Kiva Business 4 Business Community

Getting the most for your philanthropic dollar.

Even these days, when for some, cash isn't "flowing" quite like it used to, small businesses are still making philanthropic giving a priority. Even if they can't give like Oprah, smaller companies realize that there are many ways to contribute to their community... and it can be really good for business if done properly.

This article by Amy S. Choi in BusinessWeek.com's SmallBiz section really helps us think through starting a corporate giving program or improving upon the one we already have. It's important to make our corporate giving strategic like all other business efforts. There are a lot of things to consider. To whom should we give? Should we give cash, time, or something else? How much of it should we give? How do we manage and sustain the program internally? and last, but not least... after we get this great program off the ground, how do we let folks know about it?

To help us think through these questions, Choi outlines three smart and creative examples of businesses that are doing great work, each very different in their efforts, but all giving back in a manner that works for them, their customers and their philanthropic partners.

Check out Make Giving Part of Your Business Strategy by Amy S. Choi on BusinessWeek.com. I think you'll find it a worthwhile read.

KivaB4B would love to hear about some of YOUR (our readers & community members) Corporate Giving Programs. Submit a blog post or send us an e-mail to share@kivab4b.org and tell us how you incorporate philanthropy into your business.

Posts by KivaB4B

Beyond the Loans: a couple more ways to support Kiva.

Kiva Images.jpg Kiva.org is the world's first person to person micro-lending website. It empowers individuals to lend directly to an entrepreneur in the developing world. But if the online lending just isn't enough for you, Kiva is always looking for volunteers. Check out these two programs.

Kiva Fellows Program: Individuals spend 10 weeks to one year with a microfinance institution in a developing country, chronicling the lives of the working poor and assisting the microfinance institutions to maximize their relationship with Kiva. * They are still recruiting Portuguese, Nepali and Arabic speakers for our KF7 class, departing in February 2009.
Kiva Translation Program: Volunteering from their own homes, individuals take entrepreneurs' loan profiles written in the local language and translate to English, which are then posted for lending on Kiva.org. Kiva Translators help bring the entrepreneurs' stories to life for potential lenders. * Languages needed include: Bahasa Indonesia, French, Mongolian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Cause Marketing: Consumers are paying attention.

Yesterday I got an e-mail from Cause Marketing Forum with two great nuggets of cause marketing news and information. So, I thought I'd share.

Nugget #1 - In their 2009 Trend Forecast, Toniq, a New York based branding agency, predicts "causism" will replace "consumerism" as people of all ages, genders and backgrounds think about their place in the world - their purpose, contribution, personal legacy.

What they say this could mean for you, your company and your brand?

Cause marketing will evolve from niche and promotional status to a more central place in brand communications
Sustainability will not be an option; cause affiliations will be more prominent for the next several years
Cause marketing has been primarily female focused, but will evolve to include men, kids, teens

Check out all six of Toniq's Key Trends for 2009.

Nugget #2 - Despite economic crisis, consumers value brands' commitment to social purpose. New findings from this year's Good Purpose global study of consumer attitudes reveal that nearly seven in 10 (68%) consumers would remain loyal to a brand during a recession if it supports a good cause. Clearly it pays to put meaning in your marketing. Read the whole Good Purpose press release here.

Mailing List 101: Use Lists for New Customer Acquisition

direct mail marketing New customers are the lifeblood of business. Although mailing can get expensive when you add up printing and postage costs, it remains a viable way to gain new customers.

Entrepreneurs and small business owners constantly need to promote their business and attract new customers. Direct marketing provides the advantage of measurable marketing so you can analyze your marketing investment against responses and sales.

To gain new customers from your direct marketing efforts, you'll need to source and rent mailing lists of target customers for your promotional efforts.

Continue reading Mailing List 101: Use Lists for New Customer Acquisition.

Changebloggers/Changemakers Network Taps Big Hearts in the Big Apple for Change

Change in the sixties and seventies was driven by dynamic marches of empowerment and people that shook the country and the world. Prolific examples of this dot our history from the great anti-war protests to the movement of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Change today is still closely tied to the power of people, only instead of marching on the streets of America's towns and cities, that power is moving to a new platform: The Internet.

In less than 24 hours, an angry crop of mothers in the social web and blogosphere organized a campaign against a popular pain reliever manufacturer. Not only did they spread the word via their personal blogs and social networks like FriendFeed and Twitter, they orchestrated a media effort that lit up television, print and digital outlets from coast to coast for days after. On Blog Action Day in October, more than 13,000 bloggers generated an estimated 13.4 million readers about poverty in a single day.

