The entertainment industry is a unique sector of the for profit world. The intersection of entertainment industry and causes creates its own form of cause marketing.
I look forward to writing about this as, I receive more and more communication releases about this.
On Sunday, July 31st,The Weinstein Company will partner exclusively with NowLive and bring families together across the globe offering full-access to the star-studded world premiere of “SPY KIDS: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD IN 4D” live from Regal Cinemas, L.A. LIVE.
WHO: From the film: Robert Rodriguez (Director), Jessica Alba, Joel McHale, Jeremy Piven, Rowan Blanchard, Mason Cook, Alexa Vega, Danny Trejo, Producer Elizabeth Avellan. Celebrity guests: Salma Hayek, Joel and Harlow Madden, Angela Bassett & Courtney B. Vance with twins, Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men), Charlotte Ross (NYPD Blue) and Melora Hardin (The Office), among others.
Another highlight of the day will be when the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants 15-year-old Elijah’s dream of meeting Jessica Alba. Not only will Elijah get to meet Ms. Alba but he will also get the opportunity to interview her live on the red carpet. The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. Last year, the Foundation granted 13,580 wishes to kids across the United States. A wish come true helps children feel stronger, more energetic and more able to battle their life-threatening medical conditions. For many of them, it marks a turning point in their fight against their illnesses.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Are You a Company That Is Socially Responsible Or a Socially Responsible Company?
Huh! What's the difference? That's what I thought when I heard about research done by social psychologists out of Stanford about the effects that a slight change of wording had on voting behaviors, a personal form of social responsibility.
In a survey, half of the group were asked whether it was "important to vote" versus the other half which were asked whether it was "important to be a voter". The group asked about being a voter, voted in a following election almost 30% more than the other group. The conclusion the researchers made was that a simple change in wording helps increase the voter's self concept, or as they suggested vanity, which led to an increase in that positive behavior.
Might the issue of self concept apply to businesses also? Plenty of companies might answer that, yes, it is important to be socially responsible. But is it more effective for a business to think of themselves as a socially responsible company? Look at how Indira Nooyi: CEO of Pepsi in a video clip from a former post defines PepsiCo: "I want Pepsi to viewed as a socially responsible business."
Sounds like playing with semantics, and yet think about it. This sounds more like pride and commitment than just vanity, and that commitment implies that social responsibility permeates through every strategic decision. Being thought of as a socially responsible company also brings about value to the company: values that permeate the culture; a great emplyee hiring and development tool (especially through volunteering); and a marketing advantage with customers who prefer to buy from socially responsible businesses.
I encourage companies to engage in social responsibility in any way they can, either through their community involvement, philanthropy, or through environmentally sustainable practices. Every little bit matters.
But choosing to be a socially responsible company throughout sets the bar to a greater height and creates value for the companies and their communities. What a slight change in wording can do!
In a survey, half of the group were asked whether it was "important to vote" versus the other half which were asked whether it was "important to be a voter". The group asked about being a voter, voted in a following election almost 30% more than the other group. The conclusion the researchers made was that a simple change in wording helps increase the voter's self concept, or as they suggested vanity, which led to an increase in that positive behavior.
Might the issue of self concept apply to businesses also? Plenty of companies might answer that, yes, it is important to be socially responsible. But is it more effective for a business to think of themselves as a socially responsible company? Look at how Indira Nooyi: CEO of Pepsi in a video clip from a former post defines PepsiCo: "I want Pepsi to viewed as a socially responsible business."
Sounds like playing with semantics, and yet think about it. This sounds more like pride and commitment than just vanity, and that commitment implies that social responsibility permeates through every strategic decision. Being thought of as a socially responsible company also brings about value to the company: values that permeate the culture; a great emplyee hiring and development tool (especially through volunteering); and a marketing advantage with customers who prefer to buy from socially responsible businesses.
I encourage companies to engage in social responsibility in any way they can, either through their community involvement, philanthropy, or through environmentally sustainable practices. Every little bit matters.
But choosing to be a socially responsible company throughout sets the bar to a greater height and creates value for the companies and their communities. What a slight change in wording can do!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Exploring Expertise: Verizon & Groupon Leverage their Competencies for Good
In my conversations with the leaders of businesses large and small, I have been intrigued by a motif I see running through effective philanthropic endeavors, and it's a pretty basic one. I'm starting to realize that any organization is at its best when it relies on its core competencies to drive not just its bottom line, but its good works. In other words, what are the capabilities or routines that propel the success of your business? How can you spin those to promote a nonprofit or help a cause?
Let me offer a couple examples that caught my attention. I recently upgraded my phone with Verizon Wireless, and received a postage-paid envelope in the mail along with my new cell. The envelope encouraged me donate my old phone to HopeLine, a program that collects old mobile devices and repurposes them, keeping batteries and electronic waste out of landfills, but also donating thousands of the devices to victims of domestic abuse for emergency contact purposes. Verizon does this via a unique nationwide partnership with numerous domestic violence prevention organizations around the country.
