Belcaro Paint and Home Decorating is one of the inspiring companies interviewed for Susan Hyatt’s book, Strategy for Good.

Belcaro Paint and Decorating Center is a wholesale paint and decorating retail store in Denver. The company’s diverse client base consists of two types of customer. The first is the do-it-yourselfer—people wanting to fix up their own homes. Belcaro also sells to other businesses, including retail outlets and painting contractors. Products offered include wall coverings, solvents, painting tools and supplies, patching and texture materials, and abrasives. Paint brands include Benjamin Moore, Pratt Lambert, and C2.

As with that of many small, family-owned companies, the community involvement of Belcaro Paint and Decorating Center reflects the owner’s deeply held values. The Harrises believe in supporting children’s health and education and, as such, the business is involved in the community supporting these causes.

Annie’s Homegrown is one of the inspiring companies interviewed for Susan Hyatt’s book, Strategy for Good.

Annie’s Homegrown makes natural and organic pasta meals, cereals, and snacks. The company is perhaps best known for its macaroni and cheese product line, which was developed by co-founder Annie Withey as a healthy, all-natural alternative to the mac and cheese products available at the time. Annie’s Homegrown recognizes that as family mealtime becomes more fragmented by life’s fast pace, there is a growing need for convenience food that is healthy. Giving customers confidence in the convenience foods they feed their families allows them to take the time to share a sit-down meal and reinforces family as a safe place for children to grow and develop.

Annie’s Homegrown is passionate about three things: food, people, and the planet. The firm pays special attention to all of the Earth’s inhabitants, not only by supplying natural and organic comfort foods, but also through various programs that give back to communities on a local and global scale. The company’s community involvement philosophy is based on Annie’s personal belief that positive social and environmental change can come about by changing the way people live their everyday lives. Annie’s Homegrown enables its customers to integrate doing good in communities into their everyday lives through the purchase and use of Annie’s products.

Looking for a great Christmas gift for the business leader in your life?  Your employees?  Why not give them a copy of my new book, Strategy for Good?  Available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or directly from me below, if you’d like an autographed copy.

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.

COME CELEBRATE WITH ME!!

I am pleased to announce the launch of my new book, Strategy for Good: Business Giving Strategies for the 21st Century.  You are invited to a special celebration showcasing Front Range business and nonprofit organizations that are working together to make a difference in our communities.

When:   Thursday, April 28th from 4pm – 7pm

Where:  Icehouse Tavern, 1801 Wynkoop Street, Denver, CO 80202  (2 Blocks South of Coors Field)  (NOTE: Icehouse Tavern is owned by the Little Pub Company.  Owner, Mark Berzins, is one of the business leaders featured in the book.)

Parking: Park in the Union Station lot (or take the Light Rail to Union Station)

Details: Happy hour specials, giveaways, book signing, and great networking with some of Denver’s most philanthropic companies.

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Business Nonprofit CONNECTIONS just offset its carbon use for last year through TerraPass.  I learned about them through the Net Impact website.  (I am a member of Net Impact.) I used Terra Pass’ calculator to figure out how much CO2 we generated through our office, computer use, vehicles, air travel, and work lodging and paid a fee to offset the total.  When I was done, it generated a pdf report and it was easy to make payment, as well.  You should check this out and calculate yours, too.

From the TerraPass website, “Purchasing TerraPass offsets sends a strong message about your values to your employees, customers and stakeholders. People prefer to work with organizations they believe in. As one component of your environmental strategy, a TerraPass carbon offset program will provide your company with the unique ability to empower your customers and employees to take action on climate change.

Additionally, committing to purchasing carbon offsets for your business creates the right internal incentives to reduce your footprint over time. Each year, the conservation and efficiency measures that you implement will lower your carbon footprint, requiring you to purchase fewer offsets.”

Join me?

