Mel Badgett, 1% COO, Charles & Ali Banks of Cultivate, Dick Parsons of Il Palazzone, and Terry Kellogg, 1% CEO
As a beautiful May day drew to a close in Manhattan, 1% for the Planet hosted a wonderful event for its NYC area members, partners, and supporters. The event highlighted delicious wines made by two of our member companies, Il Palazzone Vineyard and Cultivate Wines, and engaged the ninety folks in attendance with the inspiring stories behind those companies.
Dick Parsons, formerly CEO of Time Warner and Citigroup, has now moved on to greener, more satisfying pastures as owner of Il Palazzone Vineyard. He spoke to the crowd about realizing that the seemingly inconsequential honeybees and butterflies were absolutely critical to pollination of the plants providing grapes for his wines. Giving back to the environment was a simple decision for him and he liked how he got to pick The Pesticide Action Network as a recipient. 1% for the Planet provided “a perfect marriage of the opportunity to put something back into the environment and a business story.”
Charles and Ali Banks, the founders of Cultivate Wines and previously the owners of Screaming Eagle wine, also told a compelling tale. After selling Screaming Eagle, they asked themselves: “What do we want to cultivate in our own life? What do we more of? The answer was more love, more joy, more celebration around the table, and we want more time with our friends and our family. Isn’t that what everyone wants? Out of that question, Cultivate was born.” Charles said that at the core of Cultivate was a decision to give back to the world and make it a better place and that lead to the impressive decision to build a 10% of sales donation into the Cultivate business plan.
To paraphrase Charles Banks: “There is a whole new generation of businesses that have something more at their heart and soul than just a drive for profits. And in the wine business, we talk about sustainability all the time – without all those bees and butterflies we aren’t sustainable, but we need to make a profit too, so the two concepts are intertwined. 1% for the Planet provides the bridge between the two worlds. When Yvon Chouinard tells you that what you are doing is cool, there is nothing more amazing than that!”
In addition to these speakers, there were many representatives from the 1% network including folks from Harney and Sons Fine Teas, Make Things Matter, Juice Generation, Caudalie, Nature’s Equity, Scenic Hudson, Waterkeeper Alliance, La Matera, Green Bronx Machine, Flavorpill, Apartment Therapy Media, IOBY, and many other.
The wines were fabulous, the appetizers locally sourced, the setting was lovely with evening sunset streaming in, and the audience was abuzz with conversation and inspiration.
Not everyone has the physique to bike naked for a cause, but we can all support those
working for a sustainable future. Consider supporting 1% for the Planet as we grow the network as a powerful engine for change.
EVERY DOLLAR MATTERS—AND GETS MULTIPLIED
Your gift today allows us to sign up more companies which in turn direct more funding towards worthy environmental causes, it is truly an investment with the promise of a powerful return. To date, every dollar invested in 1% for the Planet has leveraged more than 40 dollars for the planet. So your investment will create a powerful ripple effect across both the business and the natural world.
Founded in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia and Craig Mathews of Blue Ribbon Flies, 1% for the Planet paved the way for a revolutionary merger between successful, creative businesses worldwide and non-profits committed to improving the health of our planet. During the past 10 years we have generated more than $100 million in funding for non-profits big and small, all dedicated to improving the health of our planet.
OPPORTUNITY FOR GROWTH—AND IMPACT
We spent our first decade building a solid network of thriving, creative and mindful businesses and non-profits around the world. As we embark on the next ten years, we’re committed to harnessing the power of that network by engaging our constituents in high impact partnerships with unique power to impact key issues.
We are also pursuing strategies that will allow us to scale further by engaging larger companies. Our vision is to grow our network of companies to 5,000 and to increase our collective giving from $20 million to $100 million a year. And while these are aggressive goals, they do not reflect our loftiest aspiration, which is to use the power of our model to engage more hearts and minds in the sustainability movement. That is where our greatest potential lies—but we need your support to tap it.
EVERY DOLLAR MATTERS—AND GETS MULTIPLIED
Because your gift allows us to sign up more companies which in turn direct more funding towards worthy environmental causes, it is truly an investment with the promise of a powerful return. To date, every dollar invested in 1% for the Planet has leveraged more than 40 dollars for the planet. So your investment will create a powerful ripple effect across both the business and the natural world.
Donate HERE through our secure online service or consider mailing a check to:
1% for the Planet
PO Box 650
Waitsfield, VT 05673
Thank You!
Without your interest, passion, and investment, 1% for the Planet wouldn’t be where we are today. More than 3000 environmental organizations benefit from the work we all do together. Let’s keep it going!
It’s springtime in Vermont. Rivers are running high, grass is growing vigorously, fowls, calves, goat kids and lambs teeter about trying to find their coordination, our fourth year intern, Danny, is back in the haus (welcome back, Kuz!), strawberries are ripe, and the backlog of donation receipts from late April is finally winding down. April 30th is the due date for the majority of our member companies to send in their certifying documents to show that they donated a full 1% of sales from their most recent fiscal year. While this can be a tedious process sifting through lots of paperwork, the pay off lies in learning about all of the great recipient organizations supported by our members this past year.