And the core idea is such a simple one. With cellular technology evolving so fast, many of us upgrade our devices pretty quickly, and of course Verizon has a vested interest in this - they sell more phones that way. This trend must have laid an intriguing question before Verizon: how best to put all those old phones to use?
Consider another example. The hot business lately seems to be Groupon, the deal-of-the-day site that regularly features a pretty staggering area of discount offerings and coupon deals. But they've also got a secondary arm called G-Team that specializes in "Supporting Causes & Causing a Scene." According to Groupon, "G-Team campaigns range from ridiculous flashmobs to fundraisers that benefit local community organizations. Every G-Team campaign connects you with enough people to achieve something awesome that you couldn't have done alone."
After all, isn't that exactly what the business does? They leverage huge discounts from retailers by guaranteeing an assured quantity of customers, plus a generous helping of free promotion in the process.
From there, G-Team organizers must have asked themselves, how can we utilize this quantity discount model to help causes in our communities and abroad? One of the answers came just a few days ago, when G-Team partnered with several global hunger prevention organizations to offer a three-day Groupon campaign, encouraging small-dollar donations to benefit displaced refugees in Darfur. An anonymous donor offered to match the donations, ensuring that participants got that trademark Groupon savings by seeing their donation doubled.
The effort was a success, enabling the World Food USA's SAFE Stove Project to purchase thousands of clean burning stoves to help in cooking and spare women the laborious and often dangerous task of venturing outside their encampments for daily wood-gathering.
So next time you're brainstorming ideas for charitable giving, ask yourself, what does my organization already do better than others? How can we leverage these competencies for the benefit of our causes? Sometimes well-honed routines can give small ideas a big reverb effect.
Let me offer a couple examples that caught my attention. I recently upgraded my phone with Verizon Wireless, and received a postage-paid envelope in the mail along with my new cell. The envelope encouraged me donate my old phone to HopeLine, a program that collects old mobile devices and repurposes them, keeping batteries and electronic waste out of landfills, but also donating thousands of the devices to victims of domestic abuse for emergency contact purposes. Verizon does this via a unique nationwide partnership with numerous domestic violence prevention organizations around the country.
And the core idea is such a simple one. With cellular technology evolving so fast, many of us upgrade our devices pretty quickly, and of course Verizon has a vested interest in this - they sell more phones that way. This trend must have laid an intriguing question before Verizon: how best to put all those old phones to use?
Consider another example. The hot business lately seems to be Groupon, the deal-of-the-day site that regularly features a pretty staggering area of discount offerings and coupon deals. But they've also got a secondary arm called G-Team that specializes in "Supporting Causes & Causing a Scene." According to Groupon, "G-Team campaigns range from ridiculous flashmobs to fundraisers that benefit local community organizations. Every G-Team campaign connects you with enough people to achieve something awesome that you couldn't have done alone."
After all, isn't that exactly what the business does? They leverage huge discounts from retailers by guaranteeing an assured quantity of customers, plus a generous helping of free promotion in the process.
From there, G-Team organizers must have asked themselves, how can we utilize this quantity discount model to help causes in our communities and abroad? One of the answers came just a few days ago, when G-Team partnered with several global hunger prevention organizations to offer a three-day Groupon campaign, encouraging small-dollar donations to benefit displaced refugees in Darfur. An anonymous donor offered to match the donations, ensuring that participants got that trademark Groupon savings by seeing their donation doubled.
The effort was a success, enabling the World Food USA's SAFE Stove Project to purchase thousands of clean burning stoves to help in cooking and spare women the laborious and often dangerous task of venturing outside their encampments for daily wood-gathering.
So next time you're brainstorming ideas for charitable giving, ask yourself, what does my organization already do better than others? How can we leverage these competencies for the benefit of our causes? Sometimes well-honed routines can give small ideas a big reverb effect.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Dear Small Business, Welcome To Our Community
We are excited that you have brought a new business to our town and we’re glad to have you. In an interview with our local paper you said that as your company settles in, it will become involved in the community. You also said that your involvement will depend on what your people are passionate about. I congratulate you on your commitment to being socially responsible and helping to make your new community thrive.
Our community has many organizations that need help and so I can pretty well guess that already that you will be swamped with requests for help from every non-profit within striking distance of your new headquarters. Presumably, once you know what your passion is this will help determine which of these charities you will passionate about partnering with.
But how will you determine exactly what your people are passionate about? First, may I suggest that you determine whether your "people" is an all inclusive company group, or whether it is a committee, or just your top people. If you truly want to create your community involvement from passion, as much inclusivity as is possible from a practical point of view will create the most engagement.
Once you have sorted out the issue of who it is you want to involve, may I suggest a few steps to take to find your passion and create the action steps to execute a socially responsible plan that will deliver shared value to your company and the community.
