Why integrate a social mission into your business? You’re an entrepreneur with an idea and maybe a business plan, a small-business owner or the head of mid-sized company. To expect you to add social purpose to your business just because it’s a good thing to do, is foolish. You have a bottom-line and other obligations […]
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How Do You Measure Something As Elusive As Impact?–Interview with Andy Mercy
If you measure progress, you can improve it. But how exactly do you measure the growth of something as elusive as impact? That’s what AngelPoints, Andy Mercy’s company, does well, which is why I invited him to do a Cause Capitalism interview. Andy founded AngelPoints after stumbling into a volunteer experience at work and being underwhelmed […]
The 15 Top Posts on Good Business of 2010
In order of popularity (ranked by page views), here are the 15 most-read pieces on Cause Capitalism from the last year. Below are some observations on the list. 1. 15 Social Venture Capital Firms That You Should Know About 2. 10 More Social Venture Capital Firms That You Told Me About 3. Will B Corp’s New […]
Retail Philanthropy Is In High Demand: 4 Steps To Doing It Right
Neither nationwide purse-tightening nor cries of Slactivism! Greenwashing! and Fad! have shaken cause marketing. Eighty-three percent of consumers “want more of the products, services and retailers they use to benefit causes,” according to Cone Inc.’s 2010 Cause Evaluation Study. But how do you do cause-related marketing (or cause branding) right? Pick a cause you care about. […]
Make Sustainability Personal–and 12 Other Tactics To Engage Employees
How do you engage employees in your company’s sustainability efforts, particularly when you’re just starting out? It can be trickier thank you’d think. In Strategy for Sustainability Adam Werbach reminds us that, Just as sustainability does not work for businesses unless it serves business needs first, sustainability does not engage individuals unless it first and foremost […]
Should Your Company Be Volunteering For Bravado? (This Company Is)
As a sign of their technological and business prowess, iTeleport employees volunteer one day every week with the Khan Academy, a non-profit working to provide top-level education for free to anyone with access to a computer. It’s not a marketing or publicity ploy and it’s not a recruitment tool (directly, at least). iTeleport founder Jahanzeb […]
Why Joie de Vivre Invests in Culture For The Most Bang For Its Bucks
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, […]
How To Grow Your Business By Giving Your Employees a Calling–with Chip Conley
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 […]
The Success of Your Company’s Mission Hinges On The Answer To “What’s Your Job?”
Start small and focus your efforts on your mission. You’ve probably heard this at some point, but it’s hard to do. How do you know if your perception of focus is, well, out of focus? Your employees can be the best reflection of reality. “If your employees or people connected to your company can’t tell […]
The Alternative Isn’t Nothing, It’s Something New: NetApp’s Free Fix To Going More Green
You want more green initiatives in your company and so do your employees and consumers. You’d love to give employee rebates for hybrid car purchases or offer transportation stipends, but the funding for these programs just isn’t there right now. It’s taking action (rather than any specific action) that counts. A year ago NetApp was […]
I'm Olivia Khalili. I created Cause Capitalism to show you how to grow your business by incorporating a social mission. I've worked extensively with both nonprofits and for-profits. I found that when you combine the two, you grow your profits, impassion all your stakeholders and do good in the world. Read more.
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