Springwise - Non-profit, Social cause

With every box of dog food, a meal for a homeless pet

2010-07-23T15:28:04Z

The “buy one, donate one” initiatives are coming fast and furious. Hard on the heels of our stories about two such efforts targeting children—namely, Happy Blankie and Whitten Grey's Project Little Grey Dress—comes news of one designed to help homeless pets.

Launched this spring, the Plus One Movement from Canadian pet food maker Darford International aims to provide fresh, quality food to abandoned dogs awaiting new homes. How it works: Attached to every Darford box of treats and food is an extra meal of the company's Zero/G dog food intended specifically for donation to a dog in need. Specially designed collection hampers have been placed in-store at the roughly 3,000 US and Canadian retailers that carry the Darford brand. Consumers can simply drop their donation meals into those hampers, and participating animal shelters will pick up and use the donated food for local homeless dogs. The video below explains the project:

Some 4 million dogs are euthanized each year in the US and Canada alone, primarily for lack of room and food, Darford notes. Other pet-friendly brands and retailers: time to step up and do your own generous part...?

Website: www.ilovealldogs.org
Contact: info@ilovealldogs.org

Spotted by: Peter von Hahn

'Buy one, donate one' effort lets kids direct the giving

2010-07-21T09:26:22Z

“Buy one, give one” initiatives are increasingly common forms of corporate generosity, but it wasn't until recently that we began seeing them involving children. Much the way Happy Blankie lets recipients of its animal blankets help decide where the donated ones get sent, so Texas-based clothing maker Whitten Grey aims to let the girls who wear its dresses participate in donating similar ones to girls in far-off lands.

Through Whitten Grey's Project Little Grey Dress, buyers of any eco-friendly dress from the company receive a unique code along with their purchase. When they enter that code online, they can then choose what country they'd like to donate a dress to—currently, the choices are Liberia, Guatemala, Malawi and Zimbabwe. After choosing the colour of the dress they'd like to send, girls can then enter a message they'd like to include for the girl who receives it.

Generosity has become increasingly important to the Generation G masses, so it stands to reason they'd want their children to learn that virtue too. Purveyors of other kids' products, large and small: time to bring some charity-minded capabilities to your own pint-sized patrons...? (Related: Buy a onesie, donate one to a baby in need.)

Website: www.whittengrey.com/give/
Contact: give@whittengrey.com

Spotted by: Inhabitots via Judy McRae

New fashion label only available to those who donate blood

2010-07-20T16:13:37Z

Fashionistas love exclusivity, but usually it's all about who you know, or how much you're willing to spend. Creating a twist on limited editions is The Red Rail, a new Dutch fashion label that's only available to blood donors.

The first Red Rail collection was presented at the Amsterdam Fashion Week last Friday, and consists of 20 unique outfits by 18 up-and-coming designers. Since the number of items is limited, The Red Rail will use a lottery to pick 20 winners. Over the next six months, people can select their favourite outfit, donate blood, and then send an email to theredrail@stichtingnobel.nl, listing their donor ID and the item they'd like to win. The lottery will take place in January 2011.

Initiated by the Nobel Foundation and sponsored by the DOEN Foundation, the project was developed to enlist a new (younger) generation of blood donors, and to heighten awareness of the need to donate blood. According to Nivel, a Dutch research institute for health care, it's likely that the Netherlands will be facing a shortage of blood donors within three years. The Red Rail hopes to convey the message that a blood donation is a personal, altruistic gift, and one worth giving.

Website: www.theredrail.com
Contact: theredrail@stichtingnobel.nl

Spotted by: Yu-Lan van Alphen and Nicole Rietvelt

Buy one, donate one plush animal blankie

2010-07-19T14:55:24Z

Stuffed animals and security blankets tend to be favourite sleeping companions among young children, but the Happy Blankie—one of the cutest innovations we've seen in some time—combines both into one. Not only that, but for each Happy Blankie sold another is donated, resulting in not just double but quadruple the comfort and quadruple the fun.

