Give Something Back, an office supply company with an unusual business model, won two accolades from Inc. Magazine in the same year; it was billed as one of the country’s fastest growing companies and lampooned as the worst corporate name in America. I spoke with Give Something Back’s Mike Hannigan about a new set of […]
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RecycleBank’s Secret Weapon to Get People Recycling
I spoke with Ron Gonen, co-founder and CEO of RecycleBank, to learn how he built one of the largest public-private partnerships that creates incentives for social good. RecycleBank is a reward program that motivates people to recycle by measuring the amount of material each home recycles and then converting that activity into RecycleBank points that […]
WeDrink’s New Type of Marketplace is No Ruse
Right click to download. Andrew Meredith and Daniel Ebner were frustrated by the global shortage of clean water and by the lack of transparency in their cause-related purchases–t-shirts or bottled water that advertised a charitable contribution without disclosing what that cut translates to in dollars and cents. From these two pain points, Meredith and Ebner […]
How to Turn Your Exercise Mileage into Dollars for Charity
Rubber meets road and sponsorship backs action at Plus 3 Network, a recently launched California company that allows companies to sponsor your fitness workout for charity. Whether you run, bike, skate, swim or walk for exercise–or transportation–you can begin turning your steps, pedal rotations and swimming strokes into a campaign for a cause you care […]
3 Steps to Sustainable Change: Arzu Rugs Has it Right
I learned from my year in the Marshall Islands that paying market wages to artisans in developing countries, although a fundamental of economic justice, is only a partial solution to fostering true local economic growth. The Marshall Islands, like so many countries, is caught between a western monetary economy and its original self-sustaining system of […]
Syncing Brand DNA and Cause
Stephen Greene, RockCorps CEO and one of its six founders, called in from London for our interview today. He’s there setting up a partnership with the mobile carrier Orange to introduce youth to the concept of volunteering and activism through the power of music. The collaboration builds on RockCorps’ successful programs with U.S. brands: teenagers […]
Interview with One World Cafe Visionary
I spoke with Denise Cerreta, founder of One World Everybody Eats,to find out how she developed her model for a community kitchen, how she plans to scale it internationally and what other businesses can do create a company that gives back. What are One World Everybody Eats’ primary objectives? Eliminate world hunger. Feed and include […]
Voluntary Pricing Generates Change & Profits
UPDATE: I’ll be interviewing Denise Cerreta on Monday. Check back next week to hear about her experiences with One World Cafe. There are no prices or fixed menus at One World Cafe in Salt Lake City, Utah. Customers choose their portion sizes and pay what they deem fit. The “community kitchen” is One World Cafe’s […]
Boost Mobile Cultivates a Generation of Activists
I think Boost Mobile’s approach to social change is ingenious, evidencing that vehicles of change come in infinite models and need not mandate product matches or the banality of donating 5% of revenue. Boost Mobile partnered with RockCorps to give teenagers (Boost’s target consumer) concert tickets in exchange for volunteering in their neighborhoods at large. […]
Grameen America
Grameen Bank, the institution that launched social enterprise as we know it, is augmenting its American programs with operations in Los Angeles. The first American division opened in Queens, New York this spring. Isabel Maxwell heads the Los Angeles office. Grameen America, Like Grameen Bank, is a microcredit lender, providing poor individuals–primarily women–small loans that […]
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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