Welcome to the next generation of social evangelism. It's one part seventies movement, one part Obama campaign multimedia genius.

Continue reading Changebloggers/Changemakers Network Taps Big Hearts in the Big Apple for Change.

The Greener the Employee the better off the company

Environmental and sustainable knowledge may become an important hiring factor in the next five years. Companies focusing efforts to advance employees green education find improved environmental performance.

From GreenBiz.com

Some companies' ambitious efforts to reduce waste, pollution, and other forms of inefficiency -- not to mention create new markets for cleaner and greener solutions to meet customers' needs -- can be thwarted by employees' lack of environmental awareness and personal habits. The disconnect squanders opportunities for employees to embrace a green ethic all week long, not just during the workday, and to bring to their jobs ideas and inspiration for a greener company.

FULL STORY

Can Water technology be an alluring Venture Investment?

VC lore has it that there's not much opportunity for an early stage investor in the water market. Yet opportunities in the water market seem obvious.

From Greentech Media

Peter Nieh, a partner at VC investment firm Lightspeed Venture Partners said via email, "Water is an alluring market because the need is clearly there and the opportunity is large. [There is] some great technology out there. The issue for us is that economically attractive distribution is hard to achieve because the market is so fragmented."

"[I] definitely agree that water is a challenging sector... and as such, it's sort of the Rodney Dangerfield of cleantech investments," observed Steve Vassallo of Foundation Capital."

FULL STORY

Integrating Philanthropy With Business Strategy for Small Businesses

The article outlines how to best integrate a small businesses philanthropic endeavours with its business strategy. Philanthropy is not an off-the-cuff move and should actually involve proper research into which cause to support and how to integrate it internally to get the best results.

From PhilanthropyJournal.org

Social, environmental and economic responsibility practices are changing, and even small to mid-sized businesses must adapt to what is increasingly becoming a new management paradigm. In fact, small businesses often have an advantage over their larger peers engaging in this new frontier, as they are able to adapt to these challenges more quickly.

The marketplace dynamics have really changed with respect to discussions about "doing good in society," more commonly referred to as corporate social responsibility (CSR). What used to be a simple matter of donating money has now become a critical component of reputation management and cultivating a competitive business edge. Companies now have to better integrate their philanthropic contributions into their business functions, and make it a core part of their strategic marketing and communications planning.

A great place to begin is by asking the right questions upfront:

Continue reading Integrating Philanthropy With Business Strategy for Small Businesses.

Who is Arbita? Who is BRANDEMiX? Getting known with cause marketing

Who is Arbita? Had you asked me five minutes ago, I would have had no idea. Now, I have some idea...they connect companies with "the best talent on the internet." Do I care? I do now because they stand out. I found them with my Google Alerts set for "Kiva." According to their press release, Arbita just funded their 500th Kiva loan.

Who is BRANDEMiX? Once again, I wouldn't have known or really cared until I found out, according to their press release, that they are "giving its clients an opportunity to help low-income entrepreneurs in Third World countries through $25 Kiva gift certificates." That's cool. In my humble opinion (IMHO for those in the know), they deserve some props. BRANDEMiX is "a woman-owned marketing/communications company dedicated to branding in support of business initiatives."

So why support Kiva and why tell the world? In Press Release speak, Arbita says "We want Arbita to be a force for good in the world." Over a drink or two, I bet they'd say something more like, "Because Kiva is awesome and everyone who works here wants to make a difference in the world."

At the end of the day, if I ever need to find an internet superstar, Arbita will come to mind...same goes for BRANDEMiX. That's good marketing...

The Tactics of Hope: The Social Entrepreneur Movement

Wilford Welch and David Hopkins, authors of the groundbreaking book, "The Tactics of Hope: How Social Entrepreneurs Are Changing Our World," provide strategies and tactics to help transform personal concerns into meaningful actions that address critical social and environmental challenges. The book can be accessed and purchased at www.TacticsofHope.org

The Best at CSR

There are many "experts" in the world telling you why cause-related marketing is important. However, the recent release of the Top 50 2008 Corporate Social Responsibility Index (CSRI) rankings from the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship (BCCCC) and Reputation Institute, gives you the chance to judge for yourself.

Take a look at these companies (you have to register on the site). How do you feel about them and why? I'm willing to bet that if you do like them, some of your affinity can be attributed to their commitment to making the world a better place. Let me know.