Trifecta

Hello, World

“You’re graduating in May?”
“Yes.”
“What are you doing after?”

I DON’T KNOW! Graduation is looming dangerously around the corner in just less than four three months. You may have guessed it but I’m about to graduate from undergrad and am still clueless about what I want to do next week let alone after college. You might be wondering what the hell is taking me so long to figure it out. Well here is my dilemma. While I’ve begun to tackle the mountain that is my fast approaching unemployment, I feel as though I am at a junction. On one hand, I’ve applied for jobs in major corporations and companies because I want a secure, well paying job. That side of me is fueled by parents who want to see me “succeed” (aka make lots of money) and peers bragging about their corporate offers from investment, financial services, and consulting firms. Do whatever makes good money, says that side. On the other hand, my heart isn’t in it. My heart insists that I change the world, do something that actually matters, and contribute to society and not just the company’s bottom line.

This got me wondering if the companies with job listings through my school’s career center all operate with their bottom line in mind? Are there any businesses that combine this pursuit for profits with the pursuit of solving social issues? Is there something beyond the bottom line that matters? A little bit of Googling and ta-da! Social entrepreneurship is a mixture of both – these enterprises are for profit businesses designed to make a social impact while making a profit. Essentially, they operate on a double or even triple bottom line.

What is the triple bottom line?

This phrase was coined by John Elkington in 1994 as a way to measure sustainability by incorporating three dimensions of performance: financial, social, and environmental. These 3 pillars are also known as the 3Ps: profits, people, and planet. (A double bottom line has 2Ps: profits and people) As someone who has looked for grants and corporate sponsorship opportunities, I can say that most large corporations somewhat operate on a TBL as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. But to say that they started out doing so? Definitely not. Here are some examples of companies that currently operate on TBLs.

My first famous example is none other than TOMS Shoes, a company that began with the simple premise of giving a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair that is bought. As of September of 2010, more than a million pairs of shoes were given out to children in more than 20 countries worldwide. Learn more about TOMS Shoe Giving by watching the video below:

The second company I am mentioning did not start out as a social enterprise but has recently launched a campaign that certainly propels it toward the 3Ps. I’m talking about Pepsi and the Pepsi Refresh Project where Pepsi awards grants to individuals, businesses, and nonprofits seeking to make a positive impact in their communities. These individuals/organizations are categorized into Arts & Music, Communities, or Education and those with the highest number of votes within the given voting period are awarded with grants of various levels. Here's a video from Pepsi to give a better idea about what this project is about:

In this blog, I intend to seek out businesses and entities like those above that take the triple bottom line concept to heart. What kinds of social enterprises are out there? What makes them unique? What makes them successful (or even unsuccessful)? Which major corporations are stepping up in pursuit of the triple bottom line and how are they doing it? How will I find these businesses? Well, I'd have to thank a little friend called the World Wide Web for that. I will be scouring the Internet via blogs, articles, social media, etc. in search of noteworthy social entrepreneurs. Join me as I search for the answers to these questions and learn about some amazing groups of people along the way!

Profile: Audeamus

Let me just say – there are not a whole lot of average Joe bloggers writing about social entrepreneurship out there. Most of the blogs or sites I’ve found are written either by a team of writers or by companies who specialize in working with social entrepreneurs. I did find a few one-(wo)man blogs, though the authors are usually mysterious and reveal little about themselves. Case in point is a blog titled Audaemus, which in Latin means “Let us dare” or “Let us be bold.” Audaemus’s mission is to explore social entrepreneurs around the world while also touching on related topics such as microfinance, international development, global philanthropy etc. The concept of Audaemus was not far from mine but this has more categories than I expect to cover.

When I first began poking around this blog, I had no clue when this blog was started or who was the person behind it. There is no revealing “About Me” section and the dates of the blog posts show only the month and date. This was annoying because I then had to keep clicking backwards through older posts just to find the inception point. It took a lot of clicking and reading through comments to find out any information. You'd think I'd be extremely irritated at that point but I came across a lot of interesting things along the way. Anyway, here's what I found out. Upon starting this blog, the mystery author, who I later figured out to be Michael, was writing for a social entrepreneurship – focused private family foundation. Through this connection, Michael brings an insider look to different social entrepreneurs and social ventures.

While clicking through “Older Posts” to find the very first blog posts (April 2006 fyi), I came across a variety of posts that touched on completely new ideas to me and also several posts that were very relatable to my own experiences. For example, I recently went on a volunteer service trip to Ghana where my group’s purpose was to aid in the sustainable development of a community fund. The people we worked with were very intelligent and capable of helping themselves but since foreigners are always donating money and goods, it seemed like they were more concerned with and even expected us to give them free stuff. Audaemus captured exactly how I felt in a blog post from more than 5 years ago entitled “Is charity harmful to development?”

