More Than Just Profits - Promoting Social Responsibilities

Start-ups aren't just about making profits, many of them also focus on being socially responsible...here's 3 such start-ups

1) Catherine Zadeh - Partnering With Non-Profits


In 2008 high-end jewelry designer Catherine Zadeh learned that a childhood friend had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. To raise money and awareness, Zadeh fashioned a bracelet, which to her surprise raised more than $60,000 for the family of her friend. Emboldened by the success of her first fundraiser, Zadeh steadily expanded her charitable work. Today she produces bracelets for 18 charities, and for every piece the charity sells, Zadeh donates 30% of the proceeds to that charity.

Zadeh, who runs her business with the help of just two assistants, said she uses her own Twitter and Facebook accounts to keep her customers updated about her work and philanthropic efforts, but she’s found social media most useful for amplifying the company’s message via her audience. “It’s exponential,” Zadeh explained. “I have so many people in my database, and maybe 10 are interested (in a product), but when the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International re-tweets about a bracelet then all their followers know about it.”


2) Busam Automotives - Raising Funds Creatively

With so many businesses now using Facebook and Twitter, setting your company apart online has become more difficult. This was the predicament facing Busam Automotive, a Cincinnati auto dealership that sponsors an annual campaign for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a foundation that promotes breast cancer research.
“When we began to plan the fundraiser we thought, ‘How can we take this kinda boring run of the mill sponsorship and make it kinda cool and different?’ ” said Busam business development manager Andrew Shipp. The solution: creative social media tactics.

For every re-tweeted picture of a Busam vehicle (like this one), Busam pledged to donate $1 to the foundation. In addition, the dealership promised $10 off on an oil change and a free ticket to a charity fashion show for anyone who checked into Busam’s Nissan branch on Foursquare

3) SRSCI - Promoting A Company Philosophy

For some small businesses like the San Rafael Sustainable Coffee Initiative (SRSCI), social good is built into the DNA of the company. The SRSCI, a joint venture between Costa Rican coffee farmers and processing plants in the small community of San Rafael, uses micro-loans to grow the local economy while connecting growers with drinkers. The big idea behind the SRSCI is to cut out the middlemen. If customers order directly from farmers, farmers maximize their profit, thereby growing the local economy. The SRSCI also encourages (but does not require) customers to invest in a micro-loan to fund the next year’s crop.

“For the consumer, that actual connection supplies a need in the market place for those who want to know the farmer and where their daily cup originates,” said Kenneth Lander, one of SRSCI’s founders. “For the farmer, that actual connection places the farmer and the farming community first in line to receive 100% benefit from the sale of roasted coffee.”

Since most of SRSCI’s customers are aboard, Twitter and Facebook are useful for connecting customers with growers. “These tools are the key to this relationship,” Lander said. “The direct effect is creating a relationship that allows the farmer and the farming community to flourish and continue to serve the consumer directly in the future.”

Since the SRSCI was created in June 2010, its received 111 micro-loans and sold more than 900 pounds of roasted coffee. That translates into $9,000 for the local economy. While that may not sound like much, Lander stressed that under the conventional system, 900 pounds typically nets just $351 in profit for the farmers
 And there's 3 ways for you to consider...so how does your company promote social responsibilities? Or do you feel a firm is not obliged to doing so? Do let us know in the comments below