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Social Consciousness goes Mainstream
Helping Companies Engage their Stakeholders
The Benevity Solution
How Benevity is Used
Benefits for Companies Implementing Benevity
For More Information

Social Consciousness goes Mainstream

Doing well by doing good: it’s not just a corporate catch phrase or nice-to-do anymore, it’s a must do for a growing number of businesses. With Pepsi cancelling its 23 year stint of Super Bowl commercials to instead invest $20 million in a philanthropic social media project, it is safe to say that social responsibility has gone mainstream. A growing number of consumers expect businesses to not only “do good” but to provide opportunities for them to give back to causes that resonate with them. And to be more open, innovative and collaborative about how they do it. Cone Research found that 88% of millennial consumers (aged 18-24 years) and 79% of all consumers would switch from one brand to another (all else being more or less equal) if the other brand was associated with a good cause. (Source: 2008 Cone Cause Evolution Study). Furthermore, a 2009 Edelman study found that 61% of consumers have bought a brand that supports a good cause even if it wasn’t the cheapest brand. (Source: 2009 Global Edelman Good Purpose Study). Employees also want to work for companies that care. Cone Research found that 79% of people would also prefer to work for a socially responsible company (Source: Cone Millennial Cause Study 2006) and 79% of employees think it’s important that their companies match their giving. (Source: 2008 Cone Cause Evolution Study). In today’s climate where companies have a growing need to deliver authentic social responsibility and community investment programs, and where individuals feel more strongly about supporting worthy causes with micro-donations, Benevity offers a powerful and incremental way for corporations to make a difference.

Helping Companies Engage their Stakeholders

Benevity’s microdonation software is the engine for socially responsible businesses to engage their customers, employees and others (such as their supply chain or advertisers) in optional charitable giving. Benevity lets companies embed user-directed, tax-receiptable donations and corporate matching programs into their existing transaction environments, using their own brands and systems. Benevity makes it easy for companies to build authentic and impactful cause marketing, workplace giving and other social responsibility initiatives that increase engagement, brand differentiation and return on investment, while tying directly to business activities that drive the company’s bottom line. Benevity’s goal is to help build user-driven giving opportunities into all types of existing online interactions to involve customers and employees in giving to causes they care about; building greater loyalty, differentiation and customer and employee stickiness. Benevity wants to help companies and their customers, employees and partners turn “feel good” into real good, and change the landscape of philanthropy in the process.

The Benevity Solution

Built from the ground up to integrate easily into existing applications and online environments, most typically financial account interfaces, e-commerce stores, loyalty programs, workplace giving or HR intranets, event ticketing, etc.
Enables user-directed, receiptable charitable donations to all or any subset of the registered charities in Canada and/or the US to made part of an existing customer, employee or supplier transaction or process
Features the creation of “Personal Foundations”, as well as real time donation matching programs, customized portfolios of charities, charity selection, funds transfer to charities, charitable gift card functionality, and brandable electronic receipting

How Benevity is Used

Benevity can power an initiative that has charitable giving as part of its goal. Some main applications are:

E-Commerce
Promote product sales with socially responsible charitable donation incentives
Benevity platform integrated into e-commerce engine
Workplace Giving
Centralized donation management by payroll deduction and personal foundation capabilities
Benevity platform embedded inside employee intranet or HR application
Donation Management (For Financial Services or Bill Payment Interfaces)
Centralized donation management and personal foundation capabilities
Benevity platform embedded inside online banking, bill payment or customer profile interface
Charitable Gift Cards
Purchase of a donation on behalf of a card recipient who selects charitable donee
Recipient of gift represents new conversion opportunity
Employee Gift Cards
Purchase of a donation on behalf of a gift recipient who selects charitable donee
Benevity platform embedded into employer site
Loyalty Redemption
Convert loyalty points into a receiptable donation to charity of choice
Benevity platform is easily embedded inside existing redemption application

Benefits for Companies Implementing Benevity

Differentiate from competitors on the basis of social responsibility
Increase loyalty, retention and engagement by enabling customers, employees and partners to bring causes they care about into existing business interactions
Embed social responsibility into core business activities in a tangible, measureable way
Enable authentic, unique public relations and marketing campaigns
Create additional revenue streams

For More Infomation

To view our short video, go to www.benevity.org/Goodness3.0 To find out more or to request a meeting or demo, please visit us at www.benevity.org or email us at info@benevity.org

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[Did you know...]