Ohio-based Happy Blankie offers a line of four animal blankets made of luxurious plush “minky" fabric and silky charmeuse satin. Available in puppy, pig, frog and teddy bear versions, all feature an embroidered cheek-to-cheek smile and a plush embossed ribbon nose. Pricing ranges from USD 29 for an 18-by-18-inch size to USD 99 for a 48-by-56-inch version; personalization with a child's name is also available. Best of all, however, is that for every Happy Blankie sold, the company will donate another to a child in a hospital or orphanage. It even lets the buyer of the first blanket choose where the second one is given by following the instructions on the blanket's "giving is cool" tag.

Who says there's no more room for innovation in the world of children's blankets and toys? Throw in a dash of buy-one/give-one generosity, and there will surely be sweet dreams all around! ;-) (Related: Personalized baby blankets, reborn — Bespoke baby blankets — Personalized books starring a child's favourite toy — Buy a onesie, donate one to a baby in need.)

Website: www.happyblankie.com
Contact: support@happyblankie.com

Spotted by: Sara Al Mulla

RFID tags used to attach stories to charity shop's donated wares

2010-07-13T15:59:42Z

Launched at this year's Future Everything digital arts festival in Manchester, RememberMe is a collaborative project between TOTeM (Tales of Things and Electronic Memory) and Oxfam which infused personal history into donated items by enabling people to attach stories to them using RFID tags.

People donating items at an Oxfam store in Manchester were asked to tell a story about the object into a microphone, including when and where they acquired it and any personal stories associated with it. The audio clips were linked to an RFID tag and QR code and items tagged with a story were added to the shop's stock as part of the in-store exhibition. Visitors to the shop used their own smart phone or a bespoke RFID reader to listen to the stories through speakers in the shop, and were invited to purchase the story-tagged objects.

Beyond the Oxfam project, TOTeM’s free iPhone app gives purchasers anytime access to attached stories, and can also be used to scan, comment and add location to things in the wild. Consumers can also tag their own items at the TOTeM website, linking any object to a snippet of video, audio or text describing its history via printable QR code tags.

The concept steers people away from thinking of an item's value as purely financial, encouraging them to realize the sentimental value of objects and (maybe) think twice before throwing things away. It's also a retail concept that would no doubt appeal to authenticity-seeking consumers everywhere—one to implement on a permanent basis? (Related: Secondhand store in Tokyo showcases previous owners — App lets users attach digital content to any barcode.)

Website: www.talesofthings.com
Contact: info@talesofthings.com

Spotted by: Jane Macdonald

Site helps businesses reward consumers for positive actions

2010-07-08T13:58:11Z

It's one thing to entreat consumers to change their behaviour for the better, but when corporate rewards are involved, the win-win turns into a win-win-win... or more. Much the way Plus 3 Network matches corporate sponsors with consumers who work out for the benefit of the charities of their choice, so Bolder works with businesses to sponsor a different challenge each week.

California-based Bolder teams up with businesses to challenge consumers to complete a certain action every week. This week's challenge, for example, is to “make a car trip a bike trip,” and it's sponsored by Timbuk2. Consumers who complete the challenge must then log it in along with a tweet-length story about their action; in return, they get the promised reward. In Timbuk2's case, that's USD 20 off a custom-made bag. Such stories also go to the site's action feed, meanwhile, where the Bolder community can see them, comment on them and vote for them. Those voted “boldest” will be featured on the Bolder blog and may receive extra special rewards.

At a time when change needs to happen, consumers need motivation, and companies need to show more generosity, Bolder seems to be positioned nicely to satisfy all three needs—and benefit itself in the process. How can your brand help consumers do good....? (Related: Site uses social media to raffle off free, sponsored prizes — Drink maker features socially minded partners on its packages.)

Website: www.actbolder.com
Contact: feedback@actbolder.com

Spotted by: Henry Mason

Drink maker features socially minded partners on its packages

2010-07-07T11:40:55Z

Businesses can give back to the world in many ways, from making one-off donations to innovating new, socially minded solutions of their own. Opting more toward the latter end of the scale, Vai Vai is a drink brand that dedicates one side of each Tetrapak container to featuring worthy social organizations.

Founded last year, French Vaiva is a registered collaborative whose principal product is Vai Vai, a coconut water beverage made from coconuts that are hand-picked on socially minded farms in the southern Philippines. Nothing is added to the healthful coconut water, and the project helps to support 8,000 local families with development programs, microcredit and training. Product transportation is chosen as sustainably as possible, and Vaiva uses its profits to hold concerts, sports matches and other events. Most interesting of all, however, is that one side of each Vai Vai package is set aside for the promotion of various socially minded artists, entrepreneurs and associations, at no cost to them. Currently, the project of the month is Durable.com.

