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. 

Here I sit on New Year’s Night, watching a little TV.  I am watching the first episode of the new season of the Biggest Loser, a show I do not usually watch.  At one point, one of the trainers mentions their efforts to reduce disposable water bottle use in conjunction with their sponsor, Brita, and the FiltersforGood program.  So of course my antennae go up immediately as I am always on the look out for best practice examples…and I head to NBC’s Biggest Loser website at  http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser_5 to learn more.  One of the banner ads across the top of the Biggest Loser page is for FiltersforGood.  Clicking on the image redirected me to http://www.filterforgood.com/index.php .   

Investigating further on the Brita sponsor page http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser_5/sponsors/brita/, I read, “Americans send about 38 billion plastic water bottles a year to landfills. This season, “The Biggest Loser” has partnered with Brita’s FilterForGood campaign to eliminate bottled water from the campus. We’ve always been dedicated to improving your health and now we’re helping Mother Earth, too!  Brita transforms tap water into healthier, great-tasting water. When combined with a Nalgene bottle, filtered water is an ideal solution for “going green” at home, at the gym or on the go. Visit FilterForGood.com and join us by pledging to give up bottled water, too!”

The FilterForGood home page asks viewers to sign up for the pledge to reduce bottled water waste, offers additional pages with facts and eco-friendly tips, has an ad for the Biggest Loser show including a description of the partnership, as well as links to receive Brita coupons or buy a water bottle.

When clicking the Buy Now button, I was redirected to the Nalgene site, http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com/store/detail.aspx?ID=91.  There I see a picture of the bottle and read, “Want to reduce the amount of waste you produce? Want to help reduce global warming and help make safe drinking water a universal reality? Buy this commemorative Filter For Good – Refill Not Landfill bottle and Nalgene and Brita will donate proceeds to Blue Planet Run.”  For every FilterForGood refillable bottle purchased between August 10th and January 31st, 2008, a donation of $4 will be made to the Blue Planet Run Foundation.

Next I googled Blue Planet Run and learned “Blue Planet Run Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to raising global awareness about the lack of safe drinking water, and funding working solutions today for the billion people living without ready access to this life sustaining resource.  Since 2004, the U.S.-based foundation has funded 11 non-governmental organizations worldwide which have in turn implemented 135 sustainable water projects in 13 countries impacting 100 thousand lives. The Foundation’s signature awareness and fundraising event is the Blue Planet Run, the first-ever around-the-world relay run.”

I think this is a great example of a cause marketing effort conducted by two companies that sell water container and purifying products - their choice of the Blue Planet Run Foundation as the beneficiary shows a clear link to their respective business missions.  Also, it makes good business sense to promote their products as a solution to the environmental issue of disposable water bottles by offering consumers not only an easy thing to do but a way to support a nonprofit working on water issues internationally at the same time.  Having a partnership with a popular national television show was brilliant and really boosted the visibility of the FilterforGood program, the companies and their products, and provided consumer education on the issues of disposable water bottles, as well as got great mileage for the TV show and their attention to environmental issues.  Blue Planet Run received dollars to help support their programming as well as invaluable exposure to a broader audience then they probably could afford through their own marketing/advertising efforts.  FilterforGood definitely appears to be an all-win partnership with an excellent ability to cross-promote all four entites – Biggest Loser, Blue Planet Run, Brita and Nalgene.

My only recommendation for improvement of the campaign would be either to have a 1-2 sentence description of the nonprofit beneficiary, Blue Planet Run Foundation, on the FilterforGood and Nalgene websites or provide a link so consumers can learn more about the nonprofit they are supporting through their purchase.  There are clearly visible links to Nalgene and Brita on FilterforGood.com but not for Blue Planet Run.  They seem like a cool organization, so why not feature them?  A lot of people won’t make the extra effort to search Google like I did to find out more – not having more information readily available is a missed opportunity to raise awareness about the nonprofit and the showcase the companies’ strategic choice to support it in light of its mission connection with what they do.  I’ll give you the link since they didn’t: http://blueplanetrun.org/foundation.

Are there ways your company could engage in a win-win cause marketing initiative instead of checkbook philanthropy?

Today I opened my annual greeting card that I received in the mail from the law offices of Holme, Roberts & Owen, LLP.   This year’s card was a 5 x 7 postcard sent in an envelope.  What I like about HRO’s card is that it features their logo, tagline, and lists their locations across the bottom – using a very minimalist approach to promoting their business.  The card instead is designed to highlight the company’s support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and gives a brief two paragraph description of the nonprofit.  It then goes on to state,”Once again, in lieu of a traditional holiday greeting, HRO is very proud to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation on your behalf by adopting and granting the wish of a young girl.”  On the other side of the postcard is a photo and description of the girl they are supporting with details of her wish — to travel to Hawaii to see beaches, dolphins and volcanos.  The card itself has been designed to highlight the girl’s wish – barefeet in sand with a starfish on one side and a lei and sand along with her photo on the other side.  Very nicely done.  Maybe next year, your company could do something similar…??? 

