Giving Compass' Take:

• Causeartist identified four online businesses that want to make a difference in areas such as hunger, literacy, and health. 

•  Will social enterprises and corporate social responsibility increase as more young people get involved in social change initiatives?

• Social entrepreneurship is not just a trend in the U.S., but has helped to drive change abroad as well.  

With 81% of customers willing to make personal sacrifices in order to seek out brands who are socially responsible, it’s no surprise that business is booming among companies driving change in the world.

There’s an enormous amount of brands who are doing great work and I’ve picked out 4 who have some of the biggest hearts you’ll find in the world of online business. Read on and learn from them, support them, and invest in them.

  1. TOMS: US shoe company TOMS is one of the most well-known companies with a conscious. Founded in 2006 by American traveler Blake Mycoskie, their principle is simple: for every pair of shoes that TOMs sells, they will give a pair of shoes to a child in need.
  2. Love Your Melon:  Love Your Melon began as an idea between two friends, Zachary Quinn and Brian Keller, attending an entrepreneurship class at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. Their idea? To put a hat upon the melon (head) of every American child battling cancer. However, they don’t stop there because they also give 50% of the profits from the sale of all of their products to a selection of non-profit partners, all of whom are involved in the fight against pediatric cancer. So far they’ve given $4,328,259.
  3. 20 Bowls: Like TOMS, they make a donation for every purchase that you make from them – in their case it’s 20 meals to people in need within the US for every bamboo bowl that you buy from them.
  4. Better World Books: Started in 2002 by a trio of friends from the University of Notre Dame, the company quickly evolved into a brand whose mission was to promote literacy across the globe. Today they’ve donated more than 21 million books and helped countless people harness the power of the written word.

Read the full article about inspiring online businesses by Victoria Greene at Causeartist.