Packaging space, of course, is something any brand with a physical good could donate in a similar way. One more chance to please the generosity-minded masses of Generation G!

Website: www.vai-vai.com
Contact: www.vai-vai.com/noustrouver/contacts

Spotted by: Florent Lesauvage

Five business ideas focused on babies & new parents

2010-07-02T18:41:01Z

Starting a family is such a fundamental part of human life that it's no surprise that babies are an inspiring subject for enterprise and innovation. There's a new idea born every minute ;-) Here are five we spotted recently:

1. EMBRACE — Premature or underweight newborns can have problems maintaining body temperature. Unfortunately, proper incubators aren't available or affordable everywhere. The Embrace is an infant warmer that costs less than 1 per cent of the price of a traditional incubator, according to the eponymous non-profit currently trialling it in India. It looks like a tiny sleeping bag, and is powered by a small electrical element or hot water.

2. TEXT4BABY — The result of a partnership between government agencies, corporations, academic bodies and non-profits, text4baby is a free SMS information service for expectant mothers in the United States. Messages cover health, childbirth and post-natal childcare, and are scheduled to accord with the mother-to-be's term.

3. BABYBLOOMS — Once birth has been given, friends and family will often send flowers to congratulate the new family. BabyBlooms offers a gift that looks similar, but turns out to be rather more practical: their 'bouquets' are assembled from baby clothes. There's a choice of pink, blue, natural and twin bouquets.

4. CITYSHADE — The hoods provided on strollers are sometimes too small to keep babies fully protected from the sun, and parents often find themselves augmenting the canopy with a blanket or some other improvised item. The CityShade is a purpose-built alternative. It comes in a choice of colours and styles, and can be attached neatly to many popular stroller models.

5. LE KNOCKOUT — With a medley of attendant legends, the shedding of a baby tooth is a rite of passage celebrated worldwide. Now parents can have their own memento of the occasion by getting their child's tooth cast in gold and fashioned into a piece of jewelery or a keepsake. Mawkish or charming? The sentimental imperative should not be underestimated!

Spotters: Judy McRae, Marie Sedefian, Julie Mancuso

Tapping the professional skills of micro-volunteers via iPhone and web

2010-06-30T13:20:08Z

Much the way Catalista connects would-be volunteers with opportunities by mobile phone, so The Extraordinaries aims to enable “micro-volunteering,” whereby philanthropists with a few minutes of free time can use it to make a difference.

Currently in private limited beta, San Francisco-based The Extraordinaries is an online platform that seeks to make it easy for altruistic consumers to support an organization or cause they care about. Toward that end, it enlists both individuals and groups of company employees to contribute their expertise to a nonprofit in even the smallest chunks of time. Nonprofits begin by posting requests to the site; those, in turn, are routed to would-be volunteers based on their skills and interests. Examples might include translating a page of a document into Spanish, for instance, or helping to choose a new logo; The Extraordinaries even has pre-built "kits" that turn a series of best practices into tasks for volunteers. Willing volunteers then complete the requests during a spare moment via iPhone (through a dedicated app) or web browser—or they can share it with their colleagues. Either way, corporate team volunteers can track each others' efforts via a Team Activity feed. Current nonprofit users of The Extraordinaries include KaBOOM!—which we've covered before—and Big Cat Rescue.

The Extraordinaries is in the process of becoming a B Corp.; its business model will eventually include charging organizations a fee for each task completed, according to a report on NPR. Social entrepreneurs around the globe: time to make micro-volunteering your new best friend...? (Related: iPhone app lets users earn cash for small tasks — Work site divides large jobs into small, concurrent tasks — Quick tasks via SMS for phone users in the developing world — Job marketplace for quick online tasks.)

Website: app.beextra.org
Contact: support@beextra.org

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann

Tapping the crowds for sustainable ideas and funding

2010-06-25T13:18:53Z

If crowdsourcing can be used to help tackle economic problems in Ireland—not to mention those of the more personal kind—then why not the global environmental imperative? That, indeed, is just the aim of the Globe Forum, which hopes to use crowdsourcing to help people around the world build a more sustainable future.

