Comments on: Fighting for a Double Bottom-Line

By: Adam McFarland

Adam McFarland — Sun, 04 May 2008 16:10:22 +0000

David – thanks for the comment. Yes, 5% isn’t much right now…but comparing us to Richard Branson isn’t fair either. My partners and I are still all in our mid-twenties and are just trying to make ends meet. We are still scraping to buy our first houses, not “sacrificing” a $10 million dollar house for a $1 million one. As we grow and secure our own personal lives a bit more, the percentage we give will grow as well. We (hopefully) have a lot of years left and can accomplish a lot philanthropically as we grow.

Besides, when it comes to giving, I also try not to “keep score”. It’s not about that. It’s about doing what we can with our talents and resources to improve the world.

By the way, this post is a bit old…the program is now in place and is called Commerce with Conscience http://www.tastefullydriven.com/commerce_with_conscience.php. Our first charity has been very excited to work with us and we hope future charities are equally as interested in the program.

By: Internet Business Brokers

Internet Business Brokers — Sun, 04 May 2008 15:59:50 +0000

Tithing as this practice is known is promoted by some of the most well known success coaches in the world – like Anthony Robbins. 5% is a modest amount to donate to a cause that you are passionate about and perhaps ideally relates to the business you are in. Most of the Business gurus state they donate 10% of their profits to charity and they can’t keep up with their continues growth and success – stating that their is literally an unlimited supply of abundance to tap and this is a spiritual maturity one reaches in life that allows for this kind of overt generosity. Deepak Chopra is another motivational author speaker who suggests this. Look at Sir Richard Branson – CEO of Virgin Records, Airlines etc, just stated that all 20% of profits from Virgin Corp will go to invest in Green alternative energy – which is a way to give back to the Earth and the world.
David Fairley

By: Adam McFarland

Adam McFarland — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 11:38:44 +0000

You know what Nev, you gave me an idea. My partners and I were talking yesterday, and one of the things we are all pretty passionate about is education – improving the current systems, ensuring all kids have opportunities, etc. I came up with the idea of doing 5%, but donating it to OUR OWN charity where we focus on giving scholarships to local kids entering technology fields. This way we can have (eventually) various scholarships for different criteria, and we get the satisfaction of choosing the kids we feel deserve the money.

I obviously need to run this by our lawyer and figure a lot of stuff out, but right now I feel a lot better about this idea than the initial idea.

By: Adam McFarland

Adam McFarland — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:41:30 +0000

Wow Nev, you bring up some great points. I don’t look at it as an either-or proposition. For example, my partner Greg brought up having us all doing a “Big Brother Big Sister” type of thing at the local Boys and Girls club and I think that’s a great idea. We’ve also agreed to speak to the web design class at our local high school.

I think we’re going to have to be selective with who we give our money to…possibly even make non-monetary donations (such as food or supplies, or a computer like you said). Either way, I’d still like to see that 5% go into a fund that we use for non-profit ventures.

Thanks for the great comment! You definitely gave me a lot to think about….

By: Nev

Nev — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:10:42 +0000

I personally DO NOT LIKE donating cash to most charities. After doing a lot of charitable work and seeing where a lot of the money goes, I feel you often get less bang for your buck by throwing a check at a charity (obviously this isn’t the case for ALL of them).

I like to see charity giving that “Teaches a man to fish”

Off the top of my head, Pure Adapt could teach some middle schoolers or Boy Scouts how to do minor car detailing and donate the neccessary supplies for a fundraiser. The kids learn something new, get some selling experience and earn the money themselves (that always makes it taste extra sweet). They could theoretically do this weekend after weekend to generate income, as opposed to relying on random handouts. You may have only given a fraction of the money to these kids, but they could generate income whenever they want with their new skills.

One thing I did at my local library was donate a computer. I asked the head librarian and subsequently the main tech guy what they could use…turns out they could ONLY link up Dell Optiplex’s. So I located a used one from the University of Texas and sent it to them. It’s kind of cool when I roll by the library to read the magazines every week to see some kid using that computer…even if they are just watching the Soulja Boy video on YouTube! I started my first business from a computer at my high school, so who knows what can come of it.

Since you’ve got so many tech guys at Pure Adapt, you might even consider re-vamping a non-profit website for pennies or for free. A donation like this could help the charity in many more ways than a check for $1,000 can.

Be creative with it. You of all people know that simply throwing money at a problem doesn’t always make it better…but a little brain power can!