Responsibility
“Doing well by doing good” is not a mantra. It's what we believe, live, and promote.
We strive to act in a financially, socially, and environmentally responsible manner. We measure all of our actions against the triple bottom line: Prosperity (financial performance), People (social performance) and Planet (environmental performance).
People
Building strong and empowered communities is at the heart of our approach. We equip socially responsible organizations to cultivate community support with holistic and sustainable marketing solutions.
We use of collaborative or open source resources, such as Google Docs, OpenOffice.org and Mozilla. We are members of and purchase products/services from cooperative organizations, such as Rivermark Community Credit Union and People's Food Coop.
We spread the wealth throughout the communities we and our customers and partners live, work, and play. We donate up to 2.5% of our profit to organizations and projects that use innovative, market-based applications to achieve measurable impact in building stronger and empowered communities, be it locally or globally. Our primary focus areas include, but are not limited to, micro-business development and social entrepreneurship.
We provide up to 80 hours annually of pro bono services ($8,000 value) to select nonprofit organizations whose activites align with our mission and focus. Nonprofits receiving pro bono services in 2008 are:
- Project Access NOW - 40 project hours ($4,000 value) to develop marketing tools. Read more.
- Mercy Corps Northwest - 10 hours ($1,000 value) to provide marketing seminars for clients and community members. Seminars generate additional income supporting Mercy Corps Nortwest services through fees. Read more.
We measure our social-impact success by our customers' success in accomplishing social outcomes.
Planet
We strive to apply, utilize, and promote technologies, practices, and materials that are environmentally friendly and responsible. We adhere to the reduce-reuse-recycle-rethink-replenish model of sustainability. For example, we
- cover 100% of our company's electricity needs with green, renewable power (Portland General Electric's Green Source, utilizing wind and biomass energy sources);
- offset 100% of our annual carbon dioxide emissions by supporting investments in offset projects funded by Climate Trust;
- maximize the use of online/electronic tools and applications and offset the emissions produced during use;
- use a fuel-efficient vehicle, exceeding the current corporate average fuel economy standard, and, whenever feasible, maximize our use of public transportation or non-polluting transportation options (foot, bicycle);
- use Energy Star-rated or otherwise energy-efficient equipment;
- minimize solid waste, recycle the waste we do produce, and compost our organic waste;
- minimize the use of office supplies and use recycled paper and other products;
- apply the principles of sustainable graphic design;
- promote environmentally-friendly practices among our vendors and suppliers.
In addition to achieving our clients' marketing goals, our solutions aim to limit or reduce their environmental footprint.
We measure our success in environmental protection by our customers' success in accomplishing their environmental goals.
Prosperity
A socially responsible but bankrupt business is hardly a good thing. Making a profit in a way that is good for the environment and that satisfies the needs of people living in it means adopting business and marketing practices that build communities empowered to solve their own problems and that protect the Earth and replenish natural resources at the same time. Prosperity is the kind of profit that extends beyond a simple accounting figure.
We measure our financial success by our customers' success in accomplishing their revenue goals.
We'd love to hear your thoughts. Call, Skype, or email us to start a conversation.