Now in beta, Stockholm-based Globe Forum operates conferences and an active online community to help match the creators of good ideas with those who can help bring them to life. Specifically, the organization hopes to bring together innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, corporations and the public sector in a natural space “where breakthrough solutions can occur collaboratively,” as the site puts it. Its matchmaking service, for instance, aims to match supply and demand for sustainable solutions, with expert facilitation, consulting and project management by the Globe Forum organization. Its intelligence arm, meanwhile, strives to provide market-leading research, industry insight and access to innovation. A crowdfunding section lets potential investors browse through promising new project ideas and fund the ones they like, while projects and organizations with sustainability challenges to be solved can post those in Globe Forum's “Challenges” section for a little collective brainstorming. After hosting a conference in Stockholm this spring, Globe Forum's next large-scale event will take place in Dublin in November.

Anyone out there still doubt the power of the Global Brain? We didn't think so. Sustainability entrepreneurs: this one's for you!

Website: www.globeforum.com
Contact: info@globeforum.com

Spotted by: Johan Lofmark

Contest by wearable magazine asks participants to be kind

2010-06-24T15:32:18Z

It wasn't too long ago that we wrote about T-Post for a second time—the focus then was its augmented reality t-shirt—yet now here we are covering the innovative company again. The reason this time? Looks like the creative minds behind the Swedish wearable magazine are the latest to succumb to the “random acts of kindness” trend we've been following for some time.

Last month T-Post kicked off its Real-Life Superhero Contest in the hopes of encouraging participants to do something good for society. Launched to coincide with the magazine's May issue—entitled “I Am Shining Star” and designed to highlight what T-Post says is a growing, modern-day superhero trend—the contest asked entrants to don a costume and then take to the streets to help others. Said costume could include the “I Am Shining Star” shirt or not, as long as the wearer performed some good deed, captured the act on video and posted it on YouTube by midnight on June 14. Winners are now being decided; the video that received the most views by the contest's deadline will win USD 1,000, while a separate winner chosen by T-post's editors—for a combination of factors including costume design, deed performed and overall entertainment value--will win a free T-post subscription for life.

The results are pouring in, and so far it seems clear that kindness really can be good for business. Greed is so yesteryear; time to make generosity the name of your brand's game! (Related: Free umbrellas on rainy days aim to inspire kindness — Canadian credit union gives people ten-dollar bills to give away — Online game focuses on real-world kindness — Clothing brand asks its wearers to be kind — Random acts of kindness for Hyatt's most loyal guests.)

Website: www.t-post.se/hero
Contact: info@t-post.se

Spotted by: Lieke Voermans

Pop-up container clinic boosts health care in Haiti

2010-06-18T14:46:24Z

If empty shipping containers can be used to create foldout restaurants and pop-up hotel rooms, then why not pop-up health clinics? Better yet, why not ship those clinics to remote parts of the world where the care is needed most? That, in fact, is precisely the notion underlying Containers to Clinics (C2C), a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that is gearing up to open its first such clinic next month at Grace Children’s Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Through a partnership with the local Ministry of Health, C2C's clinic is designed to fill critical gaps in health service delivery for vulnerable women and children in disaster-ravaged Haiti. Whereas much health care in the area is currently being conducted beneath weathered tents, the C2C clinic will offer a dignified, secure and clean space for women and children to receive pregnancy care and reproductive health treatment, childhood vaccinations, post-partum and newborn care, and infectious disease testing and treatment from local medical professionals. Two 8-by-20-foot, retrofitted containers make up the C2C clinic: one featuring two exam and consultation spaces and the other housing pharmacy and laboratory spaces. Both are designed with diagnostic, lighting and climate-control technologies appropriate for low-resource settings and compatible with local cultural traditions and health education needs, C2C says. Containers were donated by Triton Containers; design and construction on the project were provided by Anshen +Allen and Stack Design Build.

Is there any pop-up need containers can't serve? We've yet to spot one, but it's particularly exciting to see social needs getting addressed this way. C2C aims to bring its container approach to other needy places as well. Providers of all things medical: one to sponsor, partner with or otherwise get involved in...?

