I got an email this morning from Jonathan Manske, a speaker I heard first at an IBI/CEO Space Meeting some years back, that caught my attention.  ”Tomorrow, March 12th, I will be getting my head shaved at 6:30 am for St Baldricks.  If you want to watch, I should be on channel 2 news at 6:40ish am.  Or you can come to Salon on the Boulevard at 1485 S. Colorado Blvd.  Don’t want to get up that early but still want to be a part of this – you can donate at www.stbaldricks.org/participants/jonathanmanske.  If you would prefer to use a check, make it payable to St Baldricks and put my shavee ID number 381886 in the memo line and then mail that to me, 5609 Cheetah Chase, Littleton, CO 80124.  I’ll also post the video on my facebook page.

St. Baldrick’s raises money for children’s cancer research.  Last year 33,373 people across the country got their heads shaved for this event and they raised $16,634,962.  I personally raised almost $1000.”

Jonathan Manske “assists individuals and organizations to escape from prison – the prison in their own heads.  He helps them to get out of their own way so that they can succeed.

Jonathan is an author, speaker, trainer and consultant.  The cornerstone of all that he does is:   What is going on inside your head really does matter! Your thoughts, your attitudes and especially your non-conscious programming create your results.  When you change what is going on inside your head, your real world results change as well.”

Jonathan is a great example of how a small business/entrepreneur can give back authentically and build business at the same time.  Some of the things he did well in my opinion include sending out this email to folks like me on his list – I certainly took note, went to his website for the first time, and will be more likely to refer others to him or use him myself because I like his values.

In addition to his charitable work, he also has a Pay it Forward Program in which he offers free teleseminars for clients and potential clients to offer value and build business.  ”I love the “Pay It Forward” concept and I have a solution for a problem that impacts every single person ~ head trash that is in their way of success.  Furthermore, my mission is to make people’s lives and businesses better.   When I put these all together, I came up with The Pay It Forward Program!”

What can you do to build visibility for you and your company through your business philanthropy?  How can you let your customers know about what you are doing?  Get your thinking cap on or give me a call and set up a consultation call – I can definitely help you with doing something like this!

Some time back, a new women’s fitness clothing store, Lucy, opened in Cherry Creek here in Denver.  I have enjoyed shopping there as I like their often unusual yet functional sporty apparel designs.  As part of their commitment to being green, they switched in the past year from sending mailers to sending emails.  A recent email newsletter caught my eye as I had not been aware previously of their commitment to community involvement.  So after some research on their website and re-reading past newsletters, I now like Portland, OR-based Lucy even better!

At Lucy, “our passion is to inspire women to achieve their personal athletic goals, despite obstacles both large and small. We support charitable organizations that advocate these same values. With every lucy store grand opening, we donate 10% of the event’s sales to a designated non-profit organization from that store’s community. We also donate clothing to organizations in need and participate in charity race events throughout the year.”

In early September, the emailer about Hatha Yoga pants had the following:

Lucy is clearly dedicated to partnering with their employees and customers to take action in their communities – through donating a percentage of purchases and other activities and events in which they participate.

How can you let your customers see what you stand for?  How can you invite them to join forces with you for positive change and to show caring in the community? Doing something to give back and be supportive, no matter how small it may seem, is great — AND so much more can be accomplished by connecting with people inside and outside your company walls to work together in pursuit of a common goal.  What can you do? How can your company be an agent of change?

This was the fourth year that Metafolics Salon in Denver sponsored Beauty for a Cure, a one day fundraiser in honor of Marsha Gardenswartz who has been battling fourth stage melanoma and is a long time client of salon owner Jason Linkow.  On Sunday, May 4, 2008, the Metafolics folks all donated their time (and the salon the beauty supplies) to offer event supporters any hair service for a $100 donation to raise money for cancer research at the University of Colorado Foundation for Melanoma Research.  In addition to their choice of a complimentary hair service, supporters also received a free melanoma screening with one of two well-know local skin care doctors, as well as educational materials about melanoma prevention and treatment. 

I initially heard about “Beauty for a Cure”, sitting in Jason’s chair while getting one of his fabulous hair cuts. The first year Metafolics did the fundraiser, they collected just over $5,000 to donate.  Since then, Jason and his staff have grown the event after learning a few lessons on promotion and leveraging resources along the way.  Unfortunately, I was in Maine this year working on my book and could not attend the event personally.  However, last year I did attend and while they were able to raise over $10,000, I know the Salon folks were disappointed with the level of attention and support the event received.  However, to their credit, this did not deter them from going it again and finetuning their approach – including starting the planning and promotion much earlier and adding a second doctor to allow provision of more screenings.

And…the results were FABULOUS!  The event this year will gross over $68,000 for the CU research center!  How exciting!  Roughly $8,000+ dollars were collected through direct donations for services provided by Metafolics staff.  Through Jason’s efforts to leverage the Salon’s donation, each $100 donated was matched by $1,200 in funds from other foundations.  Talking to Jason, it is easy to see he is very pleased with the dollar amount raised this year.  However, he is also proud of the education and awareness this event brings to clients and the community.  Also, because of the free skin cancer screenings associated with the event, several people now know they have the disease and can do something about it before their chances at a full recovery are diminshed greatly.

