I had the opportunity to chat with Mark Murphy of CGR Recruitment a few days ago.  He’s launching a new recruitment company with a clear mission.  ”I wanted a business that gave something back but also offered a quality service.  Recruitment businesses can often be thought of as all the same but I want to offer my clients the ability to combine Corporate Responsibility with doing business with me” said Mark.

I was interested in the reasons why he wanted to do this.  ”I’d like to raise at least a £million for charity and in the future be remembered as someone who helped people.  I am building a brand that gives a great service but is unique in its approach.” he added.

In CGR’s great scheme, 25% of their fee goes to charities chosen by their clients and the best bit is that the clients get the kudos and PR benefit.  With access to a network of over 300 recruiters, every sector can be covered across the UK.  If you have a position to fill here’s how to get in touch.

Mark Murphy
Founder, www.cgrrecruitment.co.uk
e: mark.murphy@cgrrecruitment.co.uk
t: 07961737372

The BBC reported that a group of local councils in England is formally asking the government for new powers to tax large supermarkets.  Derby City Council has apparently called for the right to bring in a levy as a “modest” effort to ensure supermarket spending “re-circulates” in local communities.   Some 19 other local authorities back a so-called “Tesco tax” on big retailers, which they say could raise up to £400m a year.

See  English councils propose ‘Tesco tax’ .

Large businesses have become disconnected from the local communities they rely on to generate their revenue and profits.  This flow of cash to large piles that are often offshore that also avoid/reduce tax payments further distances businesses from those connections.  While customer rewards and social projects go a little way to build this connectivity back, something is clearly missing.  It is another example of a broken relationship between communities and businesses.

Taxing this way is not the answer, it becomes a weapon beating successful businesses over the head.  After all, these businesses would only be as successful as they are with the help of all of us as customers.  Far better to use Givenomics – a concept whereby each customer chooses where a small percentage of each transaction goes to.  The so called “Tesco Tax” changes to become an engaging incentive/reward, the customer becomes empowered to make a difference and local communities benefit.

In fact, TheGivingMachine is already employing this with retailers like Sainsbury’s and Tesco (and over 1300 others).  If everyone in Derbyshire shopped in this way, it would generate millions for their local communities every year.

However, while Sainsbury’s donate on all purchases, currently Tesco do not pay out for groceries.  Perhaps they should because every little helps…

I was delighted to be asked to contribute to The Guardian’s week-long 50 voices project where they asked 50 people to share what social enterprise means to them. They will be revealing 10 responses a day – so don’t forget to go back and catch the latest musings including those of Richard Branson, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, Liam Black, Sophi Tranchell and me . If you can’t wait here’s my contribution below… Continue reading →

Great news – Amazon is the first retailer to fully embrace Givenomics for all customers in USA.  Customers get to choose a charity so that a 0.5% of every purchase becomes a free donation.

Of course, we already have this facility in the UK via websites like TheGivingMachine that currently enable 2.25% of every Amazon purchase to generate free donations for your favourite causes.  You do have to go via their website first but the % is higher, there are over 700 other shops to choose from and you can support schools to.

“The high-level message is clear: Amazon wants people to know it cares about people and communities. But there’s an underlying message that seems just as apparent: we’ll keep giving as long as you keep buying.”

Read more at Tech Crunch

I gave an overview of how the experience of building TheGivingMachine led to the discovery that by incorporating giving, commerce can become a force for good to benefit companies, customers and communities.  This presentation was recorded at Social Media Week, London on Wednesday the 25th September at the Social Book Club 2.0 sponsored by Silverpop.

Givenomics by Richard Morris at Social Media Week 2013 from Craig McKenzie on Vimeo.

Would you donate more to charity if it wasn’t coming out of your pocket? Thanks to the combination of several technologies and services, this is now possible through the social enterprise TheGivingMachine. - a social enterprise that taps into the hidden world of online sales referrals allows us to give to charity without opening our wallets

Read full article on The Guardian’s Innovation Hub
published: Friday 2 August 2013 09.59 BST

“If your business is looking for a new model that not only allows it to be a force for good and a supporter of community, but that enables it to adopt new ways of engaging its customer base, Givenomics can be a great starting point. Chapter 9 is particularly helpful, as Morris outlines, step-by-step, how to implement Givenomics. Important details like donation tracking, brand differentiation, costs and marketing opportunities are discussed, with examples offered. The book, and Morris’ own personal experience running TheGivingMachine™, offer tangible tools for those looking to do well by doing good.”

Full review on SEE website

With the start of a new financial year looming on the horizon, Richard Morris, author of Givenomics and Co-founder of not-for-profit social enterprise TheGivingMachine, discusses how schools need to diversify their sources of funding and support.

When Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” I have to think he had spent quite a bit of time fundraising…

Of course, everyone wants fundraising to be nice and friendly and not a hard sell. At heart, though, repeatedly extracting money from a supporter base comes down to increasing the efficiency and diversity of your approach.

While larger charities must focus on efficiency (as they have many paid staff and ‘time is money’), this can lead to a less personal approach from the need to deliver a return on investment from the ‘donor base’. Continue reading →

Givenomics – a new way to engage customers

Ah, the joys and challenges of starting a business – if only we could bottle the energy we all expend during that time! In my case, the experience and learning I derived from co-founding and developing a not-for-profit social enterprise led directly to the creation of a concept I have called ‘Givenomics’ – a model that helps to generate success for companies, customers, and communities.

Givenomics recognises and responds to a growing problem in a socially responsible society. While of course no one wants businesses to fail, many people don’t really want them to be too successful either, especially when it means making excessive profits (literally) at the expense of the consumers who fund these results. What’s needed is a new approach that can transform businesses to become agents of powerful and positive change, improve customer engagement and benefit the communities we live and work in.

see the whole of the article here

Article as published in the March 2013 edition of Start Your Business.  Thanks to Fusion Marketing and Media Gems for their help.

I hope everyone had a good Easter break – now back into the fray with a vengeance.  So much going on at the moment that I am going to need another holiday.  We are hoping to arrange an event after the summer to promote Givenomics and TheGivingMachine so will keep you all updated with info as and when I can.