Atlassian's Attains Big Milestone for Room to Read Through Cause Marketing

Over $500,000 Donated to Room to Read Through Sales of $10 Starter Licenses

SAN FRANCISCO & SYDNEY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Atlassian, makers of collaboration and developer tools, announced that its Starter license program has generated over $500,000 in donations to Room to Read, a global nonprofit organization focused on literacy and gender equality in education, in just 12-months. In April, 2009, Atlassian first introduced its Starter licenses to enable small teams and software startups of under 10 users to access its popular software products like the JIRA issue tracker and the Confluence wiki. Each Starter license costs only $10 and includes a perpetual license, full technical support and updates. To date over 31,000 licenses have been sold to over 14,000 unique customers.

“The great results have taken us by surprise”

A Pleasant Surprise

"The great results have taken us by surprise," said Mike Cannon-Brookes, CEO at Atlassian. "We thought we might sell a few thousand licenses, and then the promotion took on a life of its own. The prospect of making a meaningful donation and getting great software has been too good for business customers to pass up. Room to Read's efforts to promote literacy have inspired us for years, so when we sought out a charity for our Starter licenses, it was an easy choice."

Tangible Results

Room to Read has used the funds to invest in literacy programs and girls' education in Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Cambodia. The current and future projects include the establishment of 34 libraries, four schools, and two local language books. Other funds have been set aside to sponsor 250 scholarships through the Girls' Education program which provides school fees, books, uniforms and transportation, mentoring and life skills training to help girls complete secondary school. In total, more than 32,000 children will have benefitted from educational opportunities supported through the Starter license promotion.

Succeeding by Doing Good

Atlassian's Room to Read donations are an extension of its innovative 1/1/1 corporate philanthropy model where 1% of employee time goes to volunteer work, 1% of company equity goes to the Atlassian foundation and 1% of products are donated to non-profits.

According to John Wood, Room to Read Founder and Board Chair, "Atlassian's contributions show how companies can succeed while also doing good for their community. Their innovative approach to selling software is enabling Room to Read to reach tens of thousands of children in Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Cambodia and empower them through education."

In addition, Atlassian participated in a matching challenge with Financial Times readers. Atlassian pledged to equal Financial Times readers' donations to Room to Read of up to $100,000, effectively doubling its monies raised for Room to Read.

About Room to Read

Room to Read is a global organization seeking to transform the lives of millions of children in the developing world by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Founded on the belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children, Room to Read works in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children and to ensure girls have the skills and support needed to complete their secondary education. Since 2000, Room to Read has impacted the lives of more than four million children in Asia and Africa and aims to reach 10 million children by 2015. Learn more at http://www.roomtoread.org.

About Atlassian

Atlassian is an Australian software company specialising in software development and collaboration tools. More than 17,000 organisations of all sizes use Atlassian's issue tracking, collaboration and software development tools to work smarter and deliver quality results on time. Learn more at http://www.atlassian.com.

One More Bit of Advice for National Small Business Week: Giving Is Good For Business

Small businesses had a chance to get a heap of advice about how to help their business grow at the National Small Business Week Conference As National Small Business Week is coming to an end, (and you can see some great pictures of Obama and others) it is worthwhile to offer more small business advice in the area of business philanthropy.

Today I stumbled upon a blog post in Fast Company from Jan.7 2010. Is Philanthropy the New Marketing?
Here is the first paragraph from the post:

Has large corporate America figured out what small business has known for a long time?  That giving back to the community is not only the right thing to do, but also a great way to get your name/product/promotion out there for free?

Well I didn't exactly agree.I think that small businesses may feel that advice about philanthropy does not apply to them, it's meant for the big guys.

Small businesses need to realize that they may have a greater impact on community philanthropy as they are often closer and more connected to their local communities and community needs than the bigger companies. And that connection may in return help their businesses grow.