One partnership that exquisitely exemplifies just how deeply a company’s philanthropic commitment can be integrated into their business model is that between 1% member company, Borea Adventures, and nonprofit partner, The Arctic Fox Center. Borea Adventures joined 1% for the Planet back in the fall of 2009 and from the get-go they knew they would put their 1% donation toward a local Icelandic nonprofit organization, the Arctic Fox Center. The Arctic Fox Center works to protect the only native terrestrial mammal in Iceland, focusing on research, education and sustainable tourism.
The partnership between Borea Adventures and the Arctic Fox Center has been a pleasure to watch as it continues to deepen and strengthen over the years. While it began with a simple (yet significant!) donation of 1% of sales from Borea Adventures to the Arctic Fox Center, the support now extends far beyond the monetary donation. Borea Adventure’s support now includes a Borea Adventure trip specific to promoting further education about the Arctic Foxes. The trip is led by the director of the Arctic Fox Center, Ester Rut, and sails its guests around the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve in the West Fjords of Iceland — a region that is home to the foxes. In addition to this new trip offer, Sigurdur, of Borea Adventures, has collaborated with Ester to develop a new project, The Wild North, which focuses on creating a more streamlined dialogue between scientists and tourists to develop and promote sustainable wildlife tours with the Arctic fox as the main attraction.
The relationship between Borea Adventures and The Arctic Fox Center is a remarkable example of how a growing business can really integrate the 1% commitment into their business model. Sigurdur informed us that in the year ahead, Borea Adventures hopes to be able to share their equipment and boats with the Arctic Fox Center for their research and field trips. That is what this alliance is about – spreading the wealth, working cooperatively, and creating a greater, more lasting impact than any one of us can accomplish on our own. Thank you to both these groups for reminding us how philanthropy can be intrinsic to a company’s triple bottom line, leaving us all — business, people, planet, and arctic foxes — better off at the end of the day.
We are excited to introduce ioby, an innovative non-profit partner, to the 1% community! ioby – the opposite of NIMBY – was created to get people who want to do something meaningful for the environment involved with local projects. Read on to learn more about a great opportunity to support ioby!
ioby’s crowdsourcing platform exemplifies the local connection that we encourage all of our community to take part in! ioby.org combines the tools of social media with citizen philanthropy to power environmental action in urban centers. Since their founding, they have seen the successful completion of nearly 150 community-driven, neighbor-funded projects in NYC’s five boroughs. Their web platform is a groundbreaking tool for change and has been written up recently in Fast Company, Outside Magazine, Wall Street Journal and Mother Nature News.
On ioby, anyone with a good idea for change in their neighborhood can post their community gardening, bicycling, park or waterfront project online to collect tax-deductible donations, connect with local volunteers and share ideas in the likeminded community. On average, micro-donors contribute $35 to projects and live within 2 miles of the project site.
ioby is growing. This Earth Day, April 22, ioby is running a dollar-for-dollar match campaign for all donations to projects, in increments up to $22. There are currently 97 (and counting!) live projects on ioby, where organizations are fundraising for all kinds of local environmental projects, from open streets to park festivals to urban farms in vacant lots. This past Valentine’s Day, ioby ran a Neighborhood Love match campaign and raised $42,000 in matched micro-donations in 24 hours, these funds helped fully fund more than a dozen great projects.
ioby is looking for a business partner to help sponsor their Earth Day match, and they hope to work with a company who cares about the same mission, who loves the planet and its people and wants to help catalyze thousands of citizen projects in cities across the country. Ioby is seeking sponsors who can contribute $5,000-$20,000 to this campaign. Businesses that helped sponsor their Valentine’s Day match received a huge amount of publicity because of the almost 350,000 followers of ioby’s social media networks!
If you’re a business member and still looking for non-profits to give your 1% to, partnering with ioby would be a great way to support a broad range of projects that make a huge difference, and to get some great visibility too! Drop Erin (ED at ioby, erin@ioby.org) a line for more information about being a cosponsor.
We are excited to welcome ioby to the 1% Team and wish them a very happy (early) Earth Day!
I recently had the delightful pleasure of attending Patagonia’s Tools for Grassroots Activist Conference. Five days spent with engaging individuals across all lines of work – government, film & entertainment, economics, business, technology, grassroots activism, education – every sector was present and every person had a story of success to share.
After five days of inspiring stories, engaging lectures, collaborative workshops and gusty paddle boarding adventures, the conference facilitators asked us to sum up the week into one key takeaway. One group’s response:
Work with business. Get more businesses to join 1% for the Planet.
Bingo! I returned to 1% for the Planet reenergized and further inspired.
Just for grins, and because the environmental movement tends to lean (too often) toward dreary facts and sad figures, here’s a sampling of inspirational stories to share with our network:
Annie Leonard– if we’re to shift behavior and really redesign, everyone needs to watch her videos. Here’s a woman who has nailed her messaging and exemplifies effective communication in all aspects of her work.
