By Lee Fox for Cause Capitalism. Philanthropy is characterized by specific behaviors in the context of compassion (the love of humanity), action (volunteerism), donation (the gift of money) and collaboration (partnerships). Successful social enterprises require each of these elements to healthfully co-exist. Of course, all it takes is the pinch of a bad economy to throw […]
Doing Good Isn’t Always Hard: How iStock Made An Easy Segueway Into Micro-donations
Get the Google Audio Widget widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Not seeing a widget? (More info) Click the player below to listen or right-click and save for the MP3. I spoke with iStockphoto to learn how it lobbied for and justified its new micro-donations platform to give customers and employees an easy […]
7 Steps to Building Partnerships From the People Who Are Ending Hunger
If you truly want your company to have a great impact, you can’t go it alone. You need to have partners. But what type and how? Scott Henderson and his colleagues Anne Bertelsen and Brian Reich seem to be wizards at creating partnerships and drawing out the best from each party. Together, they launched WeCanEndThis.com, a year-long campaign […]
Foursquare and CauseWorld Lead to Better Cause Marketing–with Joe Waters
It’s a no-brainer to decide to run a cause marketing program. There’s ample evidence that (1) consumers choose products aligned with a cause, (2) employees and brand benefit from socially driven programs and (3) causes can use the help. But there are important considerations when deciding what type of program best suites your business, how […]
One Entrepreneur’s Story of Building a Business for a Better World–With Joe Magee
PineMark is to you and me what LEED is to buildings: a certification of sustainability. PineMark founders Joe Magee and Lauren de los Santos are incentivizing and rewarding individuals for their green lifestyles and educating them along the way. I spoke with Joe, who shares a commonality with many entrepreneurs. He left his comfortable seat […]
The Accidental Niche: How GiveForward’s Fundraising Platform Attracted an Untapped Audience–With Desiree Vargas
In March 2009 Amy Cowin raised $32,000 through a personal fundraising page to pay for an operation to remove one of her kidneys and donate it to her sister Jessica. This is not Amy and Jessica’s story. It’s the story of GiveForward.org–the idea and technology that enabled this operation and hundreds of others like it. […]