Engage your employees in a dialogue that determines your company's values and creates a mission about which causes hold real meaning for your people. The more collective the vision, the more you engage them, the more engaged they will become. This is a process that can be facilitated in a variety if ways, either within your company or through an outside consultant trained in interactive facilitation methods.
Explore the opportunities within the community that are a best match with your company's values.
Study how some similar companies to yours in size, I am thinking companies like Give Something Back that have developed outstanding models for employee engagement in community involvement.
Define what "community" means to your company. Is it just the city the company is based in? Does it expand to the communities surrounding yours, where many of your employees live in?
Do you feel you a responsibility to the state, your country, or to the global community where many of your products reach?
Create a plan for community involvement that includes monetary donations,in-kind donations, employee volunteerism, with consideration to specific skills that your employees have that can be offered as pro-bono services.
These are a few ideas, but I am sure your talented and creative teams will come up with more, if you just give them the opportunity.
I look forward to seeing all the great things that will come out of this new relationship between you and our community.
Yours truly,
Your New Community
Our community has many organizations that need help and so I can pretty well guess that already that you will be swamped with requests for help from every non-profit within striking distance of your new headquarters. Presumably, once you know what your passion is this will help determine which of these charities you will passionate about partnering with.
But how will you determine exactly what your people are passionate about? First, may I suggest that you determine whether your "people" is an all inclusive company group, or whether it is a committee, or just your top people. If you truly want to create your community involvement from passion, as much inclusivity as is possible from a practical point of view will create the most engagement.
Once you have sorted out the issue of who it is you want to involve, may I suggest a few steps to take to find your passion and create the action steps to execute a socially responsible plan that will deliver shared value to your company and the community.
Engage your employees in a dialogue that determines your company's values and creates a mission about which causes hold real meaning for your people. The more collective the vision, the more you engage them, the more engaged they will become. This is a process that can be facilitated in a variety if ways, either within your company or through an outside consultant trained in interactive facilitation methods.
Explore the opportunities within the community that are a best match with your company's values.
Study how some similar companies to yours in size, I am thinking companies like Give Something Back that have developed outstanding models for employee engagement in community involvement.
Define what "community" means to your company. Is it just the city the company is based in? Does it expand to the communities surrounding yours, where many of your employees live in?
Do you feel you a responsibility to the state, your country, or to the global community where many of your products reach?
Create a plan for community involvement that includes monetary donations,in-kind donations, employee volunteerism, with consideration to specific skills that your employees have that can be offered as pro-bono services.
These are a few ideas, but I am sure your talented and creative teams will come up with more, if you just give them the opportunity.
I look forward to seeing all the great things that will come out of this new relationship between you and our community.
Yours truly,
Your New Community
Friday, July 15, 2011
Heifer and Green Mountain Coffee: Partnering to Support Rural Growers
On Wednesday, I introduced you to Heifer International, a global non-profit working to end hunger through a community-based approach to livestock donation. One of their most exciting enterprises of the moment is a partnership with Vermont-based gourmet coffee company Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, itself a business with a long track record of sustainable, fair trade, eco-friendly coffee production. The pairing may remind you of another corporate initiative I wrote about a couple months back, in which Pepsi worked with farmers in San Gabriel, Mexico.
The Heifer/Green Mountain partnership focuses on the Chiapas region, where coffee farmers deplete the income from their crop just prior to the rainy season, resulting in what is known as los meses flacos, or "the thin months," a period of extreme food scarcity and hunger.
Here Heifer and Green Mountain are aiding farmers in diversifying their food sources and income via Heifer's dynamic methodology. As the below documentary short illustrates, as demand for gourmet, sourced, high-quality commodities has increased globally, agricultural production has become increasingly specialized. While high coffee prices can be a boon for growers during the flush times of the year, their methods, land use and abilities leave them without a source of income for the thin months.
This is where Heifer and Green Mountain help. Because the buyers at Green Mountain have long fostered partnerships with supply-chain communities, including the cooperative involved here, known as the CESMACH, or the Campesinos Ecológicos de la Sierra Madre de Chiapas, they have the relationships necessary to assist Heifer in making livestock donations tailored to fit each community's unique needs, and also enhance their assets.
The cows, goats, fish or horses donated provide an alternative food source during the thin months, but they also enable community members to consider alternate business options. For instance, one pocket of communities within CESMACH has banded together to sell the honey produced by their Heifer-donated honeybees. During the upcoming season, they are estimated to produce and sell around nine tons of honey, raising thousands of dollars.
It's intriguing to see what kind of success can result from a partnership like this one, in which Green Mountain knows its agricultural partners, their needs and abilities, and Heifer boasts such an effective record of success.
For a little more discussion of their efforts, check out this brief documentary, called "After the Harvest," narrated by Susan Sarandon.
