As I said in this The Washington Post article by Olga Khazan, people want to feel the products they buy are more than just products.

The article tells the story of how Holstee’s founders, while launching their business, declared what they stood for in a manifesto.

The manifesto reads like something out of a self-help book: A 15-sentence message comprising brief commandments such as, “Do what you love and do it often,” “If you don’t like your job, quit,” and “Travel often; Getting lost will help you find yourself.”

The Holstee manifesto is the most iconic product of the Brooklyn-based apparel company Holstee. Although the company was founded with the aim of selling sustainably sourced consumer goods, the poster of the manifesto is now one of Holstee’s best-selling items. At one point this summer, they sold out of it with a four-week back-order. The manifesto has been translated into 12 languages, and by Holstee’s own approximations, it’s been viewed more than 50 million times.

Read the rest of Holstee‘s story in The Washington Post.

If you’re helping to build a business with a social mission, maybe you can identify with this excerpt from an article I co-wrote in The Guardian.

Suggesting you are a social entrepreneur or work for a social enterprise often sounds a bit silly to first-time listeners. “Is that a fancy way of saying you’re a party planner?” Or “Oh, so you’re on Facebook a lot?” are popular responses to the introduction of our profession….

It is alarming then to learn that we are facing linguistic competition. For when a term is too inclusive and flexible, when it stands for too much, it ends up meaning little. Yet worse than a tepid label is the lost followers and supporters of what the label stands for. Without a name that people understand and can act on, how will they begin to self-identify as agents of social enterprise – and what will they call their work when they do?

Read the rest on The Guardian‘s web site and let me know what you think, in the comments or via email.

As they primarily (although not all, black market innovations and digital nomadism made the list) relate to accelerating social change, I hope you’ll find them as thought-inspiring as I do.

As you’re rendered breathless by the scope of topics and the expertise of speakers, I urge you to cast a vote in support! Representation for good starts here.

1. Archetypes of Happiness–Pick Your Differentiator
   Organized by yours truly of Cause Capitalism | @OKL
   1 question this session will address: How cutting-edge businesses are using specific happiness archetypes to differentiate themselves.
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2. Co-opting Black Market Innovation
   Organized by Alexa Clay of Ashoka Changemakers
   1 questions this session will address: What can black market innovators teach me that’s relevant to my business?
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3. Create Brand-aligned Social Change
   Organized by Delyse Sylvester of Ashoka Changemakers | @Changemakers
   1 question this session will address: Why changemaking is central to a company’s success
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4. Digitally Outsmarting Apathy
   Organized by Bradley Short of Business Earth | @BusinessEarth
   1 question this session will address: How can we use social media to drive online communities to action “IRL?” 
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5. Doing Good Globally: Cosmopolitan Activism
   Organized by Ben Walsh of Purpose | @Purpose
   1 question this session will address: How do we tap into people’s desire for identity and belonging to expand our empathy and impact? 
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6. Engaging Consumers for Good Through Gaming
   Organized by Sloane Berrent of Lippe Taylor | @Sloane (I’m also a speaker for this session.)
   1 question this session will address: What are the most important elements to consider when launching a game for social good?.
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7. Making Social Media Measurement Sexy
   Organized by Beth Kanter of Zoetica |@Kanter
   1 question this session will address: Can you measure social change and if so, how the hell do you? 
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8. New Media and CSR: Communicating Corporate Good
   Organized by Nick Aster of TriplePundit | @TriplePundit
   1 question this session will address: Beyond reporting, what’s the exciting frontier in CSR communications? 
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9. Reflections of a Digital Nomad
   Organized by Erica OGrady of Peanut Butter Media | @EricaOGrady
   1 question this session will address: What are the qualities of a digital nomad? (This lifestyle isn’t for everyone.)
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10. RIP Crowdsourcing–Introducing Open Growth
    Organized by Ben Wald of Ashoka Changemakers | @Changemakers
    1 question this session will address: Who are the innovators applying Open Growth and what is key to their success?
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11. Social Business: Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch
    Oganized by Sandy Carter of IBM |@Sandy_Carter
    1 question this session will address: What are the five critical cultural items that have to be addressed for a company to successfully insert social media into all its business processes?
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12. Startup & Nonprofit: What Do They Have in Common?
    Organized by Allie Burns of the Case Foundation & Revolution LLC | @Allieb37
    1 question this session will address:  Can nonprofits really benefit from taking a business/entrepreneurial mindset, or is it all talk?.
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13. The Power of Social Media for Good. B Corporations
    Organized by Dermot Hikisch of B Lab | @BCorporation
    1 question this session will address: How are B Corporations innovating, particularly around media?
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14. Turning Online Donors Into Change Investors
    Organized by Geoff Livingston of Zoetica | @GeoffLiving
    1 question this session will address: How do celebrities and weblebrities (e.g., famous bloggers) affect online fundraising?
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15. Under the Social Good Hood
    Organized by Robert Rosenthal of VolunteerMatch |@volmatchRobert
    1 question this session will address: How long does it usually take for a social good website to find a funding model that works? 