Several of my former posts have addressed this topic and so, in honor of National Small Business Week, here is my summary from them: Why Giving Is Good For Business:

• Giving back to the community can help the economic growth of your community which in turns helps community members prosper and come back to you as customers.  
• You can use your advertising dollars more effectively by enhancing your marketing and publicity. By getting involved in a local cause, you build relationships as your community gets to know you .You can use your marketing dollars towards advertising both your business and the cause that you support. In return they will create more publicity for you. 
• Speaking of relationships,what better way to network to other businesses or to customers than by working together on a philanthropic project? 
• Create a happier work environment by building rapport amongst your employees when they work together on a cause.

For more on why giving is good for you business check out the following posts:

Should Your Business Have a Philanthropy Program?

Five Reasons Why Doing Good Helps Your Business

Why Giving is Good For Business and Patriotic

In reality all sized businesses alike can learn from each other about the benefits of giving back to the community. In the end I hope they will be sharing ideas and strategies with each other towards creating social benefit for the world and their communities.

InspireNotes Lends a Daily Boost

Michele Abrams wants to inject a little positivity into your day. That’s the idea behind her company InspireNotes, an online retailer specializing in notepads, pens and journals adorned with bite-sized, original quotables covering a variety of subjects, from life and love to energy, health and career. A few weeks back, I profiled Michele’s philanthropic music event production company, Cjazz. As with Cjazz, InspireNotes donates a sizable chunk of its proceeds to Seattle’s renowned Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. That gifting reflects the ethos of self-empowerment behind InspireNotes, as well as the circumstances that shaped it.

The business grew out of Michele’s own need for inspiration during a particularly challenging period in her life. As she recalls, “Two years ago, I worked in a very high-profile marketing position for one of the world’s biggest accounting firms, but I was unable to really be my authentic self in that environment. I knew that I wanted to try something new in my career and leverage my experience to launch my own business.” Having recently lost her mother to cancer, she found her life shadowed by grief. “Through the grieving process, I found myself putting positive messaging everywhere around my home, in my office, placing them strategically where I could see them throughout the day. It physically made me feel better, and I thought, you know, maybe I can make a difference for others.”

That revelation led her to reflect on the variety of arenas for potential motivation. “We all go through different things in our lifetime. Loss is certainly one, but you know, people struggle with health and wellness, with dieting, love, career changes. So I began to write themes that resonate with where people are at in their lives, and so InpireNotes was born.”

With the concept in place, Michele turned her attention to the nuts and bolts of the products. “I began researching all the things you need to know about manufacturing. I decided to make notepads, pens and journals our flagship products because they are the most frequently used in the home and at the office.”

Through the product development phase, Michele fine-tuned the principles and practices of her new business. “It took me about a year to research how to manufacture a notepad. I had to interview multiple printers. I really wanted to support our local community, so I kept my manufacturing local.” Living among the redwoods of Washington state, she had long valued environmentally friendly business practices. “I wanted to use sustainable materials for my printing practices, so I was very particular about choosing the right printing partner. InspireNotes prints onto forest-certified recycled papers with soy-based inks. We believe in being as kind to the earth as we can. And we are happy to spend a little more to ensure that our footprint is as soft as it can be.”

Since launching in late 2008, InspireNotes has grown into a joyful, thriving business. The company sells its products directly through their own website, and also partners with leading online retailer Amazon, selling and shipping InspireNotes products.

Additionally, InspireNotes designs custom products for business customers. Explains Abrams, “For instance, one of our clients is the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. We use their beautiful logo and brand as artwork, and they choose the InspireNotes content that exudes their property’s unique flair or that highlights their mission and values, and we print that content onto their notepads.”

But the heart of the product remains its positive messaging. “One of things that I feel very privileged to do is remind people to turn their thoughts to the positive. We hear it all the time from our customers that, wow, you made such a difference in my day and moved me in the right direction. For me, that makes it all worthwhile.”


Check out InspreNotes on Facebook!


To order InspireNotes products, go to: http://www.inspirenotes.com/