Jaki Bent, If Everyone Cares, talked with me about my new book, Strategy for Good: Business Giving Strategies for the 21st Century at the Experts Industry Association annual meeting in Santa Clara, CA. I share with Jaki why I wrote the book and give a brief overview of its contents.

I interviewed Lisa Bowen, CEO, and Jeanie Barnett of Tweezerman for my book, Strategy for Good, which is coming out in February 2011 (Pre-order your copy now at http://www.StrategyforGood.com.)  I was impressed by their commitment to CSR and giving back — and have been a big Tweezerman fan ever since!  Before Christmas, I was wandering through Sephora looking for some last minute stocking stuffers and ran across their Mini Slant Tweezer for “Paws for a Cause.”

From the website, “Tweezerman believes that giving back is always in style. Now every Tweezerman fan can join us in promoting animal appreciation and well being while keeping brows tame with our newest paw-tastic mini super-tool for beauty on the go. Of course, this Mini features our signature perfectly aligned, hand-filed precision tips to grab every hair.

$1 from every Paw Print Mini Slant® Tweezer and 50 cents from every Paw Print Matchbox Itty Bitty Files sold will be donated to The Humane Society of the United States to support their efforts to encourage shelter adoption through the Shelter Pet Project. Great for gifts, friends and family will be pawing for these ultra cute cause-worthy prints. Available at Sephora.com.”

One of the things I liked about this cause marketing promotion was that the tweezer itself had paw prints on it. The packaging had the Humane Society logo on the front as well as info on the give back so consumers could clearly see it.  Also, on the back, they again told how much they would donate of the purchase price and gave some info about the Humane Society, as well as the URL and address.  Very nicely done!

As a way to engage with consumers who love their pets…they also ran a special contest with a prize of $250 worth of Tweezerman products for the best story about a pet rescue.  Also a great idea and a way to build customer loyalty!

From the stand alone Give Hope with Every Cup website, I learned “Dannon and the National Breast Cancer Foundation are united to carry out a mission of giving hope. It is the long standing mission of the National Breast Cancer Foundation to increase awareness through education, provide diagnostic breast care services for those in need, and provide nurturing support services to save lives through early detection.

Dannon is committed to helping people lead a healthy lifestyle through our line of fresh cultured dairy products and the support we provide to organizations like the National Breast Cancer Foundation. We are putting forth our efforts to rally a community around this cause and ultimately, give up to $1.5 million to the National Breast Cancer Foundation with a guaranteed minimum donation of 500,000, including retailer-specific programs.”

Nice win-win cause marketing partnership.  The website is a lovely pink (of course) and has a link to more information on the program, a link to spread the word through Facebook, as well as Stories of Hope. It also details the specifics of the promotion including exact amounts to be donated.   Check it out!

As I ate my yogurt, I learned that each of the yogurt cups in my four-pack had different numbers on the lids.  Each needs to be entered separately online – but a little effort on my part gives $.10/lid to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  So what I am generating is small but combined with everyone else participating, it can really add up!  So…get out your spoon and eat up!

I appreciate that Groupon took time to reach out and share with me what they are doing so I can share that with you!  Thanks Groupon!!

From the idealist article I learned, “Groupon’s new project, G-Team, will apply the crowdsourced bargain model to help connect local causes and movements to people that “want to do good, have fun, and make a real impact.” G-Team campaigns can help community organizations, fundraisers, and initiatives for social change reach a wider audience, hopefully letting you, the changemaker, “achieve something awesome that you couldn’t have done alone.”

For fundraising, nonprofits could ask the Groupon community for enough small donations to get over a programmatic financial hurdle. Host events or other programs open to the public? Consider adding a deal for registration that also has a volunteer service commitment attached.

G-Team campaigns are local, run for a short amount of time, and support causes that the Groupon community cares about. In addition, they’re only for specific projects and only succeed if they reach a ”tipping point” (just like the Groupon bargain of the day).”

I went to the Groupon website to learn more and couldn’t find mention of or a link to the G-Team.  So I googled it and then found the page that way.  I learned, “We’re launching our pilot G-Team in Chicago and hope to come to your city soon.  As a Groupon Subscriber you’ll be notified of the daily deals and the G-Team campaigns in your community.”

