Not by Shopping Alone

Via Council of Foundation Philanthropic Advisor Network List Serv:

Denver-based Hyatt International Ltd. is stumping for a new group that wants to raise money for nonprofit organizations. Hyatt is signing up businesses under a "seal of approval" program for companies called 3% Back to the Community. Groups signing up for the effort are required to donate at least 3 percent of net revenues to nonprofits. As much as 1 percent can be in the form of in-kind donations. Membership in 3% also entitles participating companies to use the group's logo that lets buyers know they're doing business with an organization that supports nonprofits. Hyatt reported that a 2002 study found that 80 percent of Americans would switch brands or retailers and buy from a company that supports a cause. Individual members direct to which nonprofit their 3 percent would go. The nonprofit doesn't have to be located in Denver. Hyatt specializes in helping businesses reach partnerships with nonprofits.

Interesting, isn't it? that 80% of Americans would switch brands or retailers to buy from a company that supports a cause? Seems that citizens do want to make positive choices, not only for themselves but for others. "Economic man" is a myth. We do care about more than ourselves, and are looking for avenues for positive impact. 9/11, I think, left a raging need to come together for good ends. That need cannot, in my opinion, be met by enlightened shopping alone - though I write this from Dallas, at risk of life and limb.

Comments

[Chris Corrigan]

I'm skeptical about the research results, only becasue I see the expansion of big box stores all over the place at the very obvious expense of local community. I think 80% of Americans might SAY they would switch brands, but when they have the opportunity to shop somewhere that will actually support local communities, I don't see it happening. I guess it depends on the cause...

But if Wal-Mart sold cancer bracelets, well then, everyone wins eh?

[Harry]

The expansion of these boxes are also fought all over the place. When the locals grow exhausted, the box wins and starts the fight to keep competing boxes out of town.

Most people, when told there is a choice between the box, its cheap prices and the jobs it will bring, or economic stagantion will choose the box every time. The way the boxes nationwide have caused a race to the bottom amongst their suppliers and killed the bargaining of the labor force is seldom mentioned. The tremendous downward pressure on small business and labor is efficient, and efficiency means cheap. People gladly welcome the box that's caused the economic stagnation they're trying to remedy.

There's still room for niche, specialty stores alongside the boxes. Wal Mart doesn't carry pornography, for example, and the well to do require better things than a box can usually provide.

[Phil Cubeta]

On a related note, here in TX, per the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the government is outsourcing the "help lines" at social welfare programs to big consulting firms. Then, guess what? The US-based consulting firms are subcontracting the jobs to India. So, when the government employee is fired from her social welfare job, working to help the poor, she can call India to inquire about her own foodstamps. Something has gone very wrong here, as each entity with a balance sheet and income statement shifts costs and risks. The end result might be lower taxes, higher profit, higher unemployment, pressure on wages, and wrenching poverty. This is neoliberalism. The consensus program of left and right throughout the globe. This is the "end of history," life beyond ideology, rights, and political sorvereignty, where all we have economic freedom, and the only line is the bottom line. Government is going away. For government is based ultimately on political justice. And justice and the bottom line are in conflift.

[Jon Husband]

On a related note, here in TX, per the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the government is outsourcing the "help lines" at social welfare programs to big consulting firms. Then, guess what? The US-based consulting firms are subcontracting the jobs to India. So, when the government employee is fired from her social welfare job, working to help the poor, she can call India to inquire about her own foodstamps

I've been calling this kind of initiative "the revenge of the cost accountants" for about the past decade, as it has been building, becoming commonplace.

It's the fault of spreadsheets, IMO ... and costa ccountants having underrated job evaluations, in their opinion. Once we collectively discovered that you could analyze the costs of everything-and-anything by using spreadsheets, and updating, and modelling, and it all gets saved, so that we can work on it more tomorrow.

This led to understanding, supposedly, the cost of providing any type of service, and therefore being able to charge accordingly. This led to identifying whther the cost of anything that thought or moved being analyzed to see where it could be simulated but at lower cost ?

What comes after outsourcing ... smart voice response ... oh, wait, that's already here in some places. After that ? ... will we eventually get some kind of welfare, some sort of basic annual guaranteed income, if you obey basic laws like not biting other people when out in public ?

'Cause eventually we're all gonna need some other people doing stuff for us even if we can't afford it, and some of us will have to work, just to stay sane.

And by work I mean more than count the owners' money as it comes in, or think up new advertising slogans to ensure that it will still come in tomorrow.

[phil]

Spreadsheet madness. Wal-Mart cuts salary cost until the employee qualifies for mediciad. Medicaid fires the US phone bank and cuts cost by going to India. The laid of Medicaid workers get a job at Wal-Wart, bidding wages down, and qualifying for Medicaid. Taxes go up, and that triggers more outsouring of programs to cut cost. Somehow we seem to be relying on the miracle of the pricing mechanism in ways that are not so wonderful for workers. But it sure works for those who own the Brand, the logo, the hologram in the consumer's head that justifies the markup. When China begins to create those holograms - what have we left? The biggest of all cost cuts would be the salary of the top people. If Chinese brand builders will work for less, and can reverse engineer our culture, so that our kids whine for their Brands, we, even the mighty execs, are out of luck.

[Jon Husband]

The biggest of all cost cuts would be the salary of the top people.

I'd like to say that I've never really understood why this wasn't (or isn't) a tactic considered more often by more organizations, especially when so much rhetoric and consulting monmey is spent on management and people development, motivating people, effective corporate cultures, etc. seems like a bleedingly, blindingly obvious place to take some swift, clear decisive action....

...except that it doen't fit with the ethos, the conventional wisdoms and "religious" beliefs of the day, does it ?

It seems so "fair" and so "right" to me ... but then again, I'm a liberal, a socialist, and don't believe in being mean to or belittling other people.

What would Jesus do ? Would he lay off a couple of thousand workers and give the execs performance bonuses, or would he cut the execs salaries by 25% and the workers by 5%, let most people keep their jobs, and encourage them all to build healthy, respectful communities ?

[phil]

Ask Lenore? I believe Jesus would have answered, "My Kingdom is not of this world." Or, "Render unto the CEO the things that are the CEOs and unto God the things that are God's." Now Rev. Billy in the Church of Not Shopping might give you an answer closer to your own.
http://www.revbilly.com/