The Heifer/Green Mountain partnership focuses on the Chiapas region, where coffee farmers deplete the income from their crop just prior to the rainy season, resulting in what is known as los meses flacos, or "the thin months," a period of extreme food scarcity and hunger.Here Heifer and Green Mountain are aiding farmers in diversifying their food sources and income via Heifer's dynamic methodology. As the below documentary short illustrates, as demand for gourmet, sourced, high-quality commodities has increased globally, agricultural production has become increasingly specialized. While high coffee prices can be a boon for growers during the flush times of the year, their methods, land use and abilities leave them without a source of income for the thin months.
This is where Heifer and Green Mountain help. Because the buyers at Green Mountain have long fostered partnerships with supply-chain communities, including the cooperative involved here, known as the CESMACH, or the Campesinos Ecológicos de la Sierra Madre de Chiapas, they have the relationships necessary to assist Heifer in making livestock donations tailored to fit each community's unique needs, and also enhance their assets.
The cows, goats, fish or horses donated provide an alternative food source during the thin months, but they also enable community members to consider alternate business options. For instance, one pocket of communities within CESMACH has banded together to sell the honey produced by their Heifer-donated honeybees. During the upcoming season, they are estimated to produce and sell around nine tons of honey, raising thousands of dollars.
It's intriguing to see what kind of success can result from a partnership like this one, in which Green Mountain knows its agricultural partners, their needs and abilities, and Heifer boasts such an effective record of success.
For a little more discussion of their efforts, check out this brief documentary, called "After the Harvest," narrated by Susan Sarandon.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Heifer International: Making Living Loans Around the World
Last summer, in advance of attending an old friend's wedding, I perused the gift registry set up by her and her fiancee. There I found a unique section that, in lieu of traditional gifts, requested donations to Heifer International. I had never heard of the organization, but I appreciated the other-oriented spirit they had shown in setting up the donation alternative on the registry, so I went ahead and donated. First, though, I read up on Heifer, and was fascinated by what I found. I don't think it's too much to say this group is one of the most dynamic global non-profits on the scene right now.
Their concept is pretty simple, but the implementation is quite a bit more nuanced. Heifer's model revolves around livestock donations made to needy communities around the planet, but first the organization begins with an analysis, done in conjunction with the recipients, asking hard questions like, "What resources does this community already have? What do they need? What sort of livestock or agricultural donation could help provide sustainability?"
From there, Heifer makes the appropriate donation, a "living loan" of a cow or goat that can provide milk, eggs, wool or draft power to the community. Heifer then facilitates training in the maintenance of this investment, as well as argroecology, techniques for environmentally sustainable natural resource management.
From there, the community continuously evaluates and refines its animal and land management practices in light of the benefits provided by the gifted animal. This is all done with the goal of "passing on the gift," a core facet of the Heifer approach, in which Heifer families become donors themselves by passing on the offspring of their animal to another family in need.
You can hear one Rwandan woman's "passing on the gift" story here, or read about a "passing on the gift ceremony" at the Tunayac Project in Guatemala over here.
At present, Heifer is sponsoring a dollar-for-dollar matching funds drive to benefit three large umbrella-style projects in Honduras, designed to help thousands of families improve nutrition and community income through donations of cows, hens, goats, fish and bees. Part of the initiative calls for a three-year program to support the country's micro economies and small businesses by facilitating the selling of surplus dairy, pollen, eggs and other food supplies. As you can see, Heifer has a pretty wide reach. Currently they're also supporting a children's orphanage in Latvia, developing sustainable communities in India, and helping to improve the resource access of local farmers in the Mississippi Delta region of Arkansas.
On Friday I'll put the "business" back into the story by talking about a new joint effort between Heifer and Green Mountain Coffee designed to support coffee-growers in Mexico.
Their concept is pretty simple, but the implementation is quite a bit more nuanced. Heifer's model revolves around livestock donations made to needy communities around the planet, but first the organization begins with an analysis, done in conjunction with the recipients, asking hard questions like, "What resources does this community already have? What do they need? What sort of livestock or agricultural donation could help provide sustainability?"From there, Heifer makes the appropriate donation, a "living loan" of a cow or goat that can provide milk, eggs, wool or draft power to the community. Heifer then facilitates training in the maintenance of this investment, as well as argroecology, techniques for environmentally sustainable natural resource management.
From there, the community continuously evaluates and refines its animal and land management practices in light of the benefits provided by the gifted animal. This is all done with the goal of "passing on the gift," a core facet of the Heifer approach, in which Heifer families become donors themselves by passing on the offspring of their animal to another family in need.
You can hear one Rwandan woman's "passing on the gift" story here, or read about a "passing on the gift ceremony" at the Tunayac Project in Guatemala over here.
At present, Heifer is sponsoring a dollar-for-dollar matching funds drive to benefit three large umbrella-style projects in Honduras, designed to help thousands of families improve nutrition and community income through donations of cows, hens, goats, fish and bees. Part of the initiative calls for a three-year program to support the country's micro economies and small businesses by facilitating the selling of surplus dairy, pollen, eggs and other food supplies. As you can see, Heifer has a pretty wide reach. Currently they're also supporting a children's orphanage in Latvia, developing sustainable communities in India, and helping to improve the resource access of local farmers in the Mississippi Delta region of Arkansas.
