Kiva is one of my favorite nonprofits as it makes microloans to developing country entrepreneurs and I fully support the notion of encouraging “Trade not Aid” whenever possible.  I checked their blog today to see what if anything they were saying about Haiti.  The following is an update from the Kiva Blog, dated 1/13/2010.

“As you may have seen in the news, a terrible earthquake struck Haiti yesterday afternoon. The earthquake, 7.0 in magnitude, struck about 10 miles outside Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. The devastation has been enormous, with many buildings destroyed and thousands of people presumed dead. This is the worst earthquake to hit Haiti in 200 years.

Kiva currently supports borrowers in Haiti through our field partner, Esperanza International. Esperanza is based in the Dominican Republic, but has an office and provides loans in Haiti. About 1/3 of the loans Esperanza posts to Kiva are for borrowers in Haiti. In addition, a large percentage of the loans posted from the Dominican Republic are of Haitian migrants who still have family in Haiti. Esperanza has told us that as of now, Esperanza staff are safe though they have several employees with family in Port-au-Prince who have not been able to contact their families and are very concerned. Esperanza’s clients are located in the North, while the earthquake struck the capital in the south. Most of their clients live close to their offices in the north. However, many of them have businesses that require them to travel to and from Port-au-Prince to buy merchandise to sell in the main markets. Their businesses may have been affected and it is possible that some of them may have been in Port-au-Prince at the time and been injured.

It is impossible for Esperanza to give us any exact figures at this time as information is only slowly trickling out of Haiti. As Kiva learns more about the effect of the earthquake on Esperanza and their Kiva borrowers we will update lenders.”

Right now in the immediate aftermath of this disaster , support for basic services including water, food, health care, and shelter is essential.  After the initial response and clean-up phases which will likely take quite some time considering the current conditions in the country, support for rebuilding will be critical.  We must stay mindful that Haiti will need assistance for years to come – even after the focus of the international community has faded away and onto whatever disaster is next.  Kiva will play a really important role in helping entrepreneurs get back on their feet and begin to again find ways to support themselves and their families through commerce.  Please keep your eyes open and when loan requests have been processed for Haitians and there is enough structure to begin making loans again, remember your support of even a few dollars can make a HUGE difference in someone’s life.

I was in Steamboat Springs, CO over the weekend with my recreation club.  A group of us went snowmobiling on Rabbit Ears Pass which was great fun until I hit a bump and managed to break my back…literally.

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!

I just donated through the American Red Cross by texting 90999 to give $10.

From: http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2010/01/haiti-earthquake-0113.php

Help Haiti Recover

On Tuesday, a major earthquake struck Haiti, causing major devastation. The Red Cross is estimating that 3 million people have been affected — that’s one third of the country. There are many ways you can help:

The Red Cross — Make a donation online, or donate $10 by texting “HAITI” to 90999. The donation will be added to your cell phone bill.

International Medical Corps — The IMC is deploying an Emergency Response team of First Responders and other resources to provide medical care.

Direct Relief International — Direct Relief has committed up to $1 million and is working with their partners in the country to provide medical care and basic needs to Haitians.

CARE — CARE is sending relief workers to Haiti to distribute food, hygiene kits and water, as well as providing emergency health services.

AmeriCares — AmeriCares has pledged $5 million worth of aid to the people of Haiti and has set up a general fund to assist.

World Food Programme — The World Food Programme is mobilizing all available resources to provide food for the thousands of people affected by the earthquake.

UNICEF USA — UNICEF USA is ready to deliver disaster relief to children and families affected by the earthquake.

The American Jewish World Service — The American Jewish World Service has set up the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund to respond to the crisis by working with a network of affiliated organizations.

Catholic Relief Services — Catholic Relief Services has an office in Haiti that is luckily still standing. They are accepting donations of any amount.

OxFam — OxFam has 200 people on the ground, and began their efforts by trying to get clean water to victims of the earthquake.

Yele Haiti — Sponsored by Haitian-born Wyclef Jean, Yele Haiti is accepting donations on their website. You can also donate $5 by texting “YELE” to 501501. The donation will be added to your cell phone bill.

Today I saw a Tweet from City Year fly by about Games That Give.  After I retweeted it (yup…attended a social media workshop this week so I am pretty proud of myself for upgrading my skills…), as I had never heard of it before, I checked it out.  And…20 minutes later I have now played 4 hands of solitaire and 2 of Gems – and the site’s sponsors have donated money to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, the charity I picked from their list of charities to support before playing my selected games.  Other nonprofits you can support on their site include City Year, Jumpstart, the American Heart Association, Service Nation, and others.

So how does it work?  You play for free, they sell ads, and 70% of the ad revenue goes to the charity of your choice.  When I was playing solitaire, behind the card spread, the “table cloth” for my first couple rounds was the Dove logo, for the second couple rounds the Domino’s Pizza logo.  The logo is visible at all times but does not interfere with playing the game.

It cracked me up that on the page where the game is played, there is a link to click if the boss is coming – and it opens another window over the game — with a nondisclosure agreement that appears to be in Word.  What a hoot – they had a great sense of humor!

I sent the link along to my sister and 12-year old niece…if she is going to be online playing games, why not have it be making a difference at the same time??!!