They also state, “Keep in mind G-Team campaigns typically:

• benefit the local communities of our subscribers
• run for a limited period of time (usually one day)
• support causes that resonate with our subscribers
• aid specific projects, as opposed to broad fundraising efforts
• only succeed if they reach a “tipping point”
• are creatively organized around a compelling story

Hey non-profits! Get G-Team behind your mission. Apply Now for Sponsorship“

I like what both groups are doing to support communities. Good luck Groupon and Blacktie Daily!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Business leaders, remember, there are so many ways to engage with your customers and leverage resources for your favorite causes.  Your imagination is the only limitation!!  What way can work best for your company?

From their website, “HELP CINNABON AND OPERATION GRATITUDE SEND “HUGS FROM HOME” HOLIDAY CARE PACKAGES TO TROOPS OVERSEAS!

Over 150,000 troops will be stationed in Afghanistan this holiday season.  In thanks for their service, Cinnabon is raising money for Operation Gratitude to send “Hugs from Home” care packages to these unsung heroes.

October 1 through 31, Guests can support this heart-warming cause by making donations at participating bakeries.  For every $1.00 contribution, they will receive a $1.00 “Cinnabuck” valid on their next visit.

Guests can also use the Twitter hashtag #cinnabonsaysthx to send tweets for troops.  For every tweet, Cinnabon will chip in 10 cents to Operation Gratitude, for a maximum donation of $10,000.

When the fundraiser ends, Cinnabon will team up with Operation Gratitude to send care packages that will include Kellogg’s^® Cinnabon snack bars, Cinnabon Cream of Wheat^™ from B&G Foods^®, Cinnabon kettle roasted nuts from Mellace Family Brands^® and Cinnabon candy canes from Spangler Candy^®.

“At Cinnabon, we believe that life needs frosting, and that holds especially true for the brave men and women serving our country,” said Gary Bales, Cinnabon president.  “Being far away for the holidays is never easy, so we wanted to send our troops some sweet memories of home.”

I just tweeted, why don’t you?  And treat yourself to a Cinnabon…and make a donation while you are there!

It said, “To celebrate the rarity of this calendar date we’re putting our group tours on sale this weekend only! Hooray for the 10th day of the 10th month of the 10 year….errr, 2010th year.

Plus, you can share your savings by helping others obtain 20-20 vision! Through our Planeterra Foundation, we’re raising funds for building a permanent eye camp in Cambodia to treat simple eye conditions and increase prevention and detection of cataracts and other eye diseases. We’ve supported temporary eyesight camps in Tibet for years and value any support you can add to the cause as we help change people’s lives!

To grab your savings and book a trip, head to:  www.gapadventures.com/trips/promotions/10-10-10-sale/

What is on sale this weekend and when does it end?
Virtually all of our group tours are on sale for 10% off. This includes departures from now until December 31, 2010! But you have to act fast as this sale ends on October 11, 2010.

Why support 20-20 Vision?
It always feels good to give back, doesn’t it? Head over to our Planeterra website to see how you can donate your trip savings and support our eye sight restoration camp project: http://www.planeterra.org/pages/projects/2.php.”

According to their website, “In order to minimize its impact on local cultures, Gap Adventures has also endeavoured to become one of the most sustainable tour operators in the world. To achieve that goal, Gap founder, Bruce Poon Tip founded the companion non-profit Planeterra Foundation in 2003 to aid global community development. To date, Planeterra’s innovative focus on voluntourism and fundraising has funded roughly 30 development projects, delivering everything from health programs to infrastructure improvements.”

When I was in Peru, I got to visit the women’s weaving co-op in the Sacred Valley. I learned that since 2005, Gap has been working with the Ccaccaccollo community to develop a women’s weaving cooperative. Most Gap Adventures groups like mine visit this community as part of their tour to meet the women and learn about all the stages of the weaving process; from hand-spinning the wool, dying the wool using natural dyes, and participating in a weaving demonstration.  It was fascinating to see it all live!  We also were given the opportunity to purchase high quality textiles directly from the women who made them.  One of the pieces I bought now sites in my living room where I see it everyday and I remember my conversations with the woman who wove it.  You can see her holding it in this photo I took.

