During her intro, it was mentioned that she had started a nonprofit, Books for Treats.  I was curious…so of course I looked it up as soon as I got home. So what is Books for Treats?

Turns out, Books for Treats is a program that encourages people to give “gently read” children’s books at Halloween instead of candy.  From the website, “Books feed children’s minds, while candy only feeds their cavities. Books encourage children to read, and parents to read with them and/or ask them about their books. Many children rarely receive books as gifts, so even gently read books are special treats.”

Books for Treats is a perfect “strategy for good” focus for Rebecca as she is the author of over 15 books herself and, in addition to her international work on creating workforce effectiveness solutions, she teaches business people and speakers like myself how to get their content expertise out into the world by various means such as books, ebooks, blogs, vooks, webinars, etc.  Things she knows well from firsthand experience.

Books as treats – an even more fun idea to support as it aligns with her professional services.  The Book for Treats website gives testimonials and lists specific ways for people to get involved, which is great.  Many nonprofit websites do not do that piece well.  They tell you plenty about their mission and programs but specifics on what besides dollars you can do to help is often missing, in my experience.  So great job – being clear allows people to see how they can support the mission and giving a range of options allows diverse participation from others in communities.

The Books for Treats website lists the following options:

• “Gather gently read children’s books to give out in your neighborhood.
• Download our kit to help you sort your books by grade level.
• Volunteer to help (fill out the form on the left)
• Have your company become a sponsor
• Make a donation of any amount through PayPal to info@BooksForTreats.org. We appreciate any funds, as they help us purchase used books, provide PR and ads to get the word out, and keep our web site up to date.
• Talk to your friends, co-workers and neighbors about participating in Books for Treats. Send them a link to this web site.”

Do the nonprofits your company supports make it clear how others can support them in ways other than through a cash donation?  If not, encourage them to think about adding that.

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?

If you are concerned about the impact of a tight economy on your ability to get needed resources for your nonprofit, join me for my four-part nonprofit teleseminar series, RECESSION PROOF RESOURCES: How SMART Nonprofits Partner with Businesses, on Tuesdays in March (9, 16, 23, and 30) from 12:00-1:30 pm ET. Get ready for six hours of information and insights that will change the tone and success of your business partnerships forever!

For more information and to sign up, go to: http://tinyurl.com/yg9u6z9

Please pass the word to nonprofit leaders you know who could benefit from this important information!!

As a thank you for reading my blog, I would like to offer you a $50 discount on the RECESSION PROOF teleseminar program – enter RPR-5 when registering to receive the discount! Hope you will be able to join me!!

“There are many advantages to giving to charity. Yes, it makes you feel good, but it also will provide you with a tax deduction. Now is the time to get your paperwork together so you can make sure that you receive any deductions you deserve.

Here’s what you should know about the tax benefits of giving to charity. Be sure to consult your own tax adviser about your specific tax situation.

1. How Does the Income Tax Deduction for a Charitable Donation Work?

If you itemize deductions on your tax return, you may be able to take an income tax deduction for a gift to a qualified charitable organization.

The actual cost of your donation is therefore reduced through your savings on your taxes. For instance, if you are in the 33% tax bracket, you would save $33 on a donation of $100.

2. When Can a Charitable Contribution Deduction be Taken?

Your donation to a qualified charity is deductible the same year in which it is made. The contribution is considered paid when you put the check in the mail, or when it is charged to your credit card (not when you pay the credit card company). See the exception for donations to Haiti in 2010 in #10.

3. What Charitable Organizations Are Considered Qualified?

Most charitable organizations qualify for a charitable contribution deduction, but not all. Look for the 501(c)(3) designation to be absolutely sure. Tax deductions are not allowed for donations to an individual, a foreign government, foreign charities, and certain private foundations.

4. Is There a Charitable Tax Deduction for Giving Internationally?

We are all concerned about good causes abroad, and most of us do want to give globally. But, what are the implications for your charitable tax deduction? If the charity is registered in the U.S. as a charitable organization, you can take a deduction for your donation. If the charity is not registered, there is no tax deduction. Many, many nonprofits that are registered in the U.S. provide international aid.

5. Is There a Limit on How Much I Can Donate and Still Get A Tax Deduction?

There are no limits on charitable contributions for most of us. Limits come into play only if you contribute more than 20% of your adjusted gross income to charities. If you are in this category, be sure to consult with your tax adviser to see if your deductions will be limited.