Check it out!

I have been a supporter of Metro Denver Partners, an organization that matches adult mentors with at risk youth, for many years.  Right now I have been a Senior Partner with a 13 year old girl for 2 years and have had two other Junior Partners each for a couple years previously.

Today I got an email from them about Good Search.  It looks like an easy way to give back so I thought I would share the information.

“What if Metro Denver Partners earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Or how about if a percentage of every purchase you made online went to support our cause? Well, now it can!

GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!

GoodShop.com is a new online shopping mall which donates up to 37 percent of each purchase to your favorite cause! Hundreds of great stores including Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, ebay, Macy’s and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you’ll be supporting your favorite cause. Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter [my charity] as the charity you want to support. And, be sure to spread the word!”

I went to the Good Search site to learn more.  It is VERY easy to use!  I typed in Metro Denver Partners and saw they had earned $.15 so far in 2009.  However, if their email campaign works, those numbers should be going up shortly.  I also checked Kiva another nonprofit I support…and there is a button to click that shows how much money has been generated by month from the service.  In 2009, Kiva has earned to date $948.47.  Not a ton but nothing to sneeze at either!

What’s not to like about using this as a way to search?  It took less than 5 minutes to install.  If you are used to using another search engine…you can do what I do…type that URL in Good Search to go there while making a donation and then do what you usually do…

Tell your nonprofit partners about this - it is a total “no brainer” way for them to earn some dough!  And in these times…every little bit makes a difference!

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.

I was at Metafolics Salon in Denver today for a hair cut with owner Jason Linkow.  I am a big Jason fan – he gives a fabulous hair cut AND he a smart, insightful business person.  I interviewed him for my forthcoming book, The Business Handbook of Strategic Philanthropy, because I felt he was a great example of a small business committed to doing good in the community and at the same time growing the salon’s business.  Metafolics sponsors an annual event to raise money for melanoma which is very impressive.  But I digress – I’ll write more about that in another post. 

While I was “in the chair,” Jason and I got into a discussion about Oprah’s Big Give Show.  Because I really value his perspective, I now will go to http://www.abc.com and watch the two episodes I did not watch as I was underwhelmed with Show One.  Jason told me several things about the Big Give that I had not gotten from watching the first show.  He watches the Oprah Show regularly so he saw the episode where Oprah set the stage for the Big Give and gave more details about who the judges are and their amazing personal philanthropic activities.  I wish I also had seen that Oprah Show to give me a better context when watching the Big Give. Had there been a few more of those details given during the Big Give premier show itself, I probably would have been a little less harsh in my critique.

Jason felt the “tapestry of the show” was being woven with each new episode exanding and deepening the overall message of the series.  I trust him to get such things “right” – he has never steered me wrong on a big screen production and always adds a layer of analysis that I somehow missed.  So I’ll write more after I watch the next episodes.  Check back later this week! 

I ‘d love to hear what your thoughts are about the Big Give, as well.  Is it just another tear jerker way to get viewers or is it really moving us all to more heartfelt and generous action?

Yesterday I went to Safeway on Colorado Boulevard in Denver to buy groceries.  A sign on pink paper near the register about donating to Easter Seals caught my eye.  Easter Seals is a nonprofit, community-based health agency dedicated to helping children and adults with disabilities attain greater independence. When it was my turn in the checkout line, the cashier told me my total purchase price and then asked if I would like to round up to the next dollar as a donation for Easter Seals.  For me it meant adding $0.96 to my bill.  Of course I said yes and told her I appreciated Safeway doing this. 

I mentioned I am always on the look out for examples of how companies support local nonprofits.  Turns out she was the front end manager and shared with me that initially she had thought the round up idea that another employee had proposed wouldn’t work well.  She had thought asking people to donate a dollar when they were checking out would be a more effective way to raise money from customers.  The store tried both approaches and, to her initial dismay, the round up model raised a lot more money.  So now the store uses the round up “ask.” She is very pleased how well it works and is proud of the dollars they are raising to support this good cause.

If you are a retail business, could a round up checkout promotion be a strategy to enlist your customers as partners to support one of your company’s causes?  For nonprofits, if you approach retail stores for a donation and they have already allocated their budget, perhaps you can negotiate a similar checkout promotion to raise dollars from their customers?

I went to American Airlines website today to check on a flight and noticed the image above.  American Airlines has a promotion going through the end of February to encourage their customers to donate dollars to UNICEF.  As a thank you, they will give the donor 2 miles for every dollar contributed online.  I clicked the link to be able to give…and it got confusing.  The landing page you get to from the AA home page states the promotion runs from November 1 through February 28, 2008.  But when I clicked through on February 7, 2008 (21 days bfore the end of the promotion) to the donations page, I was greeted with the statement, “The American Airlines and UNICEF promotion for AAdvantage® members has now ended. We thank you for your generous contributions during this time period and encourage your continued support of UNICEF’s work for child survival.”  What’s up with that?  I might have been able to fill out their online form anyway and try to make a donation even though the header says its over but I did not try.

OK…tip:  Make sure if you do a promotion like this one to double check dates and messages.  I wonder how many people were turned away from donating because the two pages were not in sync..???  Nice to support UNICEF but it seems someone dropped a ball here.

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!!