Your Business Can Champion Change, Regardless of Your Industry

Barbara Edelston Peterson having fun at the Global Summit's photo booth

Last week I took time away from the office to participate in the 1% For The Planet Global Summit with Barbara Edelston Peterson, Founder and CEO of Whole Champion Foundation, one of our clients. Barbara and Whole Champion has been working with us for just under two years, and we have helped re-write and write books, curricular materials for K-12, a brand manual, written website copy and blogs and handled social media marketing. We enjoy and are grateful for all of the work we collaborate on and we are especially grateful to Barbara for inviting us to the global summit as it was a members-only event.

Participating in this three-day event in Los Angeles made us realize that all of the ways individuals and businesses—regardless of the size—can support the causes they hold dear, can contribute to changing the world, and can be that change. For example, you can choose to use a bank like Atmos Financial, whose vision is "​Everyone, everywhere, taking action towards a clean, fair, and transformed economy" and whose mission is "Finance the rapid  transition to the clean economy for all." Atmos is an FDIC-insured bank that provides 5 percent cash-back when you spend money on sustainable brands and charges no monthly service fees or requires a minimum balance plus free ATM withdrawals worldwide.  

Or you could join an organization like 1% For the Planet, either as a business member or an individual member. 1% for the Planet was started twenty years ago by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia and Craig Mathews, fly-fishing expert and entrepreneur. As they explained during opening night of the Summit, they wanted the nonprofit to challenge businesses to donate one percent of their annual sales (not profits—which could be diminished by big bonuses and other things—but sales revenue) to enviromental causes, as that was one of the ways that would be needed to counteract the damage we were doing to the planet.

As it says on the 1% website, "Currently in the United States only 3% total of philanthropy goes to enviromental causes...The global community - every business, every organization, every individual - has the opportunity to take responsibility for the planet and drive positive change." To join as a individual member, one pledges 1% of one's annual salary, and the membership dues for belonging to 1% come out of that amount. 

The organization explains under its FAQs, "Our aim is for every individual, regardless of income level, to be able to join as an individual member by pledging to donate 1% of your annual salary. Your 1% pledge should be an amount that is personally meaningful for you.Note that we require a $50 minimum membership dues payment to help cover the cost of the program, and to be able to provide you with the benefits listed above. Dues payments count toward member 1% commitments. For example, an individual who makes $40,000 annually has a 1% pledge amount of $400; $50 would go to 1% For the Planet as membership dues and the member donates the remaining $350 to the environmental nonprofits of their choice."  The nonprofits the member would donate to are vetted by 1% For the Planet, and the "money" you donate can be either actual money or the equivalent of time (which is calculated at $29/hour). 

By providing a low cost of entry/membership and multiple ways to donate, 1% For the Planet makes choosing to support environmental causes extremely accessible. 

While I would arguing that saving the planet should be the responsibility of everyone living one it, I acknowledge that other causes may also be aligned with the mission/vision and work of your business. Change in any area can be affected by us, when we step up and help, donate, colloborate, contribute, and champion the cause. So put your expertise, your passion, where you put your money, and a percentage of your sales towards a cause today and champion change for a better world. 




 

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