In addition to donations for services the day of the event, Metafolics also offers clients the opportunity to donate, even if they could not participate that day.  “If people would like to donate, they can do so on the CU Foundation Web site, www.cufund.org. Click ‘Give Online’ and then select the health sciences campus, then University of Colorado Cancer Center and indicate “melanoma research” in the notes section. To send a check donation, make the check out to the CU Foundation and indicate “melanoma cancer research” in the subject line. Checks can be sent to: CU Foundation, Gift Processing, P.O. Box 17126, Denver, CO 80217.”

Also, Metafolics got great press for Beauty for a Cure this year.  Kathy Walsh of Denver’s Channel 4 did two great news spots about the event.  Check them out:

http://cbs4denver.com/video/?id=41367@kcnc.dayport.com

http://cbs4denver.com/health/skin.cancer.fundraiser.2.713163.html

Congratulations Metafolics Salon on your successful signature event in 2008!

It is so exciting to be at a computer keyboard again today.  I finally broke down and rented a computer to use.  My Sony Vaio laptop has been with the Geek Squad (AGAIN…).  About 6 weeks worth this year alone.  The geek boys run diagnostics and say it is all fine and then are baffled when I come in to pick it up and show them it is still doing its weirdness.  They don’t like to see me coming…

Yesterday I went to Trystan Photography’s new Denver studio for some new business photos.  (They also have a studio in Colorado Springs.)  My old headshot is a little too old…and I have been told the self timer shot I have been using makes me look like my older sister…??? (Hmmm…I only have a younger sister so I think that means the photo is bad…?!) 

Charlotte (Chance) Bundgaard took my shots – she was great!  Fun, made it very unintimidating!  The new studio is amazing.  Their studio is set in an art gallery with other studios – they have the run of the place for photo shoots.  There are many great places in the complex that Char used for backgrounds – both inside and outdoors.  I haven’t seen my shots yet, of course, but I would hihly recommend them anyway.  Their work is great, as you can see from the website.  I am excited to see what she was able to do!

While Char was getting to know me and what I was looking for in my shots, I told her about being a business philanthropy coach.  She was clearly confused and asked me to explain more about what I do.  When I talked about giving back and community involvement for businesses, she got it.  It was the word “philanthropy” that she had trouble relating to – which was interesting food for thought for me. 

Bigger companies google “corporate philanthropy” online to find info but many smaller companies don’t relate to that.  So I have to be careful what words I use in my book that will be out this summer.  Guess I need a conversation with my “Get Your Book Done” coach and publisher, Christine Kloser, as one of her specialties is Conscious Business.

Char told me that she and Trig have been discussing ways to give back. She is interested in supporting something with children and had some preliminary ideas for some events they could sponsor.  However, when I mentioned they could do their give back in ways that matter to them which ALSO could increase their company visibility and the new Denver studio, her first reaction was…oh, but we wouldn’t expect anything back.  Almost felt like Char thought that would somehow be a “bad” thing.  She also expressed concern about how to find and then choose a cause to support. Anyway, we said we would talk more about it.  I still think they can do double duty with their give back – contribute to a children’s cause in alignment with their values AND start getting better known in the Denver market.  I look forward to helping them think it through!  I am a new fan of Trystan Photography and Trig and Char.  Check them out!

I was cleaning off my desk this morning so I have maximum space to work on my book and I found an ad that has been sitting around waiting for me to write about it – so now it is time!   I find in my work that companies are sometimes hesitant to report on their community involvement.  They worry that tooting their own horn will have the opposite effect of what they are hoping for by causing consumers to view them as cold and self serving.  Of course if the reporting or sharing provides trumped up details or is making a mountain out of a molehill for a pretty small effort considering the size of the company, perhaps they should think twice before doing that.  However, these days many consumers do want to know that the companies whose products or services they use are making the effort to be socially responsible and give back to their communities.  Helps with strengthening loyalty of existing customers and draws in new customers, as well.  They like your offerings AND they like your company values. 

I’d like to tell you about two nice examples of companies sharing what they have done in low key but direct ways through newspaper advertisements.  First, Macy’s Department Store took out a full page color ad in the Denver Post on January 1, 2008.  The page is largely black – a night sky view with stars, 2008 written in stars and a shooting star exclamation point.  The bottom show the Macy’s logo and above “WISHING A MAGICAL NEW YEAR TO ALL.  AND A WARM THANK YOU TO OUR EMPLOYEES AND CUSTOMERS – AND TO THE MACY’S FOUNDATION.  THEY ALL HELPED MACY’S GIVE BACK $17,000,000 TO OUR COMMUNITIES.”  Simple and gets the message out about their commitment to the community.