On Friday I'll put the "business" back into the story by talking about a new joint effort between Heifer and Green Mountain Coffee designed to support coffee-growers in Mexico.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Corporate President Uses His Passion To Raise Money For a Good Cause
Last weekend, Century 21 President and CEO, Rick Davidson, will take his love of climbing to new heights – the Alaska Mountain Range– where he and his five-member team will raise money for Easter Seals.
The Climb for Kids team’s goal is to ascend 30,000 feet of elevation over the course of eight days and raise $30,000 for children with autism, development disabilities, physical disabilities and other special needs. That’s $1 for each foot of elevation!
Their journey will begin in Anchorage, Alaska, on July 2; then the team will head north to Talkeetna and ascend to the summits of Mt. Eldridge and Explorers Peak. A third summit will be determined based on weather conditions and access from the Eldridge Glacier.
You can follow Rick and his team at the CENTURY 21 Facebook page where they’ll be posting live updates.Here is the press release about their adventure.
CENTURY 21 Real Estate Takes Its Commitment to Easter Seals to New Heights
The Climb for Kids team’s goal is to ascend 30,000 feet of elevation over the course of eight days and raise $30,000 for children with autism, development disabilities, physical disabilities and other special needs. That’s $1 for each foot of elevation!
Their journey will begin in Anchorage, Alaska, on July 2; then the team will head north to Talkeetna and ascend to the summits of Mt. Eldridge and Explorers Peak. A third summit will be determined based on weather conditions and access from the Eldridge Glacier.
You can follow Rick and his team at the CENTURY 21 Facebook page where they’ll be posting live updates.Here is the press release about their adventure.
CENTURY 21 Real Estate Takes Its Commitment to Easter Seals to New Heights
2011 CENTURY 21 Climb for Kids Team will Ascend Alaska Mountain Range with Goals of Raising $1 for Each Foot of Elevation Climbed
CHICAGO, June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The CENTURY 21® System has been supporting Easter Seals for more than three decades, and this July, Rick Davidson, president and chief executive officer of Century 21 Real Estate LLC, will lead a five-member team through the Alaska Mountain Range to raise money for children with autism, development disabilities, physical disabilities and other special needs.
The Climb for Kids team's goal is to ascend 30,000 feet of elevation over the course of eight days and raise $30,000 for Easter Seals. That's $1 for each foot of elevation! Visit the CENTURY 21 Easter Seals Champion Page to support the climb and "Like" the CENTURY 21 page at Facebook.com/century 21 to check out the team's live updates from the mountain.
"It's only fitting that Rick and the Climb for Kids team will be embarking on this awesome expedition over the Independence Day Holiday," says James E. Williams, Jr., president and chief executive officer, Easter Seals. "The CENTURY 21 System's generous support has been helping children and adults with disabilities gain greater independence for more than 30 years. CENTURY 21 brokers and agents are true Easter Seals Champions, having raised and contributed $102 million to Easter Seals since 1979."
Rounding out the team are four CENTURY 21 System members who will join Davidson on this extreme adventure, including:
- Scott Becker, CENTURY 21 New Millennium
- Greg Cornelius, CENTURY 21 NorthBay Alliance
- Dennis Pysz, CENTURY 21 South America
- Robert Struk, CENTURY 21 Curran & Christie
The Climb for Kids journey will begin in Anchorage, Alaska, on July 2; then the team will head north to Talkeetna and ascend to the summits of Mt. Eldridge and Explorers Peak. A third summit will be determined based on weather conditions and access from the Eldridge Glacier.
"The CENTURY 21 System's ongoing commitment to the community and our sole philanthropic partner is as strong as ever," said Rick Davidson. "The Climb for Kids is meant to help continue this incredible legacy of giving to such a fine and deserving organization. Let's help kids reach their own personal summits and live their lives with independence."
About Easter Seals
Easter Seals is the leading non-profit provider of services for individuals with autism, developmental disabilities, physical and mental disabilities, and other special needs. For more than 90 years, we have been offering help and hope to children and adults living with disabilities, and to the families who love them. Through therapy, training, education and support services, Easter Seals creates life-changing solutions so that people with disabilities can live, learn, work and play in their communities. Support children and adults with disabilities at www.easterseals.com or http://www.makethefirstfivecount.org/.
Easter Seals is the leading non-profit provider of services for individuals with autism, developmental disabilities, physical and mental disabilities, and other special needs. For more than 90 years, we have been offering help and hope to children and adults living with disabilities, and to the families who love them. Through therapy, training, education and support services, Easter Seals creates life-changing solutions so that people with disabilities can live, learn, work and play in their communities. Support children and adults with disabilities at www.easterseals.com or http://www.makethefirstfivecount.org/.