6. How Do I Handle Deductions for Non-Cash Donations to a Charity?

There are rules for non-cash donations such as property or outdated clothing, household furnishings, or office equipment.

For property owned for more than a year, the deduction is usually equal to the property’s fair market value. Appreciated property can be deducted at the full fair value of the property, meaning that you are never taxed on the appreciated amount.

Donated goods must be in “good condition or better,” according to the IRS. You must have a receipt for the goods from the charity to claim a deduction. If you donate non-cash items with a total value of more than $500, you must file Form 8283 with your return. You may need a qualified appraisal if you donate an item or a group of items with a value of more than $5,000.

7. Can I Get a Deduction for Donating My Car?

Making a car donation to a worthy charity seems like a good move, but, unfortunately, car donation is an area of charity that is rife with fraud and misleading information. Check out our suggestions for a happy outcome for you, the charity, and your car.

8. Can I Take a Deduction for My Volunteer Work?

No, you can’t deduct the value of your time spent on charitable work as a charitable donation, but you can deduct your out-of-pocket costs such as mileage.

9. What Documentation Is Required for Deductions for Charitable Contributions?

As of 2007, the IRS requires that if you claim a deduction of a monetary donation of any amount, you must have a written confirmation from the charity. You cannot deduct casual donations that you drop into a charity’s collection box or bucket without a receipt to back up your claim.

If you receive some goods or services in exchange for your donation, the charity must specify the value of those goods or services. You can only deduct the amount of your donation that is above that value. For instance, if you donate $500 to the symphony and receive tickets worth $200 in exchange, you can only take a deduction on $300. The paperwork from the charitable organization should spell out what is deductible.

10. When Can I Claim a Deduction for My Haiti Donation Made in 2010?

If you made a donation to the Haiti relief efforts in early 2010, you can take the deduction on your 2009 tax return.

If you made a donation to Haiti relief via your mobile phone, use the phone bill as your receipt. When you text-to-give to a charitable organization, the nonprofit does not receive information about who you are…you are anonymous. Therefore, you won’t receive a receipt from that charity. The charge for the donation appears on your phone bill, and the IRS has said that it will accept that bill as a receipt for your donation.”

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.

“When the economy is uncertain, as it is in 2008, non-profits and others naturally assume the one sector that will be heavily impacted is philanthropy,” said George C. Ruotolo Jr., CFRE, chair of Giving Institute: Leading Consultants to Non-Profits and past chair of Giving USA Foundation. “With history as our guide, we know that’s not true. In fact, while charitable giving is impacted by recessions and/or economic slowdowns, it’s not by nearly as much as one might expect.”

Read the whole release and see what you think.  Of course, this was issued before the big slide on Wall Street…so I wonder if it will still hold true?  At Denver’s Two Percent Club event this week, business leaders certainly were concerned that the 40 percent reduction in foundation assets due to recent Wall Street events would significantly impact their ability to give in future years.

So in this case, Not Your Daughter’s Jeans and Nordstrom have added a twist to cause marketing! The Nordstrom flyer states, “NYDJ will donate $1 to Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation for every customer who tries on a pair of Not Your daughter’s Jeans.  No purchase necessary!”

No purchase necessary??  All you have to do is try on the jeans for NYDJ to donate!  That’s a new one to me!  The promotion is running until Dec 31 so go try on some jeans!

The website gives additional information including the fact that NYDJ has committed to donating at least $500,000 to the Komen Foundation. 

On the Jing website, there is a community page which tells about their involvement in the Sudanese village of Pakur.

Well done Charlie and Partners!

Seventh Generation is now the leading US brand for non-toxic and environmentally friendly household products. Seventh Generation’s 50 plus products are offered online and in retail stores across the country, in both natural focused stores as well as national chains. By providing non-toxic, recycled, environmentally friendly products the company has already saved 327,800 trees, 233,000 pounds of greenhouse gases, 1.3 million gallons of petroleum, and 124 million gallons of water.

For this exact reason, the company recently received the ‘Pioneer of Precaution’ award from the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, the Environmental Research Foundation, and the Science and Environmental Health Network. It also gives grants to local community organizations, consistent with the mindset of focusing on the future. Grants are approved on a case-by-case basis, and the company has chosen to focus on environmentally and family oriented community organizations. These grants have also helped the company in its goal of being a community based business.