Second, In today’s Denver Post, there was a similar one page black and white ad from the Post-News on Community Programs of the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News.  The ad features a letter from Harry Whipple, President and CEO of the Denver Newspaper Agency,  highlighting their 2007 Annual Report to the Community.  The letter outlines that they invested ” value of more than $13,000,000 in 257 nonprofit organizations through financial funding, sponsorship, in-kind advertising, volunteer hours, and more.”  The ad then goes on to give some examples of including 1,800 hours of employee volunteer service, more than $2 million cash to 91 local nonprofits, and sponsorships of community events including Race for the Cure and A Taste of Colorado.  In the ad, they also subtly let people know their philanthropic focus areas. “Thank you for taking the time to review this report of our community efforts, focused primarily on the arts, youth, education and literacy, and the provision of basic human services.”  Well done!  If you go to their website, the full 2007 Annual Report is available as a pdf.

I really liked the letter’s closing line: “Together we can make a difference.  And thanks to your support we did that last year.  We look forward to many more years of continued partnership and impact in our community.”

How do you get the word out to your customers and/or the general public (potential customers) about what your company does in the community?  Is a newspaper ad something that could work for you?  If you run ads in the newspaper anyway, perhaps you do not have to dedicate an entire ad to this but place a statement about the value of your philanthropy prominently on an ad selling your products.

I watched the kick off of Oprah’s Big Give show on Sunday night.  If you missed it, you still can check it out at www.abc.com/fullepisodes.  I must say the notion of a “charity game show” by Oprah intrigued me.  While I don’t regularly watch Oprah’s show, I do believe Oprah does a lot of good generally – she addresses many important issues on her show, is a great philanthropist herself, and has really helped make personal development (especially for women) a much more mainstream endeavor.  However, I must say I was disappointed.  The show had pre-selected beneficiaries for the show’s giving activities.  Most of the beneficiaries had experienced true heartache due to their traumatic life experiences – however, the story of young doctor that owed over $200K in student loans from medical school who wants to do good work with kids, however worthy, seemed a little out of place compared to some of the other stories to me - widow of a murdered husband, homeless woman and her two children, a disabled veteran, and a mother working with the developmentally disabled because her own son had been born with Down’s Syndrome.

The contestants were a varied group of “regular” folks and were clearly thrilled to be participating.  However, the whole team competition thing seemed contrived to me – watching team members squabble with each other over the best way to do things as part of their giving challenge seemed a little unnecessary.  I guess it was meant to add interest and hype…?  Didn’t work that way for me.  And what really qualified these three people to be judges?  I am left wondering.

I understand this show is really entertainment - that also does good.  However, some subtle education woven in about effective giving to really change lives for the long term, perhaps through the judges’ comments, would have been great.  Maybe in later episodes on another challenge?  We’ll see.  And why not highlight some of the business philanthropy that was also included in support of various teams’ efforts?  Oprah herself could have done some little 1 minute pitch about supporting local nonprofits or people in need at the very end of the show.  I was left wanting just a little something more!

The show went for tears and a heart connection with us, the audience.  But did we learn anything?  Will it inspire each of us to show up differently and give back?  Seems like a huge missed opportunity to me!

There was a little announcement in the Denver Post’s Colorado Business section about Staples making a $10,000 donation to Tree by Tree – Mile High Million to be used for planting trees in nine metro Denver communities.  It also mentioned Greenprint Denver – a group I had not heard of.  So…I Googled “Greenprint Denver.”  Turns out Greenprint Denver is “an action agenda for sustainable development for the City and County of Denver that demonstrates local government can be an effective force for innovation and leadership to improve the environment.”  On the home page, there was a prominent article about Staples.

Clicking on the learn more link, I got to the press release about Staples efforts.  “Greenprint Denver and Staples today announced a $10,000 donation to Tree by Tree – Mile High Million to be used for planting trees in nine metro Denver communities. To help raise the funds, 10 area Staples stores donated $1 of every purchase on Dec. 9 and 10. 

Staples really has made it easy for us to progress toward our goal of planting a million trees in metro Denver by 2025,” said Sara Davis, program coordinator for Tree by Tree – Mile High Million, a Greenprint Denver initiative. “This program is essential for promoting Colorado’s environmental and economic sustainability, and we are grateful to have partners like Staples who help us continue to grow.”

“Staples is committed to making it easy for our customers to make a difference for the environment – what we call EcoEasy,” said Mark Buckley, vice president of environmental affairs at Staples. “We’re proud to support Greenprint Denver in its mission to build a more sustainable Denver.”

So while not an example of support for a specific nonprofit, this effort shows Staples general support for the environment and the sustainability initiative of the City and County of Denver.  I wish I’d known before hand…I would have made sure to get any needed office supplies on one of the two days they gave a portion back.  Next time…  Maybe Staples could have sent an email to the local folks in its database to let us know or post a sign in the store.  I don’t know they didn’t post a sign as I was out of town those dates – however, remember if you are doing any special promotion like this and want to engage customers – be sure to let them know using various means!