New Business Model Redefines Giving

 　　An increasingly popular business model lets participating companies give to charity while making a profit. But the approach is blurring¹ the lines between for-profit and not-for-profit organizations and raising questions about the real drivers behind this business model.

　　TOMS Shoes of Santa Monica, California is one of the most prominent businesses to embrace this idea, known as social entrepreneurship.  The company has donated more than one million pairs of shoes for the equivalent sold since September 2010.

　　And Great American Days, an Atlanta, Georgia company that sells gift packages like hot air balloon rides and white water rafting, donates "as little as a few cents" to "as high as $6,000," depending on the project, said its Marketing² Director Jan Stockbridge. “When someone buys an experience from our water category, we donate to projects that build wells and provide fresh water," she explained.

　　Many donations are made through Buy1Give1 (B1G1), a four-year-old Singapore company that offers more than 650 charitable projects in 29 countries to which members can link products or services. Buy1Give1 describes itself as “a social enterprise that supports, inspires and educates businesses globally.” Its Chairman Paul Dunn said B1G1 lets donors³ know the outcome of their charity.

　　The company includes B1G1 PTE LTD, or private limited, which deals with marketing and membership, and a separate entity⁴ called B1G1 Giving.  “A 100 percent of the funds that go into B1G1 Giving must go to the designated projects or causes … chosen by the members," said Dunn.

　　Once funding is available for a given project, the company partners with humanitarian⁵ and non-governmental organizations to implement⁶ it. The fruits of this labor⁷ can be seen in western Kenya’s Mama Ann Odede training complex, a project of World Youth International (WYI), a non-profit group that encourages young people to volunteer overseas.

　　Fred Mito, WYI In-Country Coordinator⁸ and CEO of the complex, said in an email interview that the buy one, give one model has allowed the community to buy goats and to move ahead with plans to upgrade to higher-quality goats. The goal, said Mito, is to create “a cottage industry to produce milk for direct consumption and goat milk by-products [for] sale," bringing "a sense of sustainability” to the community.

　　Hybrid⁹ firms are becoming more commonplace, matching an “enormous growth in the number of people who do both charitable work and business work in ways that are very different than the past,” said Eugene Steuerle of the Urban Institute. They include for-profit firms, non-profits operating a business that conducts charitable activities, non-profits operating private businesses related to their mission, and not for profit firms that are “not charitable in the sense that … they basically keep their profits to zero and do business activities,” Steuerle said.

　　Marketing charity can do some good in society, although Steuerle cautioned that some charities use charitable activity to advertise themselves. “They’ve obviously got a business model that works, so they’re making money, but they may also … want to give a fair amount of the money,” Steuerle said.

　　The University of Michigan’s Professor of Marketing Aradhna Krishna agreed that it is a good thing for companies to help charitable causes. But she said, "I don’t think that for many of these companies that is the primary purpose. The primary purpose is to increase market share and to get higher profit. Now, if in doing that they can help the charities - that is fantastic," said Krishna.

1 blurring   

n.模糊，斑点甚多，（图像的）混乱v.（使）变模糊( blur的现在分词 )；（使）难以区分

参考例句：

• Retinal hemorrhage, and blurring of the optic dise cause visual disturbances. 视网膜出血及神经盘模糊等可导致视力障碍。 来自辞典例句
• In other ways the Bible limited Puritan writing, blurring and deadening the pages. 另一方面，圣经又限制了清教时期的作品，使它们显得晦涩沉闷。 来自辞典例句

2 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

3 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

9 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。