About Century 21 Real Estate LLC
Century 21 Real Estate LLC (CENTURY21.com) is the franchisor of the world's largest residential real estate sales organization, providing comprehensive training and marketing support for the CENTURY 21 System. The System is comprised of more than 7,900 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 71 countries and territories worldwide. Century 21 Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services.
Century 21 Real Estate LLC (CENTURY21.com) is the franchisor of the world's largest residential real estate sales organization, providing comprehensive training and marketing support for the CENTURY 21 System. The System is comprised of more than 7,900 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 71 countries and territories worldwide. Century 21 Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services.
Friday, July 8, 2011
What Can One Person Do? Activist Reveals How One Act of Community Service Can Spark Thousands More
Don’t tell Lisa Sellman that one person can’t make a difference. She knows better.
Sellman, a community activist and lifelong volunteer, recently learned how one act of kindness can set off a chain reaction that can span the globe.
“It just started out with me asking a regional pet food company for a donation of dog food for Red Lake Rosie’s in Minnesota,” said Sellman, a professional dog trainer and owner of a pet care business. “I called Solid Gold Northland, and one of the marketing managers there advised me that they were trying to increase the number of people who ‘liked’ them on Facebook, and that if I could get 40 new Facebook members to click on their ‘like’ button, they’d give me $200 worth of pet food.”
So Sellman, who currently volunteers for six different community groups, sent a message out to all her Facebook friends inviting them to Solid Gold Northland’s fan page on Facebook. Somehow, the invite made it to the Facebook page of The Patrick Miracle, a page devoted to the story of a two year old pitbull found by a janitor in a dumpster. Their Facebook page has charted over 109,000 “like” clicks from users. When the founders of the page posted Sellman’s invite, Solid Gold Northland received more than 2,000 new fans from all over the world in the course of about 48 hours.
“When I contacted them the next week, they were blown away by how quickly the response took off,” said Sellman, also author of the children’s book The Legend of the Wolves of Gunflint Lake (www.dreamcatcherpress.us), which contains the theme of the value of community service and which she hopes will serve to inspire others. “As a result of the combined outreach, Solid Gold Northland and Chuck and Don’s Pet Food Outlet have committed a donation of $2,000 worth of pet food, and I’ve helped to forge new friends from other countries who all care about the same things I care about. And it all started with a simple posting on Facebook because I wanted to help a local animal shelter. It’s been magical.”
Sellman’s simple act was a drop in the bucket compared to her schedule of volunteer activities. She works as an after school care volunteer at the Minneapolis Indian Center, a special events assistant at the Loft Literary Center, a volunteer marketing director for canine events at the Gunflint Lodge (the real location contained in her children’s book), and a trail staff assistant with Wilderness Inquiry, where she and her husband take disabled children and adults on outdoor adventures throughout the US. They’ve been volunteers with this organization since 1997.
“Although I work hard, I love being able to serve my community.” Sellman said. “The people in all the organizations I’m involved with, all share my values and my world view and they are my friends and my family. The people and the activities fill up my life with fun, joy and a purpose I could never have achieved any other way. It doesn’t mean that I think everyone should take the same path that I have. I know most people don’t have the time. My point is this: it only takes one simple act, one click of a mouse button to start a movement. It happened to me and it can happen to you. All you need to do is give it a shot.”
About Lisa Sellman
Lisa Sellman, owner and professional dog trainer at Aloha Pet Care & Dog Training, volunteers for half a dozen charitable organizations. She believes that community service is its own reward, a message that resonates throughout her new children’s book The Legend of the Wolves of Gunflint Lake.
Sellman, a community activist and lifelong volunteer, recently learned how one act of kindness can set off a chain reaction that can span the globe.
“It just started out with me asking a regional pet food company for a donation of dog food for Red Lake Rosie’s in Minnesota,” said Sellman, a professional dog trainer and owner of a pet care business. “I called Solid Gold Northland, and one of the marketing managers there advised me that they were trying to increase the number of people who ‘liked’ them on Facebook, and that if I could get 40 new Facebook members to click on their ‘like’ button, they’d give me $200 worth of pet food.”
So Sellman, who currently volunteers for six different community groups, sent a message out to all her Facebook friends inviting them to Solid Gold Northland’s fan page on Facebook. Somehow, the invite made it to the Facebook page of The Patrick Miracle, a page devoted to the story of a two year old pitbull found by a janitor in a dumpster. Their Facebook page has charted over 109,000 “like” clicks from users. When the founders of the page posted Sellman’s invite, Solid Gold Northland received more than 2,000 new fans from all over the world in the course of about 48 hours.
Sellman’s simple act was a drop in the bucket compared to her schedule of volunteer activities. She works as an after school care volunteer at the Minneapolis Indian Center, a special events assistant at the Loft Literary Center, a volunteer marketing director for canine events at the Gunflint Lodge (the real location contained in her children’s book), and a trail staff assistant with Wilderness Inquiry, where she and her husband take disabled children and adults on outdoor adventures throughout the US. They’ve been volunteers with this organization since 1997.
