An honest assessment for how to determine your individual relationship with charitable giving in today’s world From world-renowned philanthropists Charles Bronfman and Jeffrey Solomon of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies comes a comprehensive guide on how to be a canny, street-smart, effective philanthropist, regardless of your income level. It is also a perfect companion for nonprofit program and development executives who would like to introduce donors to their (more…)

In an era when corporations are under increasing pressure to be stewards of the environment and society as they pursue profits, business expert Bob Willard provides a practical benefit-by-benefit guide for assessing all three areas as a win/win/win proposition. Written in the pragmatic language of business leaders, this book is the first to present compelling and quantitative bottom-line evidence of the profitability of social and environmental initiatives.

About the (more…)

Not until the 1990s did a serious social/environmental paragraph in business plans and prospectuses became apparent, and was the positive effect on business performance acknowledged. During this time, socially responsible mutual funds, or social funds were starting to emerge. In the years since the number of social funds has increased significantly, and not for no reason, as proven by the Domini 400, a benchmark that measures the impact of social screening on financial performance. Since its start in 1990 the index has continuously outperformed the S&P 500. The companies in this basket just seem to adapt to volatile market conditions better than ordinary companies.

The way typical corporations develop their business can expose them to risks that may not be detectable using conventional techniques of financial analysis. Extra-financial factors – such as environmental, social or governance performance – are those which are likely to have at least a long-term effect on business results, but which lie outside the customary span of variables that get integrated into investment decisions, irrespective of whether they are part of the research process. Such an enhanced analysis or more holistic investment approach improves the longer-term performance of a companys assets on behalf of its shareholders by helping to generate increased out-performance, but also by improving overall market returns by ensuring more efficient allocation of capital and eventually more profit.

Though, on a more critical note, more extensive studies are needed to explore the causal mechanisms linking SRI to profitability and to determine whether or not those relationships individually hold up consistently over time. The source of the connection between SRI and profitability has rarely been systematically investigated. It will also be important to investigate the timing in the relationship, since it would be valuable to investigate and to ascertain how long it takes for the impact of SRI on financial performance to be revealed.

Nonetheless, the current financial crisis has put a spotlight on some of the worst practices on Wall Street, many of which socially conscious investors have worked to remedy over the years. Therefore a more socially responsible approach to investing canand shouldplay a role in helping to transform the investment sector, into a more conscious world that is less exposed to risks undetected by its traditional habit of shortsighted analysis.

A natural place to look for assistance is the business sector. Unfortunately many parts of the corporate world are very unwieldy when it comes to finding creative ways to assist communities. Often larger corporations don’t even have a local community in which to focus attention due to the sheer size of the company in question. Since the largest of corporations frequently lack that personal touch, there is a predisposition to move toward individuals who are successful and may be able to help on a more personal level.

Naturally, we look to the best, the most able, the most creative, and the most successful with an appeal of assistance. Who fits that description best? Successful Entrepreneurs. A successful entrepreneur has already creatively found a way to succeed where others have not, and it is natural to assume just such a person can find the ability to help.

Is it the entrepreneur’s role to help the community? Is it the social responsibility of the entrepreneur to “give back” to the community? This is a difficult question, but one that will need to be asked by every single entrepreneur. There is no perfect answer; however the most important role for the entrepreneur should always be to keep the business running smoothly and successfully.
By running a successful business, the entrepreneur will be helping the local community by keeping the local economy stimulated, ideally with local dollars and local jobs. However, stimulating the economy alone is not enough for most self aware and successful entrepreneurs. Most are entrepreneurs because they want to be their own cook when it comes to the food they eat, and that includes both the way they operate their business and the way they make a difference in the local community. It is that perspective that allows a successful entrepreneur to work within a philosophy that he or she believes in, and to put passion into the work that he or she does. For example, sometimes having success means walking away from high yield possibilities in order to keep one’s integrity intact, for the greater long term business good.

So yes, an entrepreneur has a social responsibility to give back to the community. The entrepreneur needs to first keep the local economy moving with a successfully running business. The entrepreneur should also practice sound business etiquette and bring a higher level of integrity to his or her business practices. This is a social responsibility that will benefit the fabric of the community in ways that can be more significant than the bottom line in a monetary sense. Beyond that, each and every entrepreneur should look inside of his or herself and ask if there is a higher sense of duty to do more. If the answer in their soul is “Yes,” then they have a responsibility to follow that calling and make an even greater impact!

In 1974 Chappell and wife Kate founded Tom’s of Maine, a company that makes products using only natural ingredients. By 1981 this company, started with a $5000 loan, was registering $1.5 million in sales. (more…)

It’s not your average CEO who would take a leave of absence from his or her successful corporation to attend Harvard Divinity School to study how one’s personal values could be used at a professional level to create both profit and spiritual fulfillment. But Tom Chappell, President and co-founder of Tom’s of Maine–a corporation that makes and markets all-natural personal care products–did just that, to learn how a company could behave in a “socially responsible and environmentally sensitive” manner while remaining financially competitive and profitable.