By working with the women of this community, Planeterra and Gap are encouraging them to be proud of their cultural heritage by showcasing their intricate weaving skills. This also enables the women to help provide for their families and benefit from tourism in a way that avoids negative social and cultural impacts.

Gap Adventures pays the salary of all Planeterra employees and all administration costs so that 100% of each donation goes directly to our projects. 

There are 5 main ways that their projects are funded:
Individual Donations – are made online by donors and are matched dollar-for-dollar by Gap Adventures (up to $10,000 USD per project)

Dollar-A-Day Program – provides travellers with the opportunity to donate one dollar per day for the duration of their Gap Adventures tour to Planeterra before travelling either by clicking the check box online, or by advising their travel agent at the time of booking a trip

Volunteer Tours – include a donation amount that goes directly to our projects

Fundraising Events – are organized around the world by us and third party event organizers

Corporate Partnerships – is an avenue that we are just beginning to explore by developing partnerships with like-minded companies that are committed to social corporate responsibility.

For more information on Planeterra, click here.

I feel my insatiable travel itch surfacing again…hmmm…where will I go next with Gap?

From their email:

“Today is the launch of the new Blacktie Daily program.  The Blacktie daily is like other programs with one big difference:  10% of the deal goes to benefit a nonprofit organization.

Today’s deal is a $50 gift certificate at MAD Greens, for only $25, and the beneficiary will be the Kempe Foundation for the Prevention of Child Abuse.

Click on the graphic below to get the deal for October 5th and subscribe to the Blacktie Daily.

If you’d like to find out how your nonprofit could benefit from a Blacktie Daily, please email bill@blacktiedaily.com

I am going to click through and get my MAD Greens certificate as soon as I finish this post.  MAD Greens salads are delicious and healthy!  Great way for MAD Greens to market themselves and leverage real good in the community.

In Denver?  Join me in supporting this great new program!

Blacktie is a national company headquartered in Denver, Colorado, that provides members with solutions for raising money, lowering costs and bringing people together.  Currently with eleven offices and growing, the company has worked with thousands of nonprofits to help make donor outreach and fundraising efforts easier and more productive. Blacktie is a facilitator of communications by and between nonprofits and their philanthropic supporters and the vital businesses who assist their efforts. Their mission is to empower nonprofit organizations by providing access to online event planning and convenient, easy, one-stop web-based technology for heightening awareness, raising money, managing events, communicating with supporters and managing critical data.

I have met with Kenton Kuhn, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, to discuss common interests and areas of potential collaboration.  I have really appreciated his perspective and commitment to growing nonprofit capacity and services.  Blacktie provides its members the capacity to grow their organizations using online technology without the need for having a person on staff with the necessary technical skills to make it happen.  Blacktie is a great, cost effective solution for nonprofits to build awareness and manage event sales and donations.  Check them out!

From my “earlier life,” I have two degrees in nutrition; my Master’s Degree being in international public health nutrition from Virginia Tech.  Also, having just facilitated 10 community dialogues throughout the county for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) as part of their next 5 year strategic plan development process, I heard a lot of nonprofit folks in local communities talking about obesity and access to healthy foods.

So, perhaps you know September is National Childhood Obesity month. I was struck looking through the USA Today by the fact that on one page was a huge ad for Anytime Fitness that said:

“There is no childhood obesity epidemic.

We heard that September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, and people are saying that 1 in 3 of us are overweight or obese. Well, Mom and Dad, can you help us out here? We need more than reminders and threats. We need good examples. If you want us to play an hour a day, then come out and play with us. Set an example by taking the COAK pledge.”

Clearly, an innovative and smart way to motivate parents/adults to sign up for their fitness services.  And childhood obesity IS a big issue these days.  The CDC states, “Obesity is the result of caloric imbalance (too few calories expended for the amount of calories consumed)…Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. The prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008. The prevalence of obesity among adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0% to 18.1%.”  These stats look more like 1 in 5 being obese but that is somewhat moot for my real point.  (For more information on childhood obesity, click here.)

