How to let your mission guide you: Your mission should guide your decisions, but sometimes you’ll have to prioritize long-term mission over short-term consequences as Organic Valley did when it shipped milk from Ohio to North Carolina to help farmers there start a local business. The short-term compromise was the environmental impact of shipping milk so [...]
Dave Stangis, vice president of CSR for Campbell’s, recently spoke about third generation strategies for CSR and sustainability. Unlike past generations, which could be summed up with words like compliance and philanthropy, the mark of success for this generation will be cannibalization of the sector as CSR becomes integrated into a company’s functions just like human resources, finance or quality. Dave talked [...]
McDonald’s just penetrated my prejudice-painted blinders to score some points.  Like Walmart before, McDonald’s was once my favorite company to malign. Animal cruelty, lousy work conditions, rainforest destruction, supplier coercion, detrimental marketing and obesity (yes, I think McDonald’s has a responsibility for the products they sell) were some top offenses. But McDonald’s has been systematically [...]
The principle of the following story is so simple and effective that it’s a wonder we ever conjured up advertising to sell our wares. Take your largest and most expensive asset, your employees, and use it to build your business. During an interview last week with enlightened entrepreneur Chip Conley he mentioned that his company, [...]
When Chip Conley applied his interpretation of Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to his hospitality company Joie de Vivre, he tripled its size when most of his competitors were going bankrupt in the post-9/11, Travelocity-frenzy years. Click the player to listen to my 20-minute conversation with Chip or right-click and save for the MP3. [Audio clip: view [...]
A $22 candle from Prosperity Candle brings you more than light and a gentle rose coriander scent (if you choose).  It comes with the first name of the woman who made it and an identifying number that allows you to send her comments and feedback.  The woman who made your candle lives in Baghdad and [...]
The concept is simple and brilliant. When I came across Living Goods, my stomach flipped with the potential impact of the organization’s work.  The mechanisms, intent and appeal match that of blockbuster social enterprises Kiva and charity: water. Living Goods replicates Avon’s model of door-to-door selling, but instead of peddling lipstick and mascara to middle-class [...]
Click the player to listen to my conversation with Kim or right-click and save for the MP3.  Either way, you should listen. I’d bet good money that most of us would love to have Kim Jordan’s job as New Belgium Brewing Company’s intrepid leader of good beer and good business. Beyond making (and tasting) great [...]
Michael Van Patten used to give out his entire allowance when he lived in Ecuador during high school.  This went against common practice to ignore people with their hands and pretend they weren’t there.  The poverty he saw stuck with him for years but didn’t affect the way he made a living, until recently. Click the [...]
You can read articles and books on how to write your mission statement, but not here.  This is a collection of  ideas that worked for other social entrepreneurs and what they would do differently next time.  It’s what they wished they’d had when defining their mission. Most mission statements sound like a sixth-grader’s attempt to [...]
I'm Olivia Khalili. I created Cause Capitalism to show you how to grow your business by incorporating a social mission. 
© 2012 Cause Capitalism. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by Wordpress. Designed by 