More about the blog itself. You may have been able to tell there were some issues I have with Audeamus such as the lack of years to go with the dates and also lack of organization. However, this blog has some redeeming qualities. The posts are relatively short, making it an easy read. The writer also provides links to related blog posts so I can “flip” through interesting posts rather quickly. Most of the blog posts are just long enough to pique interest and sometimes leave me so curious that I end up clicking through provided links and/or Googling to learn more.

Audaemus has lost its steam over the past few years. Alexa’s traffic rank for this blog is 3,585,029. Posts are sparser now at about once or twice a month than years ago when there were regular posts (at times even daily posts!). Even comments on recent posts are far in few between. The majority of the posts are informational in a let-me-tell-you-about-this kind of way. There were a few segments of posts that went against Audaemus’s traditional one-sided posts theme and those were the Audeamus Awards. These in particular were more involved because Michael asked his readers to vote for different social entrepreneurs. If I were him, I would definitely bring Audeamus Awards back so that the blog is less one-sided and more conversational.

Nonetheless, the content on this blog is a great start for my own research. There’s so much content on here that it would take a LONG time for a new reader like myself to lose interest. There are plenty of posts on Audaemus that profile companies and social entrepreneurs that I could refer to as I am researching social entrepreneurs/enterprises to blog about. My site will differ in the sense that I’m focusing on these profile posts while Audaemus has a variety of related topics that are also featured. I’m definitely keeping Audaemus on my blog list for inspiration and I can’t wait to get started!

Voice Critique

Just like how I previously mentioned there are few small time bloggers writing about social entrepreneurship, there are even fewer that written in such a way that I feel like I’m conversing with the author. So following links from blogrolls to blogrolls, I came across Selfish Giving, a blog written by Joe Waters about cause marketing. I saw of the page an About/For Hire page which indicated this wasn’t an amateur-ish blog. But hey, the posts looked interesting and the writing caught my eye. I could tell this blog is more of a conversation between blogger to reader(s) and sometimes reader to reader.  Looking through the category list of posts, I saw “Causerants” and thought, “Hmm rants? This should be interesting.” And it was. I eventually landed on a post entitled “Komen’s Cause Marketing Program Isn’t ‘Finger-Lickin’ Good.”  What got me reading this blog post was a) fried chicken and b) fried chicken in a PINK KFC bucket. What kept me reading was this sarcastic yet relatable and informative voice that I found to be funny and entertaining to read.

Taken from Selfish Giving

Obviously, as this series of posts are “rants,” sarcasm and cynicism is to be expected. For example, after a brief background introducing KFC’s Buckets for a Cure campaign and all the awesome things that the campaign is meant to do, Joe steps down from the clouds and says:

Bear with me while I collect myself…heading toward the light…too beautiful, too wonderful…. ZZZAAAPPPP!

This reference from a Bug’s Life, complete with link to video, is a metaphor as the campaign is a shiny, attractive light that pulls you in but really ends up being terrible and death-inducing (just kidding…?). Joe continues to pick apart KFC’s campaign and points out the irony that “a bucket of extra crispy KFC should include the wig you’ll need for cancer treatments after eating this crap for years.” The cynicism in his voice concerning “this crap” points out the absurdity that Susan G. Komen, a nonprofit focused on finding a cure for cancer, to be paired up with a fast food chain notorious for its fatty and salty food.

Another feature of Joe’s writing is his cultural references in his blog posts. Linked above, you’ll find a video clip from a Bug’s Life. A more recent blog post called “How Nonprofits Can Stop a Zombie Apocalypse” refers to 8 rules to survive a zombie apocalypse (from the movie Zombieland in case you were wondering) and translates them into how to (as a nonprofit) avoid a nonprofit  apocalypse.

Copyright Columbia / TriStar

Zombies and nonprofits are similar? No, not really but Joe's extended metaphor makes it seem like they are. My favorite of the 8 rules?

2. Double Tap. What a waste to die at the hands of a zombie just because you were too lazy and didn’t shoot them twice. Just like it would be a waste to give up on a program or project after the first try because someone said no, a company pulled out or because the a campaign had mixed or poor results. Like W. C. Fields said: “Try, and if you fail, try again. Then quit. No sense being a fool about it.” But try again! Don’t give into the zombies and just give in after one shot.

You read the first part of the rule and think "Well I don't see any relation." But then you read on and Joe spins the connection and the lightbulb goes on. It’s one thing to simply list a bunch of guidelines for nonprofits to follow, but to connect them to a topic as completely out of left field as zombies? That’s just a whole other level. Adding these cultural references makes Joe seem more relatable and the content much more enjoyable to the average reader (After all, Joe did write Cause Marketing for Dummies). Something I'm taking away from Joe's blog is to not feel obligated to give every company or social enterprise a glowing review. If the concept is a bad idea, I will not hesitate to criticize and put in my two cents.