However, a couple pages later, there was another huge ad for Feeding America. September is also “Hunger Action Month.” Throughout the month, the Feeding America network of more than 200 food banks is asking you to take action through the “30 Ways in 30 Days” campaign. Whether it’s by advocating and raising awareness, making a donation or giving your time, find the way that’s right for you to make a difference in your community.”

Feeding America is the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity.  Their mission is to feed America’s hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger. Each year, the Feeding America network provides food to more than 37 million low-income people facing hunger in the United States, including 14 million children and nearly 3 million seniors.

So these two ads hit home with me – what does this say about us as a country?   One out of every four U.S. children struggles to find their next meal AND another one out of five U.S. children is obese from eating more calories than they expend.  Hard to make sense of it all!

What do you think?

Saturday night before it all kicked off, I had a great dinner at Redwood Restaurant & Bar in Bethesda Row – sat outside on their patio, watched the people strolling around – wonderful location!  I liked the restaurant even better when I saw this postcard about an event Redwood was having last week called “Bark & Wine.”

Tuesday, September 14th from 5:30 – 8:30 pm, Redwood Restaurant & Bar and Bone Jour teamed up to hold a fall patio party to benefit shelter animals for the Montgomery County Humane Society.  The donation was $10/person and well behaved and leashed dogs were welcome guests…and their humans, too!  Redwood offered food and drink specials and Bone Jour provided gourmet dog treats and gift bags.

Bone Jour, Inc. has been in business since 1986. Their mission is to provide people and their dogs with a loving, happy environment for services and retail.  They are dedicated to the craft of grooming and the care of dogs which is the reason Bone Jour has flourished and continues to grow.  On their website, on the “About Us” page, they dedicate a paragraph to each of their three main nonprofit partners with descriptions, logos, and links.  Very nicely done – and STRATEGIC as they support animal-related charities which of course relates to their mission and services.

Redwood Restaurant & Bar is an independent, locally owned restaurant that showcases a seasonal menu featuring the best mid-atlantic ingredients available. Their produce, cheese, meat, and seafood is naturally-raised, organic, or sustainable whenever possible and is sourced from local growers. Their wine list from around the world focuses on small production vintners who practice sustainable viticulture – making wine in a way which is economically viable, socially supportive and ecologically sound.  Their website also featured a page in their promotions section about the Bark & Wine event which I like!  Too often, businesses only have up a poster or handout a flyer or put it on their website – in this case, Redwood did all of it!  Great job!

I didn’t find mention of Bark & Wine on the Montgomery County Humane Society website, but since the event date has passed, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it has rolled off already to keep the site fresh.  Hopefully they also promoted the event directly to their supporters, as Redwood and Bone Jour both did.

I wish I had been able to sneak away from the meetings to check it out – sounds like it would have been a lot of furry fun!

Yesterday I went to Whole Foods to see about buying some calcium to take – figured it was wise given I have a broken bone.  I bought Garden of Life’s Vitamin Code Grow Bone System – a raw whole food calcium formula with D3, bone building factors, and BioActive Ingredients.

Got home, opened the box and on the lid noticed “For every Vitamin Code bottle sold, a donation will be made to Vitamin Angels and their Operation 20/20 to eliminate Vitamin A deficiency in the world by 2020.”  So of course, I now like the product and the company even better!!  I was disappointed however when I could not find any reference to Vitamin Angels on the Garden of Life website – I would recommend they do add a section to show their customers about their support of this worthy effort. Not mentioning it is a lost opportunity to have their customers appreciate them even more.

The Vitamin Angels website says, “Our mission is to mobilize and deploy private sector resources to advance availability, access and use of micronutrients, especially vitamin A, by newborns, infants and children in need. Vitamin Angels reduces child mortality worldwide by connecting essential nutrients, especially vitamin A, with infants and children under five. Essential nutrients enable young immune systems to fight infectious diseases, helping children attain good health and the opportunity to lead meaningful and productive lives.”

The Vitamin Angels website does have a section which lists its business partners. “Show your support by shopping with our partners. With every purchase you make, we are one step closer to achieving our mission of giving children around the world the foundation to lead a meaningful and productive life.”  Garden of Life is listed with a link back to the Garden of Life’s website which is great.  Good job Vitamin Angels!