Website: www.containers2clinics.org
Contact: info@containers2clinics.org

Spotted by: Michael Sharkey

Made in South Africa, fair trade bracelets for Dutch soccer fans

2010-06-16T11:13:47Z

Like any major sports event, the FIFA World Cup is a prime merchandising moment, with vast quantities of t-shirts, scarves and those infamous vuvuzelas hitting the stadiums of South Africa and the streets of the teams' home countries. But as crucial as they may seem to fervent soccer fans, most of the patriotic paraphernalia has a fairly short lifespan between shipping containers and landfills.

Offering a meaningful alternative to mass-produced goods, Dutch start-up Rainbow Collection decided to go local and fair trade. It partnered with Africa!Ignite to create the Orange Bracelet, made of beads in the Netherlands' national colour (orange) and the rainbow colours of South Africa's flag. The bracelets were produced by women in the province of KwaZulu-Natal; according to Rainbow Collection, it provided employment for more than 400 rural women by ordering 100.000 bracelets.

Besides offering Dutch fans a way to support both their national team and South African women, the Orange Bracelet is also one of the more stylish accessories designed for the 2010 World Cup. That combination of style and substance seems ripe for replication to other events worldwide.

Website: www.rainbowcollection.nl
Contact: www.rainbowcollection.nl/contactus.html

Village rainwater harvesting system stores enough for a year

2010-06-10T17:53:29Z

The shortage of clean water in many parts of the world is a topic we've seen addressed on several occasions before—such as by the Hippo Water Roller and the PlayPump, to name just two examples. Recently another solution caught our eye, not least because it just won this year's Energy Globe World Award.

Aakash Ganga, or River from the Sky, is a sustainable system that channels rooftop rainwater from every house in a village through gutters, and then pipes it to a network of multitier, underground reservoirs. Currently implemented in six drought-prone villages in the Churu District of Rajasthan, the system captures enough rainwater to meet the drinking needs of an entire village for 12 months. Aakash Ganga is the brainchild of social entrepreneur and Sustainable Innovations president BP Agrawal, who also won the USD 100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability earlier this year. The system currently supplies some 10,000 people with fresh water, and the Government of Rajasthan has signed a letter of intent to implement Aakash Ganga in 50 villages to serve another 125,000 people. A100-village plan is being evaluated for implementation as a public-private-community partnership or social enterprise by 2011 or 2012. A video demonstrates the system in action.

According to the World Health Organization, 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water. Time to get involved and help put an end to that problem? (Related: Buy a bottle of wine and donate clean water.)

Website: www.sustainableinnovations.us/akashganga/
Contact: info@sustainableinnovations.us

Spotted by Murtaza Patel

Free umbrellas on rainy days aim to inspire kindness

2010-06-08T11:13:47Z

Kindness is a goal whose merit few would dispute, which is why we've seen myriad cards, games and even a clothing brand focused on inspiring it. Until recently, however, we hadn't yet come across Pittsburgh's Here You Go, which gives out umbrellas on rainy days with just a request to spread the kindness in return.

Equipped with a stock of 1,000 umbrellas, Here You Go has outfitted a staff of some 50 volunteers for random acts of kindness on Pittsburgh's many rainy days, according to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Specifically, those volunteers watch for sodden individuals without umbrellas on the city's soggy streets and then cheerfully give them one of Here You Go's bright yellow offerings. Attached to each specially designed umbrella is a waterproof postcard encouraging the recipient to do something kind for someone else in return; if they do, they're invited to describe their kind act on the card and mail it back to Here You Go, which then posts the story on its site.

Umbrellas also feature prominently, incidentally, in the eco-minded Shibu-Kasa project in Japan, whereby students from Aoyama Gakuin University have set up an effort to encourage reuse of the disposable umbrellas dispensed by many Japanese convenience stores; people who return a free 'Shibu-Kasa' umbrella to a participating store can now receive a ticket called 'Earth Day Money' good for a JPY 50 discount. Either way, it appears the humble devices are good for more than just staying dry. Here You Go has already received queries from like-minded individuals in Seattle, Baltimore and Sydney, Australia, the Post-Gazette reported, with an eye toward expanding the program.

Website: www.1000umbrellas.org
Contact: hereyougopgh@gmail.com

Spotted by: Jim Stewart and Miriam Brafman