But it’s not stopping at that. Seventh Generation is trying to get even more involved, and taking time to think critically about how its involvement can best affect the next seven generations. As it evaluates opportunities for nonprofit and peer business relationships, it’s making sure to engage in internal dialogue, so as not to over-commit and to maximize its influence. By considering a wide variety of options and extensively internally collaborating, it is a rather slow process of change. Despite the fast-paced focus in business today, Seventh Generation believes that this approach will prove to be a long term advantage.

To this end, it’s bringing in a ‘regenerative strategic planner,’ looking at research from the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, and planning on hiring a consultant (as the company is only 42 employees strong) once it crafts a solid vision for the involvement. This thoughtful approach is linked to one piece of advice that Director of Corporate Consciousness, Gregor Barnum, gave: focus internally first. This means making sure that there is a strong internal dialogue, transparency, and real community between employees at the company. By understanding the purpose of the company all employees, and thus community programs, are more likely to be aligned and successful.

The company admits it has forgotten this at times in the past, and failed to follow up on grants given to nonprofits. Changes in the program will seek to prevent this lapse in the future, as Seventh Generation wants to support sustainable and long term relationships. Barnum describes the changing mindset as an epistemological change, trying to move away from traditional linear thinking to a more holistic approach.

Even in how the company has chosen to change its approach to community involvement, it is embodying the mission it laid out for itself. This is perhaps the most important lesson from the Seventh Generation case: not losing sight of your true values in times of change.

By Louise Doyle
Based on interview with Gregor Barnum, Director of Corporate Consciousness at Seventh Generation, conducted by Susan Hyatt.

More information on Seventh Generation, Inc. can be found at: http://www.seventhgeneration.com/

The White Dog Café is one of those businesses that seems to be supporting everything. A quick visit to its website will leave you almost overwhelmed with all the causes it supports and initiatives it has going on. Just a quick list: organic farming, conflict in Darfur, Living Wage (a $9 minimum wage for employees because it finds the $5.15 cut off unrealistic), racial profiling, water management, urban sprawl, HIV/AIDS, US foreign policy, underrepresented artists, & and the list goes on. There is however some method to the madness, at least in how it tackles these causes.

The Café has a three pronged approach to encouraging social activism and local community development: it supports local causes with events and programming at the Café, it arranges educational tours and partnerships, and it has a separate Foundation. Programming at the Café itself consists of everything from art exhibits to dinner discussions and book readings. A newsletter goes out to customers every three months listing the programs going on in the near future.

In this sense, the Café merely serves as a catalyst and vehicle for local groups to express their opinions and raise support. It also has the effect of building business with customers whose values are aligned with those of the White Dog Café: “they come here not because they are hungry for food, but because they are hungry for a sense of community or a sense of being involved with something bigger than themselves.”

This approach combined with top quality food (and top tier prices) has led the restaurant to gross over $5 million a year. It also proactively seeks relationships with other restaurants and non-profits. The Café has both local and international sister restaurants, encouraging customers to visit women or minority-owned sister restaurants and taking groups to other sister restaurant countries to learn about US foreign policy.

Other educational endeavors include tours around Philadelphia to look at what various non-profits, such as community mural initiatives, are up to. Rather than choosing specific causes, the Café tries to address all issues it can, from what’s in the news to what local group needs their voice heard.

Unlike programming at the Café, the White Dog Café Foundation is cause-focused. 20% of restaurant profits go to the Foundation and its mission of building a local living economy. Its two primary programs are: Fair Food and the Sustainable Business Network. Both of these programs give grants and philanthropic consulting to local and sustainable businesses. For example last year they gave out four $10,000 grants to local farmers trying to move towards sustainable agriculture practices.

Judy Wicks is also the president of the Foundation. She founded the Café and Foundation with the priority of connecting her values and her work: “I don’t have time to do all the things I care about on the weekends or after work, so I need to integrate it into my work life.”

By Louise Doyle

Based on the Susan Hyatt’s audio interview with Judy Wicks, owner and founder White Dog Café and president of the White Dog Café Foundation.

More information on the White Dog Café can be found at: http://www.whitedog.com/
More information on the White Dog Café Foundation can be found at: http://www.whitedogcafefoundation.com/