I was thrilled and very grateful that Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light Institute, provided me an endorsement for my book, Strategy for Good, this week.  I have long appreciated her commitment and vision for the power of service and volunteerism!  Points of Light Institute has been a critical national force supporting corporate volunteer programs, providing businesses with training, tools and strategies for designing effective corporate volunteer programs.

“Strategy for Good provides a step by step guide for how corporations can align their unique assets to positively affect communities and impact the lives of individuals. This is an important roadmap for anyone who wants to ensure that the tremendous human capital, resources, and know-how of the private sector is harnessed to maximize social good.“

–Michelle Nunn, CEO, Points of Light Institute

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Everyday I wake up excited and have new energy – life is GREAT!  The book on business giving I have been working along on for 4-5 years now is fast becoming a reality and will be released in February 2011!  So hard to believe after all the hours of self-doubt about whether I knew enough to be writing a book in the first place and of guilt and frustration that it was moving so slowly and not “done” yet.  Also, I increasingly was embarrassed because I felt like I had somehow not fulfilled my commitment to the great thought leaders I interviewed from 40+ companies for this book after they had so generously shared their time and company perspectives on community involvement with me.  That spiral goes nowhere but down…and becomes quicksand!

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Do you want your company to be more involved in the community but are having difficulty making the case for business giving in this economy?  Check out the following benefits of strategic philanthropy that your company can also tap into.  You can “Do Good AND Do Well.”

STRATEGY – Instead of just throwing money here and there, we now have a deliberate strategy that directs our efforts for maximum impact.

VALUES – Our company’s philanthropy is a way for us to demonstrate our values are heartfelt and go beyond just making a profit.

INTEGRATION – Our giving is now integrated across our departments and locations to leverage more impact in the community and strengthen our internal cohesion.

VISIBILITY – Our strategic giving program sets our company apart from our competition.  We have gone from being “just like everyone else” to doing something remarkable that makes a difference.

SALES – Consumers like to know the products and companies like ours that they invest in are doing good with their money.  Our customers do business with us because they see that we care about the community.

MEDIA – Our community involvement and giving have helped us get invaluable attention from the media – we couldn’t have afforded the great positive buzz this generated for our company.

IMPACT – We were able to create a sound business case for this program.  It’s not just feel good fluff, but work that creates a win/win – for our company’s bottom line and the community.

PRODUCTIVITY – Our employees feel good about being part of something larger than themselves.  Because they feel pride in our company and themselves, they are more productive in their jobs. “We work for a company that cares.”

MAXIMIZE – We are now clear where and how to focus our scarce resources to do the most good in the community.

RESULTS – We actually know how we are going to measure the results of our giving programs.

What can your business do to give back?  How can your give back program be in alignment with your core products or services and company values?  If you can use assistance in being more strategic with your giving program, contact me at shyatt@BNConnections or 303-512-0808…I can definitely help!

Business philanthropy (also called community involvement) is becoming more widely recognized as an essential component of business strategy for companies of all sizes – not just the Fortune 500.  Americans’ expectations of companies are at an all-time high. Supporting causes is no longer a “nice to do,” it is a “have to do.” There has been a major shift in the value equation: good business used to be primarily about providing quality products/services at a fair value. However, this is no longer sufficient for you to be truly competitive in today’s marketplace.  Your company must develop deep and meaningful emotional connections with your stakeholders by taking a stand on issues that are relevant to both your business and target audiences.  Sharing your resources including time, expertise, products/services, dollars, and networks is one way to be a “good business citizen” and show your commitment to being part of the solution to issues of our time.

In addition to the heartfelt, intrinsic rewards you feel from giving back and making a difference, there are also many business benefits available to any philanthropic company that engages with communities in authentic, meaningful, and strategic ways.  Especially during difficult economic times such as these, the need for doing “double duty” with your scarce resources has never been greater.  You need to be able to “do good” AND “do well.”

My free report offers selected research findings to show you the business case for strategic philanthropy and to provide food for thought to help you strengthen your company’s community involvement efforts moving forward.

To download your FREE copy, please provide your contact information below.