The Philanthropic Family

Time for the annual collection of ideas around how to show your love for Mom while giving something back to the community or the cause she cares about. It’s amazing and wonderful how mothers inspire us to make gestures of our love and appreciation by sharing our resources with those who are less fortunate.

Picking a Cause

If your mother already has a favorite charity, I suggest you skip the stuff, buy or make her a nice card and put a check made out to her favorite charity inside. Write a brief but sincere note telling her how she has influenced your values and shaped the person you are today. Ta-da! Guaranteed tears and appreciation, and no wasted packaging so it’s eco-friendly, too.

If your mom has always been the giving type but you don’t associate a particular charity with her, you might want to select one that particularly resonates with mothers, or serves mothers. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Women for Women International: “Since 1993, Women for Women International has helped thousands of female survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts rebuild their lives and regain their sense of self. Through our one-year programs, women are given the tools they need to get back on their feet and contribute to their community.”
2. Partners in Health: This is one of the international aid organizations for which I have the most respect, in whom I have the greatest trust. They were founded by Paul Farmer, who spent years in Haiti working with the poorest of the poor. They’ve since expanded to other countries (I visited a hospital under construction in Rwanda) but have been a vital partner in the recovery efforts after the Haitian earthquake in January.
3. Epic Change. The founder of Epic Change, Stacey Monk, is a tireless advocate on behalf of Mama Lucy, a woman in Tanzania who describes herself as a “former poultry farmer turned school founder & Mama to over 400 kids.” This Mother’s Day, Epic Change has developed a great web site and campaign called “To Mama With Love.” There, you can donate to support Mama Lucy while creating a “heartspace” for your own mother. Then send her an e-card telling her about the gift and sharing your heartspace.

Picking a Gift

First, let me say this: Don’t be fooled by marketing hype (is there a colored ribbon yet for Mother’s Day?). Personally, I have come to avoid products that say “a percentage of every purchase will be donated to XYZ charity.” Why? Because no one knows how much is donated, what other fine print is included or what controls exist to make sure the donation is really made.  Just like with many of these online contests for charity, I believe many of these companies are engaged in a cynical ploy to buy your affection by association with a cause you care about. If the rest of the company and the product itself have nothing to do with the cause, move on.

Instead, look for companies that have woven their social values into the fabric of their operations. Ones that employ women, pay them a fair wage, provide decent benefits, promote them internally and have women in leadership positions, etc.  It would be better if the companies aren’t merely offering a one-time promotion, but demonstrate consistent commitment to the cause.

Ah, but how to find such companies? Here are a few resources:

1. Dressed to Give. Check out this blog series from Stephanie Hackman at the Case Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to help people integrate giving into their daily lives. Her posts feature ideas for t-shirts, nail polish, boutique fashion and more, identifying great options if you just have to have something to wrap up to go with that card.
2. Green America: For the scoop on environmentally- and human-friendly products in a range of categories, you can trust the folks at Green America who have screened thousands of companies to find those you can feel good about–not just those with good marketing. “The National Green Pages™ is a directory listing nearly 3,000 businesses that have made firm commitments to sustainable, socially just principles, including the support of sweatshop-free labor, organic farms, fair trade, and cruelty-free products.” As one example, check out their listings of 139 companies offering products in Body/Personal Care. For a broader range of ideas, check out their Gift Guide.
3. “B Corporations.” Again, it can be hard for individuals to really know what a company is up to. That’s why we need outside certification of corporate social responsibility, such as that obtained by B Corporations. ”B Corporations are a new type of corporation which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. You can search for a B Corporation by key word, like “gifts” or just browse through the list.  A few likely candidates for Mother’s Day include: UncommonGoods, an online and catalog retailer of creatively designed, high quality products; NUMI Organic Tea, a specialty tea company known for their full leaf teas, herbal teasans and line of Flowering Tea; eConsciousmarket.com, an online retailer that sells thousands of the finest ecologically (eCo “friendlier”) and socially responsible products available and donate up to 10% of every purchase to the exceptional Non-Profit organizations listed on their website.

One final thought: Why limit your socially responsible purchases to those associated with Mother’s Day? Couldn’t a much greater percentage of your personal shopping also be done through socially responsible companies? For easy resources for your everyday purchases, check out GoodGuide (especially their iphone app) and alonovo.com.

Tags: B corporations, corporate social responsibility, gift guide, gift ideas, Green America, mother's day

This entry was posted on May 6, 2010 at 9:02 am and is filed under Gift of Giving, Giving Things. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.