The Elwha Damis coming out right now in Olympic National Park! This dam removal is a huge milestone in the efforts to restore our rivers and salmon populations, and it is one of many to come. Follow American Rivers to keep up to date on removal progress!
The International League of Conservation Photographers joins EP Films to create the film SPOIL, which exemplifies how powerfully film and photography can document and portray the pristine beauty and significance of threatened ecosystems, such as that of the Great Bear Rainforest. If the Enbridge pipeline plans go through, this area will soon be threatened by potential oil spills from tankers that will begin transporting oil through the narrow and windy coast of the Great Bear Rainforest. This film is an incredibly effective means of spreading awareness and prompting a response as it invokes a strong emotion from its audience. Try and watch it without getting a little teary….
Lastly, as we’re all working to protect the planet we love, it’s important that we remember to take the time to enjoy it.
(1% CEO, Terry Kellogg, slacklines with 1% Development Program Manager, Leah Cameron, at our annual staff retreat in Warren, VT)
We released our debut album, co-produced a short film, and touched 100 million people with our message through web, media and product presence. We also added a record-breaking 486 new member companies. And despite the challenging economic backdrop, 1% member companies donated more than $20 million to approved environmental non-profits, a 30% increase since 2009.
In 2011, we will focus on deepening connections between companies, environmental organizations and individuals in the 1% network. We will build tools to help 1% members and NGOs connect and share resources. We will also pilot new programs including regional network expansions and additional issue-based funds.
To continue our momentum, we need your help.
Your financial support will help us reach our ambitious 2011 goals while continuing build and support an alliance of businesses financially committed to creating a healthy planet.
On Tuesday, July 28 at 1:00 pm (EST), we will hold the first of our 1% Brown Bag Lunch conference call for our 1% community of 1% Member businesses and approved environmental organizations.
Our good friends and 1% Recipient organization, Clean Air–Cool Planet, will lead the first call of the series. For about an hour, we will learn about the latest in climate and energy legislation in Washington, D.C., the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), which currently resides in the Senate. The historic bill aims to put a price on the emissions of greenhouse gases created in the United States. The plan may transform the way we support our economy’s growing energy demands, use our transportation systems, and invest in businesses and technology.
If you are a 1% Member business or 1% approved non-profit partner, keep an eye out for call-in details in your inbox. Also, we’ll be sharing the the full-audio recordings right here, on the 1% for the Planet Blog, during the week following the call. And if you find yourself tirelessly trolling social networks for the latest news like we are, you can find and contribute to live updates of the call on the 1% Twitter page.
About the experts:
Clean Air-Cool Planet is a leading non-profit organization dedicated solely to finding and promoting solutions to global warming. CEO Adam Markham will lead with a brief overview of the organization’s work in practical corporate engagement in climate change solutions. President Rafe Pomerance will follow and answer your questions about the American Clean Energy and Security Act – also known as the Waxman-Markey Bill – and efforts in Washington to help develop new climate policies. Formerly Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Environment and Development and U.S. representative to Kyoto negotiations, Pomerance is also the founder of National Clean Air Coalition coordinator and Climate Policy Center.
The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) shares a first-look at results from its annual philanthropy survey of nearly 140 leading companies, revealing that 53% of companies increased their total philanthropic donations in 2008, and 27% increased their giving by more than 10% year-over-year. Amid a challenging economy, business leaders continue to support their companies’ commitments to rebuilding their communities and advancing social and environmental programs around the world. Read full article.
1% for the Planet is establishing philanthropy as a tenet of the socially-responsible business model. As global financial markets collapsed last October, more companies joined than in any other month of 2008, and we are growing by more than one new member company every day! Currently over 1,100 member companies in 39 countries!
Despite the recent economic downturn, several 1% for the Planet member companies had their best year ever in 2008. One reason for their relative success is the value of sustainability.Many members have strong values-oriented brands in a marketplace that increasingly rewards responsible businesses.Participation in 1% for the Planet is a great way to signal that commitment.
Since overall performance of 1% for the Planet member companies remains strong, so too does charitable giving from the 1% for the Planet network.With donor dollars for non-profit causes falling fast in today’s economic crisis, giving that is tied to the sales of our member companies remains strong.To date, we have channeled an estimated $42 million in critically needed funds to more than 1,700 non-profits around the world, with $10 million given in 2008 alone.
With the current momentum that is carrying 1% for the Planet, our powerful network of socially responsible companies is redefining how business does business – and generating considerable new resources to strengthen the capacity of nonprofits that protect and restore the environment.
While in New York for 1% for the Planet’s 1,000 member celebration in March, 1% co-founder Yvon Chouinard and friend Tom Brokaw sat down with Fast Company to talk shop. In this video, Yvon touches on the signficance of a very unlikely ally in the sustainable business movement. Click the image to watch.