The importance of CSR is increasing in the minds of CEOs. When asked to indicate how high a priority CSR was to their companies, 56% stated it was high or very high, compared to only 34% three years ago. The expectation of respondents is for even greater priority in the future: 69% of surveyed CEOs project that it will be a high or very high priority three years from now.

Global Business Barometer, survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit on behalf of the Economist, online survey conducted Nov-Dec 2007
That American Express began the first “embedded giving” campaign in 1983, for the Statue of Liberty restoration project. By donating a penny to the project for every cardholder purchase, the company raised $1.7 million. (Incidentally, American Express card use increased 27%, and card applications rose 45%).
Based on a McKinsey study of corporate executives from around the world, 84% believe that society expects a much more active role in environmental, social and political issues than it did five years ago.
When asked about barriers to supporting charities and non-profits, the top reasons cited included not being asked, not liking the way donation requests were being made, and not knowing how to give.

Corporate Social Responsibility Review Autumn 2007, The Conference Board of Canada.
Implementing the Benevity platform can improve a company's ability to attract and retain key employees. Talented personnel weigh a company's CSR policies among other factors when deciding where to work, and how long to stay there. In recent surveys of corporate employees, a consistent 8 out of 10 report being more motivated and loyal the more socially responsible a company becomes.

Corporate Social Responsibility Review, The Conference Board of Canada, Autumn 2007.
Making Benevity a part of your coherent responsible business strategy will improve your reputation in the marketplace. A Globescan study that asked respondents in 1999 and again in 2005 about the factors most influencing their impressions of companies, showed that in the latter year consumers were much more likely to volunteer corporate social responsibility factors, putting these factors well ahead of brand image.
Integrating Benevity's functionality into your systems can protect against future reputational incidents. A Weber Shandwick survey of CEOs in eleven countries found that 79% of respondents thought a strong corporate social responsibility record enables a company to recover faster post-crisis.
Weaving Benevity into your customer-facing processes can increase sales, market share and customer loyalty. A 2006 study by the Calvert Group said consumers were 77% more likely to buy a product or service from a company that is socially responsible, and 71% more likely to buy the stock of such a company. A 2006 poll by Cone Inc., a marketing agency in Boston, reported 89% of Americans between 13 and 25 would switch from one brand to another associated with a "good cause", if products and prices were comparable.
Traditionally, charities have relied on a small support base to survive. The top one-quarter of donors provided 82% of the value of all donations and the top 10% accounted for 62% of all donations.

Caring Canadians, Involved Canadians: Highlights from the 2004 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating, Statistics Canada, June 2006).
Individuals are a huge part of the philanthropic puzzle. Of the $300 Billion given to non-profits in the U.S. in 2007, only 5.1% came from corporations and their Foundations. Canada's percentages are comparable.

Analysis conducted by "Giving USA", 2007.
Online is the place people want to be: Although still less than 3% of total giving, online giving is growing exponentially; from $250 million in 2000 to more than $6.9 Billion in 2006

e-Philanthropy Report
Online donors contribute more: They give in total (both online and offline) more than 50% more than donors who do not give online

Kinterra/Luth Nonprofit Trend Report.
Easy = Effective: In the January 2008 Keystone Report of online philanthropy markets, 92% of respondents cited convenience as the reason they choose to give online.
Matching programs increase total donations: The existence of a matching gift increases total donation response rates by more than 20%

Analysis conducted by Giving USA, 2007.

Benevity - Enabling Corporate Social Responsibility