What do the captain of the gold medal US Olympic women’s gymnastics team Aly Raisman and polar explorer Robert Swan have in common? On an afternoon in Palo Alto this week, their shared mission was to inspire. Not nascent gymnasts nor endorphin junkies, but venture capitalists, social entrepreneurs, corporate executives and foundation heads gathered for […]
Tag Archives: CSR
The Most Generous Thing A Company Can Do
Walmart’s $4 prescription drug plan, which makes nearly all prescription drugs available for $4, has generated more than $2 billion in savings for its customers, with a specific benefit to Medicare recipients and the uninsured. But it wasn’t launched as a social responsibility initiative. It was launched as business strategy. And it’s proven extremely successful, […]
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 […]
I Like Companies That Make Me a Better Person (the smart companies know this)
In the last four days that I’ve been back in the states I’ve had to pay for bags three times (at CVS, Ikea and Trader Joe’s). It’s a surprising and welcome development, particularly as I’m not in California or Boulder, but in Washington, D.C. My reaction to the pay-for-bag-system has also evolved in step with […]
Cause Capitalism Goes to Washington
I came to the whole idea of social impact and business after several frustrating experiences–working for a business lobbying organization that (not shockingly) ran against my values, becoming privy to the status quo inefficiencies of traditional international economic development and suffering alongside my nonprofit clients as they focused more on fundraising and philanthropic realpolitik than constituent […]
Creating High Impact Through BoP Business–with Unmesh Brahme
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 […]
Vote4GoodBusiness: Creating More Companies That Get The Value of Sustainability
There are some myths about social responsibility and business that I need to dispel. There’s too much potential innovation, human fulfillment, environmental and social degradation and dollars at stake to let them linger. You–reader of this blog and likely social entrepreneur–can spot their untruths. But what about the millions of business in the United States that […]
A Zinger: CSR Now Seen As ‘Potentially Dangerous’
I’m stymied by another article from The Wall Street Journal challenging the plausibility and benefit of corporate social responsibility. In “The Case Against Corporate Social Responsibility” Aneel Karnani takes the Friedmanite view that companies are primarily responsible for maximizing shareholder profits. To make his point that profit trumps social good, he focuses on the relationship between company […]
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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