When all live sporting and entertainment events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Anheuser-Busch made the decision to redirect sponsorship dollars to nonprofit partners including the American Red Cross.

One of the greatest needs in the country right now is blood donations, which have fallen off sharply in recent weeks due to stay-at-home orders and the difficulty of social distancing while donating blood.

In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan speaks with Adam Warrington, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility for Anheuser-Busch who shares the story of how the company leveraged its available assets to help mitigate the blood donation crisis in partnership with the American Red Cross and what else they're doing both corporately and at the brand level to support their employees and communities around the globe.
Links & Notes

• Anheuser-Busch COVID-19 Response Page
• Budweiser ‘One Team’ Video

• (00:00) - Welcome to Cause Talk Radio

The COVID-19 pandemic has closed schools and sent 55 million children home, leaving a huge education gap as well as creating hunger issues for a significant number of them.

In response, celebrities Jennifer Garner and Amy Adams decided on a Friday evening they wanted to do something to support children out of school, Save the Children sprung into action and partnered with No Kid Hungry to create a campaign called "SaveWithStories" which now features 150 celebrities reading books to children online.

Perry Yeatman is Save the Children's Head of Corporate Partnerships and Megan’s guest in this episode of Cause Talk Radio.

Perry and Megan talk about this incredible campaign, as well as what's happening with Save's corporate partnerships and how the organization has ramped up to respond to COVID-19 both in the US and abroad.

Links & Notes

• #SaveWithStories
• SC Johnson and Save The Children New Partner Release
• Save the Children’s LinkedIn Page

• (00:00) - Welcome to Cause Talk Radio

Rosabeth Moss Kanter holds the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professorship at Harvard Business School, specializing in strategy, innovation, and leadership for change and is Megan’s guest in this episode of Cause Talk Radio. Professor Kanter co-founded the Harvard University-wide Advanced Leadership Initiative, guiding its planning from 2005 to its launch in 2008 and serving as Founding Chair and Director from 2008-2018.

Author or co-author of 20 books, her latest book is Think Outside the Building: How Advanced Leaders Can Change the World One Smart Innovation at a Time which is the subject of the conversation in this episode.

Megan and Professor Kanter discuss how individuals can break through the status quo of established organizations to create bold and innovative systems change that make a meaningful impact in the world, how to influence without authority and where people most frequently get stuck in their efforts to make meaningful change.

This episode is sponsored by Audible. Get your free audiobook and start your 30-day trial today!

Links & Notes

• Think Outside the Building on Amazon (affiliate link)
• Think Outside the Building on Audible — Get it for FREE with an Audible trial
• Follow Rosabeth Kanter on Twitter
• About Rosabeth Moss Kanter — Harvard Business School

• (00:00) - Welcome to Cause Talk Radio

In this episode, Megan talks to regular guest Joe Waters (SelfishGiving.com) about all things related to the COVID-19 pandemic: how Joe is counseling nonprofit organizations to up their game when it comes to creating a digital following, helpful resources they’ve seen in the social impact space and last but definitely not least the things that are keeping them both sane during this challenging time.

• (00:00) - Welcome to Cause Talk Radio

Habitat for Humanity International is Engage for Good’s Golden Halo Award Winner for Nonprofits this year, honored for their excellent work with corporate partners, particularly through their ‘Home Is the Key” signature cause initiative started 4 years ago.

In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan interviews Habitat’s CEO Jonathan Reckford first about how they’re responding to and impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and then about their corporate partner journey, how Habitat measures meaningful outcomes and the evolution in corporate partners Jonathan has personally witnessed from CSR 1.0 to ESG.

Links & Notes

• Habitat for Humanity International Website
• Habitat for Humanity on Twitter

• (00:00) - This is Cause Talk Radio

The COVID-19 Global Pandemic has taken us all by surprise and left many of us feeling helpless and uncertain. Those of us with events have to make particularly hard decisions.

In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan chats with Chris Baylis of The Sponsorship Collective who has some tips for you to consider when it comes to event sponsorship and a decision-making framework as you contemplate whether to cancel, postpone or continue with your events.

Links & Notes

• Chris Baylis Blog Post And Video on COVID-19 Events
• Chris Baylis on LinkedIn
• Chris Baylis on Twitter

• (00:00) - Welcome to Cause Talk Radio

Did you know that most toothpaste tubes are made from plastic and aluminum, making them impossible to recycle? It took five years of development but Colgate thinks it's finally come up with a solution in the form of its Smile for Good toothpaste tube made from high density polyethylene (HDPE) -the same plastic used for making milk jugs.

In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan talks to Ann Tracy, VP of Safety, Sustainability and Supply Chain Strategy at Colgate about their new recyclable tube, how Colgate is open to sharing their new technology with the industry and how consumer behavior is a big part of this equation. Megan and Ann also discuss some of Colgate's other sustainability initiatives including their efforts around water conservation.

Links & Notes

• Colgate’s Sustainability Page
• Colgate on LinkedIn

• (00:00) - This is Cause Talk Radio

Millions of kids in the United States do not have fundamental school supplies to learn and be successful. This affects not only their school work — it affects their confidence. So teachers step in and spend their own money to make sure students can learn. On average, teachers spend $560 out of their own pockets to support their students each year.

In this episode of Cause Talk Radio Megan talks to Ido Leffler, Founder of Yoobi, a social enterprise company that makes beautiful school supplies sold in retailers like Target, Walmart and Costco and also gives back. For every Yoobi item purchased, the company donates a school supply item to a child in need in the U.S. in partnership with the Kids In Need Foundation.

Ido and Megan chat about their incredible success as a social enterprise in a competitive and constantly changing retail environment, how they've successfully scaled the company, why design is so critical and how they measure impact.

Links & Notes

• Yoobi Website
• Yoobi on Instagram
• Ido Leffler on LinkedIn

• (00:00) - Welcome to Cause Talk Radio

Launched in November, Zappos’ Goods for Good is a one-stop shopping platform that aims to provide conscious consumers with a place they can shop their values.

In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan talks with Anna Copilevitz, Charity Buyer & Project Manager at Zappos about this new platform that curates a wide variety of purpose-focused products, from vegan items to those that give back.

Megan and Anna discuss whether there was internal infighting between the cause areas (there wasn’t) and why Zappos decided to go wide instead of deep on making purpose-products accessible to as many customers as possible. While it’s still early days, we learn that the sustainability-focused brands seem to have hit a particular positive nerve among customers and employees.

The two also talk about why Zappos made the decision to incorporate purpose into their bread and butter (their products!) through Goods for Good, how they’re integrating storytelling into the platform and Anna’s vision for the future of purpose at Zappos.

Links & Notes

• Zappos Goods for Good

• (00:00) - Welcome to Cause Talk Radio

In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan chats with monthly guest Joe Waters of SelfishGiving.com for The Joe Show!

The duo discusses this year’s Halo Finalists (just announced!), the new social impact book club (there’s still time to join us), Carol Cone’s new B2B purpose research and Jeff Bezos’s whopping $10 billion donation to combat global warming and more!

Links & Notes

• Halo Award Finalists
• Carol Cone B2B Research
• From Generosity To Justice (Social Impact Book Club Book)
• Jeff Bezos’ $10 Billion Donation (WIRED)

• (00:00) - Welcome to Cause Talk Radio: The Joe Show!