There’s a market at the bottom of the economic pyramid valued at $5 trillion dollars. But the real allure of this market, at least for me, is the opportunity to help its 4 billion people access healthcare, educational and basic living services. How can businesses access this market and how can they do it without [...]
This past week I’ve run into a lot of misconceptions about social responsibility and business. Taken from conversations with professionals “outside the sector” to those influencing it, from articles, blog posts and comments, here are this week’s top-eight fallacies about corporate social responsibility (CSR). .. It’s a new movement, so there’s time before my company [...]
I’m not the first to make the case that crowdsourced social good contests should retreat quickly into the night. They’re inefficient at creating change; Their current popularity has diminished the value they bring to companies and brands; Consumers are fed up with them (how many vote-for-me solicitations do you get a week that make you feel [...]
The offer: As part of a publicity push for its carbon-neutral ENVIRONMENT Papers line, Neenah Paper launched a sweepstakes to win an eco-trip for two to the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica and a chance to ”go hard core and experience conservation in the heart of some of nature’s most fragile environments.” The lucky winner is [...]
When I talk about the benefits of building a business with a social mission, consumer support and loyalty come up a lot. One of the rewards of being a socially driven company is that consumers like to buy from you and will often take it upon themselves to share your mission with others. A new [...]
This was one of the most educational interviews I’ve done. Mike is able to admit when he’s wrong, to explain the internal motivations and strategy behind his company’s social responsibility programs and to go beyond corporate sound bites. Click the player to listen to our conversation. Prefer MP3? Right-click and download. [Audio clip: view full post to [...]
To build brand awareness and identity, the Close But No Cigar company is interested in creating several cause-based community events. Close But No Cigar (CBNC) brings in an expert to ask what cause it should support. Based on the company’s response to several questions, the idea man returns with several areas that the company might [...]
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 [...]
Imagine frequenting your local coffee or sandwich joint and receiving said item on your tenth visit. Imagine being rewarded with a free trip from Boulder to Boston after choosing Continental for 100,000 air miles worth of travel. Easy, these customer loyalty programs have been around for a while, working seemingly well for both high-margin and [...]
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 
