Giving Compass' Take:
- Sheryl O'Loughlin discusses three elements that should be part of a new model for business that incorporates philanthropy: A multidimensional bottom line, regenerative impact, and consumer buy-in.
- What are potential challenges of blending these models together? What role can funders play in partnering to support this type of business model?
- Read about the three ways businesses can activate their CSR mission.
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The old model of philanthropy just isn’t working — the standard loop of fundraising and donating can make progress painstakingly slow, a pace that can’t keep up with the complexity and rapid-fire, exponential growth of our social and environmental challenges. From my perspective, the old model of business isn’t working either.
As the CEO of a for-profit beverage company that works with a nonprofit, I believe the new model is a blend of business and philanthropy that blurs the nonprofit/for-profit line. Here are the essentials of this new model:
- A Multidimensional Bottom Line: In the new model, the bottom line encompasses so much more than money. It addresses the needs of all stakeholders — the consumers, the employees, the retailers, the growers, the investors and the Earth.
- Regenerative Impact: The new model I envision invests in a sustainable system of production by using practices such as impact sourcing and regenerative agriculture, which not only grow the business but grow the livelihoods of those in the supply chain and heal the land.
- Consumer Buy-In: I believe the old model of business relied on opaqueness — a veil over how the sausage got made. Now, I've noticed that many consumers demand transparency, and it is much more difficult for companies to hide unethical practices, whether they are sanctioned or not.
Read the full article about a new model of business and philanthropy by Sheryl O'Loughlin at Forbes.