The Soul of a Business is the genuine article, a bible (so to speak) of a new genre of books about corporations going green. It’s no secret that most companies have an environmental slant simply as a new angle from which to market their product (e.g., the refillable laundry bottle that can eventually be crushed down into wheat thins and used as dog biscuits). For many, going green is simply another way to call attention to themselves by selling the same stuff in new packaging. Some of the new marketing may be good, some may be a con. But in Chappell’s book, he obviously thinks and writes on a deep and sincere level about “doing well by doing good”. It is a book by a man who has come to a familiar crossroads: one wherein success and all one has strived for becomes a really–but discontentment still settles in. There is something beneath money, power, prestige (at least we’d all like to think so; hence it’s refreshing to hear such spiritual longing from a guy who actually has money, power, and prestige).

There is no more succinct way of describing the tone of The Soul of a Business then James A. Autry’s blurb on the back cover: “This is not a touchy-feely, new age guide to running a business … Chappell has given us as disciplined and hard-nosed an approach as any you will find. The difference is that rather than putting his faith and expectations in systems and procedures, he has demonstrated how putting his faith and expectation in people will pay off in productivity, market share, and profits.”

Though Chappell admits to having a spiritual side, he makes it clear from the outset that “This is not a book about religion and work. It is not about God as CEO, and it is not about New Age spirituality in the workplace. It’s about how to use the two sides of all of us, the spiritual and the practical, to achieve whatever business goals you set for yourself.” Hence, while it may be amusing (on one level) to read chapter headings like “The Board of Directors Meets Martin Buber” (wherein all the members of the board and his managers received copies of I and Thou) it also makes good sense. The great thinkers of all ages should be applied to the workplace, and human beings do have inherent quality and should be treated with respect. Stating your philosophy is one thing; doing it is quite another; teaching it to others is an even more spectacular feat.

The Soul of a Business is a book that shouldn’t be analyzed too deeply from the outside. Rather, one should read the book itself and see how Chappell’s wonderful logic unfolds. Finding himself at a spiritual crossroads, lacking fulfillment despite success, he sets off in pursuit of the twin goals of making money and doing well for the community. From there, he spends four years traveling to Harvard Divinity school, studying the great religious thinkers of all time, and bringing those ideas back to his company to be applied in the business world. Ever gently, he and his company arrive at ways of “managing for profit and the common good.”

In Chappell’s book, one finds a man asking some soul-searching questions and can’t help but ask themselves soul-searching questions in return. What is your identity? How do you identify your values? How do you apply those values once you determine them? How does one “break away” from the mass of society that may not have the faith or strength to pursue new ideas?

It’s not that Chappell doesn’t ask tough questions–he does–it’s just that the questions he asks make sense. Returning to Buber’s I and Thou, Chappell can adapt this philosophy directly into his own business. For example, rather than the typical “I-It” approach (or “us and them”) which he sees as the mentality of the majority of American business, he tries to bring Buber’s I-thou relationship to others on a daily level. Why shouldn’t customers be part of one’s business? Why shouldn’t manufacturers be on a one-to-one level with their customers? Why shouldn’t consumers be more than a statistic and the materials that go into a product be wholesome and healthy for both customer and the earth? More than idealism, it stands to reason that this philosophy (what Chappell dubs, after Jonathan Edwards, the “Being is Relation” attitude) would draw consumers back to a company that truly cares about its community, its consumers, and the earth from which the product is produced? “Being is relation” is a process which applies to everyone, everywhere. It is in our relation to our souls, relation to our morals, relation to each other, relation to customers, relation to the natural world.

The fascinating thing about The Soul of A Business is the clarity of Tom Chappell’s expression of rather complex ideas. In the book, he prints a clear-cut Mission Statement and Statement of Beliefs developed collaboratively within the company, and proceeds to show how they implemented the mission, helped build a community based on mutual respect, defined “goodness” and gave to charity. Whether it is honoring diversity, learning trust, or empowering others, Tom’s of Maine is an excellent example of what a Utopian business can be–simply a business that cares and gives to, instead of just taking from, their community. The Soul of a Business is nothing less than a blueprint for building a better world.

As Chappell himself writes, “I know that we–the business community–can change our traditional business culture. The mind will calculate forever, but the heart will eventually give in. We need to help each other. Whatever our differences, our strength is in affirming our identity and joining together to solve our common problems and aspiring to our common aims–to rebuild our community life, to clean up our local waters and air, to reach out to our needy neighbors, to re-seed the village green.

“For those of you who feel the same tug, I have a place in Kennebunk, Maine, called Partners for the Common Good. We are private and commercial businesses as well as nonprofit groups working on common causes. We share the same values, work together in different circles, and solve the particular problems of the village green. Informally connected, we ask questions and share stories about how to integrate the common good into our particular businesses. Then we inspire each other to action.”

You, the reader, may be in a position to join such an alliance for the common good. Or you could be an employee just happy to know that some people in top management levels actually think and act on their heartfelt philosophies. But as we look at our world, and all of its needs, we can’t help but feel reassured that people are striving to manage for profit and the common good.

It is these specific steps that will help build a better world for all of us.