Waiting in line at Whole Foods Market over the weekend to buy some tasty treats, I noticed another one of their checkout promotions.  They had a nice little display board inviting me to donate to the Prosperity Campaign by tearing off a coupon in the amount of $2, $5, or $10 to add to my food stack, as well as pamphlets (printed on 100% recycled paper using vegetable ink) about the Whole Planet Foundation to take home to learn more.  I am always up for these things, so grabbed a $2 coupon and laid it on my cracker box.  As the cashier was ringing it in, he gave me a big genuine smile and said, “Thanks so much for your donation!”  Had a fleeting thought I should have grabbed the $5 coupon… 

I mentioned that I am always on the lookout for good examples of business philanthropy and that I was going to go home and write a blog post about their promotion.  We chatted a bit more and he called over Drew Calvert, the Cherry Creek Denver store’s Marketing Director to introduce me.  I told her what I was doing and that I really appreciated Whole Foods’ strategic approach to their philanthropy.  She said they were very proud of what they are doing and committed to make sure they actually do walk their talk.

The pamphlet I took does a nice job of explaining the program and says in several places “$2 can make a difference.”  I felt better about not having taken that $5 coupon.  Next time…  It also told me that “100% of the funds raised go to Whole Planet Foundation-sponsored microlending programs. (My company, Business Nonprofit Connections, Inc. has selected microbusiness development as one of our major causes to support with our time, talent, and treasure so turns out this mini donation was in alignment with our stated philanthropy focus.)  The pamphlet also stated, “Thanks to shopper generosity last year, over $675,000 was raised giving 22,500 people the chance to move themselves out of poverty.”

I really like it when a brochure such as this not only gives me some information about the program I am supporting, but as evaluation is one of my specialties, I get even more interested when a company goes the next level, is transparent, and provides ”data”!!  In this case, they told me how much was raised and how many people benefitted.  Gives me a sense of the value of the program in a very different way and makes it seem like my little donation is helping make a real difference.

At a minimum, be sure to have systems to track your company’s contributions. It is amazing to me how many companies have only a vague idea about their annual figures for cash, in-kind, and volunteer donations.  Also, it is useful to figure out ways to get information back from the organizations you support about how your resources were used, how many people benefitted, and what difference your company helped make so you have it to report to your stakeholders.