Slovenian philosopher and theorist Slavoj Žižek swings a sledge hammer at the knees of ‘cultural capitalism’ in this 10-minute video. And I admit, my knees buckled for some moments as I listened to his critique of Starbucks for its fair trade coffee, of philanthropist George Soros and of ‘charity businesses’ like TOMS Shoes. Žižek argues that […]
Tag Archives: Cause Marketing
Radical Pricing Scheme Earns $ for Companies & Nonprofits
Letting people pay what they want, with the promise that 50% will go to charity, produces a higher profit than selling the product at a fixed, market price. It also earns more money for the nonprofit Leif Nelson, an associate professor of marketing at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, ran an experiment […]
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 […]
Corporate Social…Inauthenticity
The opening remarks at the recent Global Conference for Social Change, joint venture of the Foundation for Social Change and the United Nations Office for Partnerships, went something like this: “Let’s take a look at this phrase corporate social responsibility. Let’s take away social. Now let’s take away corporate. What we’re left with responsibility, which is defined […]
To Tap Cause Marketing’s Huge Potential, Do Less Of It
This piece was originally written for and published on Reach Students. If 94% of Millennials condone cause marketing why do only 53% report buying a product that benefits a cause in the past year? The first finding is compelling, the second certainly is not, particularly given that in many stores you’d have to struggle not to buy […]
Want To Open a Nonprofit Store? 10 Guidelines You–and Nordstrom’s–Should Follow
Scandal in-the-making, customer-pleaser, tax write-off, nonprofit cash cow or game-changer? Which hyphenated phrase will best describe Nordstrom’s new concept store, which will donate all net profits to charity? I was interviewed recently by American Public Media’s Marketplace on the Nordstrom concept store, set to open in Soho next fall, and on the growing appeal of […]
Mobile Giving Meets Mobile Marketing, But Are Americans Ready?
Sure, Americans love their mobile phones and use them handily, but there’s still stunted confidence for mobile financial transactions, whether it’s a payment or a donation. Part of the reticence comes from the clumsiness of many mobile commerce and mobile giving sites and part of it’s a lack of incentives. Benevity Social Ventures and Obopay […]
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. […]
Has KaBOOM! Drunk The Kool-Aid?
When I first heard about KaBOOM!’s partnership with Kool-Aid, I thought unequivocally that the nonprofit had swallowed the sugary, Red No. 40-punch. Kool-Aid’s pledged to help KaBOOM! build 24 playgrounds and provide funding for 20 more. In a campaign aimed at promoting “healthy, active lifestyles for kids,” why is KaBOOM! partnering with an historic obesity […]
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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