“Although I work hard, I love being able to serve my community.” Sellman said. “The people in all the organizations I’m involved with, all share my values and my world view and they are my friends and my family. The people and the activities fill up my life with fun, joy and a purpose I could never have achieved any other way. It doesn’t mean that I think everyone should take the same path that I have. I know most people don’t have the time. My point is this: it only takes one simple act, one click of a mouse button to start a movement. It happened to me and it can happen to you. All you need to do is give it a shot.”
About Lisa Sellman
Lisa Sellman, owner and professional dog trainer at Aloha Pet Care & Dog Training, volunteers for half a dozen charitable organizations. She believes that community service is its own reward, a message that resonates throughout her new children’s book The Legend of the Wolves of Gunflint Lake.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Storytelling As a Great CSR Asset
Stanford Social Innovation Review is likely my top choice for great reading about social change efforts by the non-profit, for profit, and social venture sectors. A recent article by Dr John Brothers, a professor and non-profit consultant: How the Non-Profit Sector Is Misusing Its Greatest Asset,proposes that non-profits need to engage each other and their communities in the sharing of real stories about the real people that they have affected. They, and the non-profit community that includes foundations, need to convey the more tangible data related to their impact on the causes they serve.
My view is that this idea can extend to businesses and social ventures also, as they may have even better communications vehicles through which to spread the word about the causes that they support. Think of businesses that support charities and causes that do this well like Better World Books which we have written about before, that has live-time updates of how many books have been saved from landfills and how much has been donated towards literacy programs; or, Whole Foods that has fliers and posters with stories of real people who have been impacted by the micro-loans that Whole Foods Foundation has provided them with. Another example of great corporate CSR storytelling is Deloitte's documentary videos. Potential communication vehicles for businesses are: their own websites and social networking sites, newsletters, you tube videos, in-store promotional materials. And these vehicles are available to both large corporations and small businesses alike.
Yes, donations of money, time and services are valuable and necessary, but spreading the word by conveying these stories about needs and then communicating the data about their impact of the CSR programs, create a multiplier effect that can be far reaching. In many ways these may be the greatest assets businesses can use to create social change and promote social benefit.
My view is that this idea can extend to businesses and social ventures also, as they may have even better communications vehicles through which to spread the word about the causes that they support. Think of businesses that support charities and causes that do this well like Better World Books which we have written about before, that has live-time updates of how many books have been saved from landfills and how much has been donated towards literacy programs; or, Whole Foods that has fliers and posters with stories of real people who have been impacted by the micro-loans that Whole Foods Foundation has provided them with. Another example of great corporate CSR storytelling is Deloitte's documentary videos. Potential communication vehicles for businesses are: their own websites and social networking sites, newsletters, you tube videos, in-store promotional materials. And these vehicles are available to both large corporations and small businesses alike.
Yes, donations of money, time and services are valuable and necessary, but spreading the word by conveying these stories about needs and then communicating the data about their impact of the CSR programs, create a multiplier effect that can be far reaching. In many ways these may be the greatest assets businesses can use to create social change and promote social benefit.
Friday, July 1, 2011
UPS Keeps America Beautiful
The UPS Foundation Awards Keep America Beautiful Affiliates with Community Grants
Thirteen Communities Receive Grants Totaling $130,000 for a Wide Array of Local Projects
STAMFORD, Conn. (June 14, 2011) – The UPS Foundation awarded 13 Keep America Beautiful (KAB) affiliates with $10,000 community improvement grants, each supporting programs across the country that address recycling, beautification and community greening, litter prevention and waste reduction. The projects will take place during 2011 and into early 2012.
The grant awards were presented to KAB affiliates in recognition of their volunteer initiatives with local UPS locations throughout the United States. UPS employee volunteers will actively support many of these merit-based award programs in their respective communities.
“The UPS Foundation is a leader in supporting and initiating volunteer engagement throughout the country,” said Matthew M. McKenna, president and CEO, Keep America Beautiful. “Keep America Beautiful values this partnership because we know our affiliates will make significant and sustainable differences in their respective communities with the help of these grants.”
“The UPS Foundation is a leader in supporting and initiating volunteer engagement throughout the country,” said Matthew M. McKenna, president and CEO, Keep America Beautiful. “Keep America Beautiful values this partnership because we know our affiliates will make significant and sustainable differences in their respective communities with the help of these grants.”
“The local affiliates of Keep America Beautiful continue to come up with creative approaches to addressing environmental challenges,” said Ken Sternad, president of The UPS Foundation. “UPS and our employees are proud to see it happen and stand ready to support projects that improve the communities where we live and work.”
