Green Products and the Triple Bottom Line

By Josh Weinstein

The core philosophy of microfinance is the double bottom line. It refers to
the goals of the organization, which are a) to be profitable, and b) to be
socially impactful. But there is another philosophy known as the triple
bottom line, ...

http://joshweinstein.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/green-loans-and-the-triple-bottom-line/

Financial Innovation that is Necessary - Impact Investing

Achieving a double bottom line - making financial gains while also contributing to social or environmental progress - is increasingly the objective of many institutions. Individuals are also interested in putting their money to good use financially in ways that they can feel good about morally, as evidenced in part by the rise of practices like peer to peer lending and microfinance.

But while institutions can make meaningful contributions, individuals are constrained by

Read more at....

http://www.transcapitalist.com/transcapitalist/tag/impact-investing

Dell's Social Innovation Competition - Win $50k

***** This is a great example of a big business partnering with a college to do something great for the Double Bottom Line. If you don't have an idea to submit, you can get involved by going to the site and voting for your favorite. Gina *********

The University of Texas and Dell are looking for college students from around the world who want to improve areas of critical human need through innovation.

Providing a vehicle for taking student innovations from idea to reality, Dell’s Social Innovation Competition is a real-world exercise for perfecting your skills in:

• Project/business plan development
• Pitching ideas to investors
• Building resource networks

Do you have groundbreaking idea in mind? With your fortitude and personality, can you mobilize people and resources to affect wide-ranging, scalable social change? If so, we invite you to register now.

Not an entrant? No problem.

You can still have your voice heard by checking out the ideas submitted and voting on those the ones you like the most Vote now. You can vote once on each idea during each round of voting.

See full post at: http://www.dellsocialinnovationcompetition.com/

Disney And SouthWest Airlines - The Double Bottom Line in Action

This is a great example of the Double Bottom Line in Action:

Do you know someone whose volunteerism is making a difference in your community? Tell us who and they could win a Walt Disney World� Vacation for four � and you could too! Imagine flying on an elephant, sailing with pirates and racing through outer space on the Celebration Vacation of your dreams from Southwest Airlines!

http://www.southwest.com/giving/

Using Mobile to Donate in Time of Need

Chris Brogan at New Marketing Labs brings Robert Collin's article and quick podcast about how "digital fundraising" is making it easier for people around the world to raise money for good causes. This is a great example of the Double Bottom Line at work.

"...a host of initiatives in digital fundraising have emerged. This 60-second podcast showcases examples of mobile giving, social network philanthropy, online gaming for charity, and canvassing through text messaging. etc."

What do you think?

http://newmarketinglabs.com/blog/2010/01/using-mobile-to-donate-in-a-time-of-need.html

Coca-Cola Helps Boys & Girls Clubs of America for over 64 Years

Share a virtual Coke and help the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

http://www.facebook.com/cocacola?v=app_279422661816&ref=search

Project Give Back - Charity Begins at home

Project Give Back

Providing Non-Profits with a Source of Continual Donations

We have all heard the saying: charity begins at home. But often, charity can also begin at work. In fact, studies show that charities rely on businesses for the majority of their support. With that, one hopes that every business will come to a point where they recognize that it is time to give something back to the community for the success they have been able to achieve.

For Priority Payment Systems, that time came approximately three years after launching its bank card processing company in Alpharetta. John V. Priore, president and CEO of Priority Payment Systems, established the company in 2005 with several senior executives who have more than 100 years of combined industry experience. The company’s goal was to provide lower costs, along with exceptional service, to its bank card processing customers. With a record of outstanding performance that currently places Priority Payment Systems in the top 70 of all credit card processors in the country, the company indeed has a lot for which to be thankful.

"We always knew we wanted to do something for our community when the time was right. Project Give Back evolved from the great response we received in the marketplace and the opportunity we saw within our business model," says John Priore. The opportunity that Priority saw was to launch a program that enabled both the company and its business customers to give back to the community.

Project Give Back provides an innovative partnership opportunity for foundations, charities, and other non-profit organizations to join with Priority to create a totally new way to generate the contributions needed to support their missions. "We all know how challenging it is for charitable organizations to fund their work, especially in these uncertain economic times," adds John. "With Project Give Back, we believe we can provide another avenue for non-profit organizations to generate funds that does not impact any of the existing channels, while also benefiting the businesses that participate by reducing their credit card processing expenses."

So, how does Project Give Back work?

Almost every business today accepts credit cards as a form of payment for their products or services. Priority provides the services and systems that companies need to process payments from all major credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover, as well as check payments. John believes that Priority’s wide-range of payment options, advanced point-of-sale solutions, and superior customer service are the primary reasons the company has achieved such remarkable success.

Project Give Back offers charitable organizations the opportunity to generate contributions from their business patrons at no cost to their organization. All Priority needs to get started is the organization’s endorsement to offer Priority’s payment processing services to their business donors and Priority will do the rest. In turn, the charity will receive a percentage of Priority’s profits on a monthly, recurring basis for all referred patrons that select Priority’s services—providing a new, ongoing stream of donations in support of the charity’s mission.

A partnership with Priority offers considerable benefits to both the foundation and its business patrons. The foundation can establish a new, no-cost channel—and continual donations—for its fundraising efforts while extending the value it provides to its patrons. Participating business patrons can improve their payment processing service levels and reduce operating costs, while also contributing to their favorite foundation at no additional expense. "This is a classic situation where everybody wins," John explains. "All we need is the opportunity to work with a foundation, and we will be able to show what our team at Priority is capable of doing. We are very confident in our abilities to help organizations generate additional funds for their causes."

Project Give Back can also deliver positive rewards to a company’s employees. An employee can receive a sense of accomplishment from contributing to a worthy cause while at the same time doing their job. "Project Give Back is one of the main reasons I like working at Priority," says Lori Chittenden, who works in the underwriting department. "Priority’s Project Give Back allows me to do my job for the company, and at the same time, benefit charitable organizations that are doing great things within their communities." John adds, "I believe Project Give Back’s impact on our company will be larger than the role we play with our foundation partners. I want this program to be a fundamental part of our culture; for everyone to realize all of us can do something to help those in need; and that Priority is playing an important part in that process."

So how can your organization get started? Contact Priority Payment Systems located at 2001 Westside Parkway, Suite 155, in Alpharetta, 30004, or call (866) 582-8796 and ask for the Project Give Back team. You can also e-mail an inquiry to projectgiveback@prioritypaymentsystems.com.

For more information on Priority Payment Systems, visit www.prioritypaymentsystems.com.