“When you are being asked to make the business case for sustainability – perhaps ask them to make the business case for being un-sustainable.”

In the mid 1990s, while struggling to address InterfaceFLOR’s environmental policies, Ray read Paul Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce. He began to see the role that companies, like Interface, played in crippling the environment. In response, he launched a comprehensive plan to reconstruct, bit by bit, the entire supply chain.

“We began to tackle the face of mountain we identified as waste. We defined waste…as any cost that we incurred that does not add value to our customer and that translates to doing everything right the first time, every time. It’s not just waste material, scrapped and low quality and so forth. If you send something to the wrong destination and have to get it back and reship it — that’s waste. If you incur a bad debt — that’s waste. So we defined waste very broadly and over time we actually said that any energy that comes from fossil fuel by our definition is waste and we need to eliminate it…. It became very clear very quickly this was the smart thing to do. Not only did we start to generate answers for those customers, they embraced us for what we were trying to do. The goodwill in the market place has just been stunning. The rest of the business case is pretty simple. I cost it down not up.” 

Seventeen years later, InterfaceFLOR has cut both landfill waste and water usage by 80%, reduced energy used per product unit by 43% and lowered greenhouse gases by 44%. Thirty percent of the company’s energy now comes from renewable sources. As Ray knew, “There are noble fortunes to be made in the transition to sustainability.”  Interface has saved $433 million between 1995 and 2010, an awesome amount that much exceeds the company’s investments in sustainability.

Beyond demonstrating that responsible business is profitable, Ray racked up hard evidence that the profit doesn’t lie in the emotional branding of t-shirts or shoes but in revolutionizing the way an industry, even manufacturing, functions.

In determining to leave no mark on the earth, Ray left an immortal mark on us.

Why integrate a social mission into your business?

You’re an entrepreneur with an idea and maybe a business plan, a small-business owner or the head of mid-sized company.  To expect you to add social purpose to your business just because it’s a good thing to do, is foolish.  You have a bottom-line and other obligations to meet.  You don’t have extra resources to allocate to ‘doing good.’

But doing good is a business strategy, not merely a moral argument or trend.  Businesses with a strong social mission have a competitive advantage.