The winning KAB affiliates and a description of their UPS Foundation-supported projects are:
Keep Arizona Beautiful (KAZB), through its Oasis Beautification Project, is seeking to mitigate the cumulative impact of blight in the Lower Grand Avenue neighborhood of Phoenix and convert the Oasis Hotel into an affordable housing project, which will offer 60 one-bedroom and studio live/work residential units, with an emphasis on serving the needs of local artists. KAZB will also reseed community and pedestrian infrastructure in adjoining, public rights-of-way.
Keep Oakland Beautiful is supporting volunteerism through its Community Small Grant Program, which is providing small dollar amount grants to neighborhood groups. These projects are awarded to groups who propose creative and highly visible projects ranging from neighborhood park makeovers to beautification of entire median strips.
After recognizing the overwhelming need in the community to support revitalization efforts in the neglected community of Indiantown, Keep Martin (Fla.) Beautiful (KMB) plans to coordinate a series of improvements to 10 different structures in need of painting and minor structural improvements as part of its Indiantown Makeover.
Santa Rosa (Fla.) Clean Community System will create a Recycling Innovation Station at the site of the old firehouse in the county seat of Milton. This site will not only have recycling centers, but will show off recycled materials and give out recycling information at the park adjacent to the area.
The goal of KAB – Topeka/Shawnee County’s “No Children Left Inside” program is to help local youth realize how important Earth is and to create a legacy in future environmentalists through fun and educational lesson plans that would include outdoor activities for youth of all ages.
Keep Covington (La.) Beautiful plans to create a Covington Nature Trail at the Covington Recreation Complex. The project will include planting supplementary native trees along the trail as well as providing educational information about trailside native plant species.
The goal of the Senior Citizens’ Center Landscaping Project is to install landscaping, an irrigation system, benches, and raised handicap accessible planters a new Center, which was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Keep Slidell Beautiful will involve senior citizens by forming a 15-member Senior Citizen’s Green Team trained by local Master Gardeners to plant and mulch shrubs, perennials, and ornamental trees.
The Roundup Recycling Project will address the needs of Miles City’s local recycling facility at Eastern Montana Industries, a sheltered workshop employing individuals with developmental disabilities. Keep Miles City (Mont.) Beautiful will work with the facility to contain the recyclable materials and improve the area’s appearance by providing covered bins. Volunteers will prepare the area, local youth will participate in a contest to develop a portable mural for the area, new bins will be placed, new paint applied and unsightly signage will be replaced.
“Got Your Bags?” is a promotion for reusable bags at local grocery stores. Keep Lincoln & Lancaster County (Neb.) Beautiful will partner with small franchise grocery stores to increase the number of customers using reusable grocery bags and decrease the use of plastic bags at their stores.
Keep Beatrice (Neb.) Beautiful will restore 18.2 acres of grasses along the Big Blue River Trail to a high-diversity native-ecotype prairie restoration as part of the Big Blue River Trail Riparian Restoration. Staff and volunteers will return this historic area to a state more closely resembling what it looked like when the first settlers planted native grasses along the Big Blue River. This project would have the distinction of being first of many planned improvements in this area.
Keep North Carolina Beautiful aims to address the problem of uncovered truck loads, which accounted for 50 percent of North Carolina’s roadside litter and contributed to $14 million of litter removal costs to the state last year alone. The goal of Tarp Day is to reach, educate and activate convenience center or landfill users to properly secure their cargo with the distribution of free tarps administrated by the 31 local affiliates.
In an effort to raise the quality of life for Oklahoma City’s residents, Oklahoma City Beautiful is launching a “No Butts About It” cigarette litter prevention campaign. The objective of this program is to reduce the amount of cigarette litter in Oklahoma City by half. Cigarette receptacles will be placed in public parks in areas that smokers frequent; volunteers will distribute portable ashtrays; and a public education campaign will be utilized. Success will be measured based on the scans that a volunteer task force will perform before, during and after all aspects of the program are completed.
Keep Yankton (S.D.) Beautiful will use grant funds to landscape and re-purpose an existing storage building for community and public event use at Tripp Park. The plans for the Tripp Park Project include landscaping the park and encourage outdoor use and enjoyment of a well-used bike trail in a section of town with no such public gathering spaces.
About The UPS Foundation
UPS (NYSE: UPS) is a global leader in logistics, offering a broad range of solutions including the transportation of packages and freight, the facilitation of international trade, and the deployment of advanced technology to more efficiently manage the world of business. Since its founding in 1907, UPS has built a legacy as a caring and responsible corporate citizen, supporting programs that provide long-term solutions to community needs. Founded in 1951, The UPS Foundation, which celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2011, is responsible for facilitating community involvement to local, national, and global communities. In 2010, UPS and its employees, active and retired, invested more than $95 million in charitable giving around the world. The UPS foundation can be found on the web at UPS.com/foundation. To get UPS news direct, visit pressroom.ups.com/RSS.
About Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
Keep America Beautiful, Inc., established in 1953, is the nation’s largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. With a network of more than 1,200 affiliate and participating organizations, Keep America Beautiful forms public-private partnerships and programs that engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments. For more information, visit www.kab.org.
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