Week 3 EOC: Making Money for Good

A different way to sustain a charity came with TOMS Shoe Company. The company is a for profit charity, which means they are self sustaining. They are not limited by having to rely on donors to run their charity. Other companies have followed this charity/ business model and in a struggling economy are actually succeeding. “‘But despite these hard times, a few companies who have chosen to swim against the current by actually giving back some of what they earn are recording record profits. But these aren't the corporate donations carefully orchestrated by a clever PR department looking to bolster the company image.” [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-shapter/despite-economy-not-only_b_486607.html] KIND Snacks and Stubb’s BBQ are two fairly new companies making this business model work and giving to charity at the same time. But larger companies are getting involved as well.  One of which is the internet mogul Google. “The ambitious founders of Google, the popular search engine company, have set up a philanthropy, giving it seed money of about $1 billion and a mandate to tackle poverty, disease and global warming. But unlike most charities, this one will be for-profit, allowing it to fund start-up companies, form partnerships with venture capitalists and even lobby Congress. It will also pay taxes.” http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/technology/14google.html?_r=1&ex=1158897600&en=8e001539df9e4e0e&ei=5087%0A
There are still much controversy about this type of charity model. The issue of the company’s true interested always has to be asked. Is the company really using a charity front in order to gain profits or are they truly trying to do some good?
“Though if you’re worried about what a for-profit mentality might do to a charitable organization, Larry Brilliant, executive director of Google.org, told The New York Times, “We’re not doing it for the profit.” He mentioned that while he would like company projects to turn a profit, it wouldn’t really matter if they didn’t. “If we didn’t get our capital back, so what? The emphasis is on social returns, not economic returns.’” [http://www.looktothestars.org/news/137-google-org-operating-as-a-for-profit-charitable-organization]