1. People will talk. consumers, competitors, investors, suppliers and the press.
2. Increased productivity and employee morale.  People want to work for a greater purpose and want to know that their work makes a difference. Employees who are happier work harder and smarter because the work has become personal.  These type of employees are advocates for your company, not just employees of it.
3. Consumer preference. Consumers prefer companies that make a positive impact on the world.  Eighty-three percent of U.S. consumers want more of the products and services they use to benefit causes (2010 Cone Causes Evolution Study) and 62% of global consumers will switch brands if one works with ’good causes’ and the other does not (Edelman, 2010).
4. Innovation.  More companies like Nike, GE and Interface are using sustainability to drive innovation. Seventeen years ago, the late Ray Anderson, who served as Interface’s CEO, committed to becoming a zero-waste company by 2020. Since then, Interface has eliminated hundreds of millions of dollars in resource and waste disposal costs, increased sales by more than one billion and changed the way the entire carpet industry does business.
5. Influence.  Your company’s initiatives will be modeled as more companies realize the benefits of having a social mission.
6. Lower marketing costs.  Your mission will help your marketing. A line of grocery products founded and once produced by Paul Newman (Newman’s Own) is a somewhat banal story that merits only a mention in the press. The fact that the company donates 100% of profits to charity is a story that sticks, intrigues and encourages participation through purchase.
7. Talent recruitment.  People want to work for employees that care; a social cause is indicative of a favorable workplace.
8. Attract talent for less. Kevin Jones of Good Capital calls this “meaning premium.”   People want to work for a company that allows them to contribute to a greater purpose and are willing to be paid less for the opportunity (NB: this isn’t an argument for underpaying employees).
9. Attract young talent.  Teach for America is a top employer of exceptional college graduates. Last year 12% of  seniors at Ivy League schools applied to work with Teach for America, vying for one of the most challenging and low-paying jobs out there.
10. Talent retention.  When employees are part of a larger mission and feel their contributions make an impact in the world, they’re engaged, proud and motivated.
11. Savings in resource and disposal costs. You’ll save money by reducing energy, water and material consumption. Producing less waste and reusing water or materials costs you less to purchase and less to haul away.
12. Supplier advantage.  Stonyfield Farm pays its organic suppliers a floor price that won’t ever drop, protecting its suppliers from market swings and production hiccups. In return, when supply for organic milk or sugar outpaces demand, Stonyfield is first on the delivery list and is guaranteed a fair price because it’s built a relationship with its suppliers.
13. Risk management. Being in tune with your stakeholders alerts you to potential risks and helps you safeguard against them. An offshoot of this is that your company is better informed and positioned to identify new business opportunities.
14. Future-bound company.  Successful companies that others evangelize and model represent more than just a product or service. They represent a philosophy, culture or experience. When you channel this back into your business, you’ve made your competitive edge that much more edgier.
15. Fun.  Science proves what most of us know–making a difference feels amazing. We feel happy, enlivened and creative.

Your company (1, 5 or 200 employees) is the ideal size to run a purpose-driven business. Although larger brands get more attention for the resources they can bring to their campaigns your company holds an advantage.

1. You’re more agile. You can plan, execute, track and revise nearly on-the-fly. Less memos, less approval, less internal politicking diluting the programs.
2. You can take more risks with your social mission. You have less of a reputation to uphold. You can be a renegade, a heretic, recognized for your commitment to social change and your willingness to try new ideas.
3. You face less financial accountability. Smaller companies aren’t held to the same monetary expectations as larger ones. Your programs’ strength lies in their impact and effect rather than your company’s financial commitment.  A big brand cosmetic company’s one-time campaign cost $500,000 in an upfront investment to its partner charity, the cost of a micro-site and prize expenses, and delivered just a luke-warm impact. Your cosmetic company can affect people more directly by offering products and makeovers to women re-entering the workforce in partnership with a workforce re-entry program and your local Dress for Success chapter. Cost? In-kind only.
4. You have a fresher slate. Small companies are often seen as more personal, less greedy and less noxious. There’s less initial cynicism of your motives and choices.
5. You entice stronger non-profit partners. Smaller companies are rarely able to attract (nor should they try to) the top crust of non-profits.  With fewer wooers and less brand value, a regional non-profit will be more willing to commit time and labor to the project, as opposed to just a sliver of its name recognition.
6. You can galvanize your employees around your mission more easily. As companies need to convince consumers of their sincerity, they also need to convince their own employees. The smaller a company, the shorter this process. Employees help determine the social mission, shape it and execute it.
7. You have more of your customers’ attention.  Generally, the larger a company is the more we view it as a commodity and the less likely we are to see it as an educator or driver of good. Would you be more willing to support a pin-up campaign at Walmart or your neighborhood cupcake bakery? One of your advantages as a smaller business is the frequency of touch points that you have with customers. Use these opportunities to bring them into your mission through storytelling, contribution and advocacy.

Having a social mission is not a drain on company assets or a tangential program, it is a business strategy that yields a competitive advantage, which smaller companies can better leverage.