For more information on Holme, Roberts & Owen’s community involvement, go to: http://www.hro.com/displayPage/472.

Everywhere I go this holiday season, I bump into yet another company doing great things for others because it is the Holiday Season.  I love seeing that!  And it gives me more great examples of unique ways to give back to share with my clients on both the business and nonprofit side.  If your company is one of these – I applaud your efforts. 

However, what I would request is that you also pick some other time(s) of the year to do another great effort like you do at the holidays…the need is ever present!  Nonprofits need your company’s engagement all year round with their clients (people are hungry, homeless, need education and social services 24/7) and to help build the reach and capacity of their organizations.  Make it a point this year to set up at least a handful of well-placed initiatives – maybe one a quarter?  The good feeling and business benefits are available at other times of the year, as well.

Everywhere I go this holiday season, I bump into yet another company doing great things for others because it is the Holiday Season.  I love seeing that!  And it gives me more great examples of unique ways to give back to share with my clients on both the business and nonprofit side.  If your company is one of these – I applaud your efforts. 

However, what I would request is that you also pick some other time(s) of the year to do another great effort like you do at the holidays…the need is ever present!  Nonprofits need your company’s engagement all year round with their clients (people are hungry, homeless, need education and social services 24/7) and to help build the reach and capacity of their organizations.  Make it a point this year to set up at least a handful of well-placed initiatives – maybe one a quarter?  The good feeling and business benefits are available at other times of the year, as well.

Does your company give gifts to your clients during the holiday season as a way to say thank you for their business? This year, why not do something different? Some ideas could include:

• Make a donation to a nonprofit in your client’s name.  For example, see Mercy Corps Gift Kits which include a children’s food kit for $20, a women’s small business development kit for $40, and many more.  Their website says: “What’s the best present you can give a poor family in need?  Hope.  Change the way you see gift giving. Mercy Kits are a convenient way for you to give a gift while helping people in need. Perfect for birthdays, weddings and more. And it’s easy to send your personalized gift announcement: by mail, by e-mail or by printing your own card.” (http://www.mercycorps.org/mercykits/?source=1018)
• Instead of a traditional gift like a calendar, pen and pencil set, logo mug, sausage and cheese basket, buy a product produced and sold by a local nonprofit – like a soup kit made by Denver’s Women’s Bean Project - a nonprofit business dedicated to helping women break the cycle of unemployment and poverty through on-the-job training and life skills coaching,(http://www.womensbeanproject.com) or an American Red Cross disaster kit (http://www.redcross.org/store). 
• Send a greeting card that highlights your holiday give back to a local nonprofit…plus your message of thanks.  No gift necessary – just a card which you’d probably send anyway!

What have you done that could inspire other companies? Please share!

Community involvement is one of the five essential components of business social responsibility.  Community involvement (CI) refers to the myriad ways businesses can draw upon their unique expertise, resources, and connections to actively engage with community organizations to address local and global issues.  Most commonly, companies provide contributions of cash, in-kind, and people to support the work of nonprofit organizations.  However, more and more companies are now engaging with nonprofits through commerce. 

To be most effective, community involvement needs to be authentic, strategic and linked to a company’s specific business model, mission, and needs.  Community involvement initiatives, while providing benefit to a nonprofit, also need to be designed to help the company address such issues as reputation/visibility, customers, employees, and investors.  

There are more than one million nonprofits in the United States today – and all need business support.  Therefore, companies need to be very intentional about the causes and organizations with which they choose to get involved.   There may be some very worthy organizations that are best supported as part of your individual philanthropy but for a variety of reasons may not be an optimal choice from a business perspective.   I am not suggesting businesses should support causes they don’t really care about just to make a buck.  What I am suggesting is that “all win” choices are good.  If you would like your employees to be stronger as a team, choosing to support an organization that really needs volunteers for a project might be a wiser choice than one that only wants a silent auction gift certificate.  

Food for Thought

How have you selected which nonprofits are supported by your company?

What benefits did your support provide for the nonprofit?  For your company?

Are you familiar with the term corporate/business social responsibility (or CSR) and the business benefits with which it is associated? Many entrepreneurs and smaller businesses mistakenly believe it is only a concern for large, Fortune 500 companies. However, there is an increasing demand from consumers and investors that companies of all sizes engage in ethical business practices. Combined with the growing awareness that socially responsible businesses tend to be more successful over time, smaller companies also are paying closer attention to being more socially responsible as a proven way to improve their profitability and competitiveness in the market.

There are five main components of business social responsibility:

1. Business Philosophy and Design (includes business vision, mission, values, ethics, transparency and governance)

2. Workplace Policies and Practices (includes such topics as employee benefits, work schedules, training, promotion, remuneration, and issues of work/life of balance.)

3. Marketplace Practices (includes selling quality products and services, honest advertising, supply chain practices, customer and vendor relations)

4. Environmental Practices and Sustainability (includes green office practices and minimizing/eliminating negative environmental effects from the manufacture, use or disposal of products.)

5. Community Involvement