HOW DO YOU BUDGET FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY?
Edmonton entrepreneurs balance good deeds with the bottom line
“We look for charities and organizations that reduce barriers to access and others that strive to improve the community in which they are involved — this may be through increasing engagement of the recipients or increasing the service offering of a facility. The amounts are based on historical giving and the size of our local operations.” Ron Hynes, marketing manager, Mammoet Canada Western Ltd., mammoet.com
“You want to try and switch the mindset from thinking that being socially responsible costs money and actually start thinking about the fact that if you’re making good choices — doing right action will more likely result in right returns.” Christy Benoit, co-founder, Mosaic Family of Companies, mosaicfamily.ca “Our budget for social responsibility is built into our business model. We automatically share 10 per cent of our profits with charities doing wonderful work in our communities. This is a pillar of our business, and will allow our community contributions to grow as our business does.” Kris Kasawski, principal of Park Power, parkpower.ca “Since social and environmental responsibility is core to our store, and myself personally, we don’t have a budget line for it. We just do it. When we see the community needs resources we create the resources. We try and make everything work.” Michael Kalmanovitch, owner of Earth’s General Store, earthsgeneralstore.ca “I haven’t budgeted for social responsibility in the conventional way but when I tell people that I redesign jewelry, they want to donate to me. I create a new piece with their jewelry, displaying their name along with it, and then donate the piece to a fundraiser of their choice which is a win-win.” Shirley Zago, founder of G&G Designs, fb.com/redesignedjewellery “Corporate social responsibility initiatives in which organizations donate time and money to community causes are a great start. For some companies, these initiatives and sustainable business is the fundamental approach to how the venture arranges its core activities. Companies may operate by adopting internationally approved sustainability standards. They may also seek certified B Corp status, which provides them with the opportunity to solve social and environmental goals while also achieving profits — a triple bottom line focus.” Gordon Lucyk, associate dean, students, MacEwan University School of Business, macewan.ca “We aim to donate at least two per cent of our annual sales to charity and community groups who are actively making a difference in Edmonton. We further support these and other non-profit organizations/charities by providing discounts when they require security services, often for events or their daily operation facilities. In emergencies, we have provided no-charge security to those most in need. We believe in and support ‘green’ and ‘buy local’ initiatives for our community.” Conrad Erbes, CEO, CE Security & Consulting Inc., cesecurity.ca “Easy! We have team members that volunteer their expertise in coaching hours to help build not-for-profit leadership teams. We also choose charities to support at the holidays and donate our Christmas card budget to local charities. We send an electronic message to our clients instead, letting them know which local charities we have supported throughout the year.” Michelle Devlin, owner, Creating People Power, creatingpeoplepower.ca “I provide financial support to a few key causes that I am really passionate about through monthly giving, which allows for consistency both from my budgetary perspective as well as for the receiving organization’s. Beyond financial donations, volunteerism allows me to support many social projects at a grassroots level. Building group enthusiasm to support projects, such as blood donor clinics, is a great way for time and results to be maximized.” Leanne Brownoff, business consultant, Leanne Brownoff Consulting, leannebrownoff.com