an effective force for innovation and leadership to improve the environment.”  On the home page, there was a prominent article about Staples.

Clicking on the learn more link, I got to the press release about Staples efforts.  “Greenprint Denver and Staples today announced a $10,000 donation to Tree by Tree – Mile High Million to be used for planting trees in nine metro Denver communities. To help raise the funds, 10 area Staples stores donated $1 of every purchase on Dec. 9 and 10. 

Staples really has made it easy for us to progress toward our goal of planting a million trees in metro Denver by 2025,” said Sara Davis, program coordinator for Tree by Tree – Mile High Million, a Greenprint Denver initiative. “This program is essential for promoting Colorado’s environmental and economic sustainability, and we are grateful to have partners like Staples who help us continue to grow.”

“Staples is committed to making it easy for our customers to make a difference for the environment – what we call EcoEasy,” said Mark Buckley, vice president of environmental affairs at Staples. “We’re proud to support Greenprint Denver in its mission to build a more sustainable Denver.”

So while not an example of support for a specific nonprofit, this effort shows Staples general support for the environment and the sustainability initiative of the City and County of Denver.  I wish I’d known before hand…I would have made sure to get any needed office supplies on one of the two days they gave a portion back.  Next time…  Maybe Staples could have sent an email to the local folks in its database to let us know or post a sign in the store.  I don’t know they didn’t post a sign as I was out of town those dates – however, remember if you are doing any special promotion like this and want to engage customers – be sure to let them know using various means!

In the Colorado Business section of the Denver Post just before Christmas, there was a little paragraph announcing Chugwater Chili of Chugwater, WY had established a partnership with Urban Peak, an organization that provides ongoing services to homeless and runaway youth in Denver and Colorado Springs.  Chugwater Chili has committed to contribute 40 percent of the purchase of price of all product sales made through the Urban Peak website.

First I went to the Chugwater Chili website to find out more.  I did not see anything on their standard pages about the Urban Peak partnership or their community involvement in general.  I was disappointed.  Refusing to give up, I next typed “Urban Peak” into their search box and THEN up came a behind the scenes webpage with both organizations’ logos.  On this page, the promotion was prominently displayed – not once but THREE times and with red and blue colored key words- “Remember: 40% of your retail purchase (not including tax and shipping) from this website will go to the Urban Peak center you designate. For accurate credit, please check which center you wish to support; Colorado Springs or Denver.”  All good but I do still think it is a missed opportunity to not have a section on Chugwater’s regular web pages detailing how they support community organizations.

When I went to the Urban Peak site, the Chugwater logo and a link to the site was prominently posted on their home page which is GREAT.  Lets anyone going to the nonprofit’s site know how they can support the organization through this cause marketing promotion with Chugwater and is great exposure for the company.  It has been so cold here in Denver this winter, I am thinking chili sounds like a great meal.  I now know where to get some and do good!

I saw a little piece entitled, “A Fine Idea”, in the Rocky Mountain News a while back that a number of local libraries were donating a week’s worth of fines to the Red Cross tsunami effort.  “To contribute, pay your fine from January 24-30.”  So while I realize libraries are part of local government not the private sector– this is still a great example of a way to get something the organization needs done (i.e., get books returned and fines paid) and give to a worthwhile cause at the same time.

Does this give you any ideas about something your company could do?   Got any late fees coming your way?

I decided right before Christmas to get involved in the blogging world as a way to get more engaged in conversations related to my passion which is gratefully also my work – business involvement in communities and business philanthropy.  When I set up the blog, I was immediately drawn to the Regulus template by Binary Moon.  Today when I was trying to research a few things I have not yet figured out, I found a section on the Binary Moon website, “Want to say thanks?”  It says, “I’ve been asked about a Paypal button for people who make use of the theme who want to say thanks. Well I didn’t make the theme to earn money but if you want to say thank you then you can do one (or more?) of the following.

• Post a comment on the latest Regulus Post saying thanks
• Post a comment on YOUR blog saying thanks and linking to me (I like links )
• Give some money to charity
• Donate some money towards my web hosting charges (uses paypal) – if I make more than I need to cover my server costs then I will give the remainder to charity
• And finally – if you really want to give me something, you can head over to Binary Sun – and buy one of my games. That way I won’t feel bad about taking your money and you get a game to play. “

I really liked that two of the ways to say thanks to Binary Moon for offering a free template were to either make a direct contribution to charity or to donate money toward their web hosting with any remainder being given to charity.  Now I feel even better about my new blog.  Is there something like this your company could do?  Thanks Binary Moon!! 

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.