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Giving Your One Percent for the Planet
In 2001 Yvon Chouinard and Craig Matthews the founder of Patagonia and Blue Ribbon Flies respectively created One percent for the Planet, an initiative where companies pledge to give 1% of gross revenues to environmental causes. 1% now has over 1,243 businesses in 29 countries and has contributed over $30 Million so far to over 1500 environmental organisations across the globe.
In 2004 international singer song writer, surfer, photographer, film maker and environmentalist Jack Johnson and his Bushfire Record label became the 50th and 51st members of 1% for the planet. When Jack released “In Between Dreams”, in 2005, he did so with the 1% logo and this gave 1% a truly international reach unlike anything they had experienced before.
As mentioned in my previous post on the fishing industry grass roots organisations are perfectly suited to embraced social media and 1% for the planet is no different. They are utilising the principles of Social Media to promote their message:
- People not consumers
- Social agenda not business agenda
- Continuous conversation not campaigning
- Long term impacts not quick fixes
- Marketing with people not to people
- Being authentic not persuasive
- Perpetual beta
- Technology changes, people don’t
- Change will never be this slow again
- Measurement and evaluate your social media strategy and activities
Here are a few examples of 1% embracing Social Media through Vimeo and YouTube, Twitter, Pitch Engine the Social Media Press Release service, Myspace and Facebook.
1% for the planet’s company’s ethos allows them to create fantastic content of their own whilst allowing followers and fans to get involved too. Because of the founders forward thinking 1% of the planet is in a perfect position to embrace Social Media and because of the passion of their supporters/members they are able to take their involvement beyond that of most organisations.
They are using the passion and the enthusiasm of their members/supporters and activists across the globe to integrate their online and offline communications in order to get the message out to as many people as possible.
This is a an organisation trying to make a difference to the world we live in and according to the Chouinard it wont even cost us a penny (from a companies perspective).
If you care about the world we live in then it seems a no-brainer to get involved by supporting the member companies.
Nice Picture thanks to Ktylerconk on Flickr.
