Maybe you don't have to wait for the next world to be rewarded for good works. There are no guarantees, but a number of CEOs we spoke with found unexpected business benefits from their work with nonprofits.
- New products. Vermont Bread Co.'s work with the Campaign to End Childhood Hunger led to the idea of an organic white bread for children, a product now under development, according to Lisa Lorimer, president of the $8-million bread company in Brattleboro, Vt.
- New niches. Insurance agent Brewster Perkins says his volunteer work made him realize that the nonprofit sector was being "ripped off" by the insurance industry. Perkins, owner and president of $3.5-million B. Perkins & Co. Inc., in Hartford, spotted a market opportunity in helping charities keep down costs. He now insures 300 nonprofits but must be careful to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
- Exposure to new customers. Stanford Coaching's free tutoring program has opened doors at private high schools typically hostile to test-prep companies. President Lisa Jacobson lets the schools nominate appropriate students to the program. "The school gets to sample the product," she says.
- Another way to help customers. Wiersma Event Marketing, a $1.3-million event-marketing business in Indianapolis, once hooked up its favorite charity with a client interested in raising its profile by hosting a fund-raiser. "It worked on several levels. We were able to do some good and help a client," says Linda Kirby, a manager at Wiersma.
Resources
If you're looking for resources on corporate volunteerism, consider the whole state of Vermont. Seriously, the Green Mountain State is home not only to Ben & Jerry's, whose ubiquitous founders hit the road earlier this year to promote their book, Ben & Jerry's Double Dip: Lead with Your Values and Make Money, Too, but to hundreds of smaller companies that have figured out how to make a difference and a buck. In fact, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR), with 330 members, claims to be the largest outpost of civic-minded entrepreneurs in the country. For more information, contact VBSR director Jane Campbell at 802-862-8347. Or to find a group closer to you, call Business for Social Responsibility, which has 11 networks across the country, at 415-537-0888.
To get started, here's a tip from Meg Smith, a manager at the Gardener's Supply catalog (802-660-3500), who chaired a Vermont roundtable on community involvement. She advises companies to (1) conduct a blind survey of employees to discover their interests (elder care, drug rehab, etc.) and (2) hook up with a group such as the United Way to find out what your area needs.
If the United Way has its way, volunteering will be as easy as making a phone call. At press time, the nonprofit clearinghouse was close to launching an 800 number that will automatically connect callers with the nearest United Way Voluntary Action Center. The organization's Web site is designed to serve a similar function. The 500 action centers across the country act as a matchmaking service for individuals and companies that want to do something but don't know exactly what. The United Way wants to recruit more small companies. "The demographics of volunteerism have changed drastically," says Pamela Pinter, head of the United Way Voluntary Action Center in Boston. "Now it's about split between individuals and corporations, but corporate is on the increase. Companies are being more flexible about giving employees time off to volunteer, and nonprofit agencies have become more responsive. You can sign up for one project. We have to meet people where they're at." (Those are fighting words in the nonprofit world, so don't be surprised if some agencies still act as if they're doing you a favor by letting you volunteer.)
David Cline, the president and CEO of Balboa Instruments Inc., designed his student-mentoring program to be portable to other companies. That may be the closest you can get to volunteering-in-a-box. Balboa's Partnering Education and Community program was developed with the aid of the local chamber of commerce, a community college, and two high schools. Contact Balboa's chief financial officer and vice-president of administration, Stephen Scherer, at 714-434-1940 for more details.
Last April's presidential summit on volunteering put a spotlight on youth programs. The summit's Web site includes a state-by-state list of resources and a rundown of tutoring, mentoring, and job-training programs already in place. Incidentally, education initiatives are not just good for political stumping; they're good business, too. According to a study of cause-related marketing conducted by Cone Communications, in Boston, one of the most credible ways to show you care is to support local schools.
Two books worth checking out: Aiming Higher: 25 Stories of How Companies Prosper by Combining Sound Management and Social Vision, by David Bollier (Amacom, 800-538-4761, 1996, $24.95), and 75 Best Business Practices for Socially Responsible Companies, by Alan Reder (Jeremy P. Tarcher, 800-631-8571, 1995, $12.95), which draws on the activities of companies belonging to the Social Venture Network (415-561-6501).
Some entrepreneurs have taken community work so much to heart that they've started their own nonprofits. Our annual State of Small Business issue reports on the new social entrepreneurs in the article " Crossover."
BALBOA INSTRUMENTS, David Cline, 1690 Scenic Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626; 714-434-1940; dcline@deltanet.com 116
B. PERKINS & CO., Brewster Perkins, 30 Laurel St., Hartford, CT 06106; 860-251-7060; fax, 860-251-7066; bperkins1@aol.com 116
CONSIGN & DESIGN FURNISHINGS, Terri Bowersock, 1826 W. Broadway, #3, Mesa, AZ 85202; 602-969-1121 116
DODSON GROUP, Jim Dodson, 111 Monument Circle, #2330, Indianapolis, IN 46204; 317-634-7283 116
NANTUCKET NECTARS, Tom Scott, 45 Dunster St., Cambridge, MA 02138; 617-868-3600 116
STANFORD COACHING, Lisa Jacobson and Donald Viscardi, 850 Seventh Ave., Suite 403, New York, NY 10019; 212-245-3888; fax, 212-245-3893 116
STARVING STUDENTS OF SAN DIEGO, Abby Margalith, P.O. Box 261854, San Diego, CA 92126-1854; 619-269-3808 116
VERMONT BREAD, Lisa Lorimer, P.O. Box 1217, Brattleboro, VT 05302; 802-254-4600 116
WIERSMA EVENT MARKETING, Linda Kirby, 238 S. Meridian St., Indianapolis, IN 46225; 317-638-2676 116
WILD OATS MARKETS, Mary Beth Lewis, 1645 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80302; 303-440-5220, ext. 257 116
