New software apps are making it easier for individuals and businesses to donate to charities and to know the difference their donations are making.

 

In this episode I interview the founder of one of these companies, Iskren Kulev from Kindlink, It was lovely to hear his passion and desire to make it easier for businesses to provide more support to charities.

 

During our conversation we discuss:

• How charitable giving can be a reflection of what a business stands for
  
  
• Viktor E. Frankl’s book Mans Search for Meaning which gives great insights into how to connect to your purpose and a cause greater than yourself. 
  
  
• The role technology is playing in the development of business giving.
  
  
• How Kindlink connects businesses with charities so each party can clearly see the good they are doing in the world, and can easily share this with others.
  
  
• The different needs of SMEs versus large corporates when it comes to measuring and demonstrating impact.  

 

About Iskren:     Iskren's career starts within the financial services at an online payment provider - Paysafe Group and continues through the mPOS space with one of the hottest FinTech start-ups in the UK - iZettle.     With this experience and an MBA from one of the top 5 UK business schools, he is now one of the founders of KindLink - the social network with purpose.     Iskren's Links:   Website Facebook LinkedIn Twitter     Give-to-Profit Resources:     Give-to-Profit Website Community Give-to-Profit Fundraising Challenge   Give-to-Profit book: Amazon UK Amazon US The Book Depository Facebook     Follow Alisoun Mackenzie:     Website TEDx talk Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Heartatude Book       © Alisoun Mackenzie 2018  

 

Bruce Walker, Co-Founder of Future X, has been Redefining the Role of Business since embarking upon his entrepreneurial journey while at school.

 

Tune in to discover how we can all learn from the innovation and innocence youth plus how purpose can play a strategic role in the growth of a business. 

 

During our conversations we discuss:  

• How values and purpose can form a core part of business strategy.
  
  
• The natural qualities of a entrepreneur.
  
  
• The momentum and results you can get when you ask for help.
  
  
• When you have a message others will buy into people start opening doors for you. 
  
  
• The increasing need for business transparency and collaboration.

 

About Bruce:

 

FutureX is on a mission to redefine the role of business.   In 2011 Bruce started his first business, WeAreTheFuture aged 17 from a high school classroom in Scotland, with a mission to inspire and connect entrepreneurs from around the world.   Over five years they worked with over 5,000 entrepreneurs delivering global summits and programmes in Edinburgh, London, Berlin, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Shenzhen, partnering with global brands.   In 2017, aged 23 Bruce co-founded FutureX with a mission to redefine the role of business.   FutureX are working with purpose driven entrepreneurs, corporates and governments to create scaleable and profitable businesses, that make values and purpose a core part of their growth strategy.     Bruces's Links:     Name of Business: FutureX Start Up Summit Website LinkedIn Twitter Instagram       Give-to-Profit Resources:     Give-to-Profit Website Community Give-to-Profit Fundraising Challenge   Give-to-Profit book: Amazon UK Amazon US The Book Depository Facebook     Follow Alisoun Mackenzie:     Website TEDx talk Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Heartatude Book       © Alisoun Mackenzie 2018

 

Technology is making it easier for small businesses to embed fundraising and activities into every day business activities.

 

In this episode I interview Danny Witter from Work for Good that makes it easy and compelling for small businesses to give to causes.

 

During our conversation Danny shares:

 

• Examples of how small businesses are introducing giving into their business and sharing their giving stories
• How the Work for Good App helps small businesses overcome practical impediments to supporting causes (e.g. automating the creation of cause marketing agreements) and enables businesses to tell their giving story more easily
  
• The mission drift between businesses wanting to do good versus other business priorities
  
• How embedding charitable giving and talking about it enables businesses to have more impact
  
• The benefits of incorporating a giving pledge into your business from day one
  
• It's never to early to give, no amount is too small to give...

 

About Danny:

 

Danny spent 25 years in the City of London, the last 17 at Deutsche Bank where he ran coverage of FTSE100 corporate clients.

 

He was also Chair of the UK Corporate Citizenship Committee.

 

His non-executive directorships include Shakespeare’s Globe, The Microloan Foundation, Shape History and Ivy House Learning.

 

Danny's Links:   Website: https://workforgood.co.uk   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/10519500   Twitter: https://twitter.com/workfor_good   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorkForGoodUK   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workforgooduk/

 

Give-to-Profit Resources   Give-to-Profit Website - http://www.givetoprofit.com Community - https://www.heartabiz.com/p/Give-to-Profit-Community Give-to-Profit Fundraising Challenge - https://www.heartabiz.com/p/G2Pfundraisingchallenge Give-to-Profit book: Amazon UK - http://bit.ly/givetoprofituk Amazon US - http://bit.ly/givetoprofitus The Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/Give-Profit-Alisoun-Mackenzie/9780993075223?ref=grid-view&qid=1496676035747&sr=1-1 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/givetoprofit/     Follow Alisoun Mackenzie   Website - https://www.alisoun.com TEDx talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPX2msa-p3c Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/alisounbusiness/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlisounMac / @AlisounMac LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisounmackenzie/ Heartatude Book - http://bit.ly/heartatude     © Alisoun Mackenzie 2018

 

Increasingly doing good is no longer good enough when it comes to consumer, staff and investor expectations about the role of business.

 

In this podcast episode I share: 

 

• Why it's important for businesses of all sizes to stand for something
  
  
• 5 steps for becoming known as a brand that cares
  
  
• How to get clear on what your business stands for and define your social impact statement
  
  
• The importance of taking visible action aligned to what you say you stand for
  
  
• How the UN Global Goals can be a good framework to help with this

 

Give-to-Profit Resources Website Community Business for Good Conference Give-to-Profit Fundraising Challenge   Give-to-Profit book: Amazon UK Amazon US The Book Depository Facebook   Follow Alisoun Mackenzie Website TEDx talk Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Heartatude Book     © Alisoun Mackenzie 2018

 

 

Cause marketing campaigns often start out with good intentions but don't always have intended impact.

 

In this episode I interview Nada Fornier who developed some of the most successful global cause marketing campaigns with Proctor and Gamble.

 

During our conversation we discuss:

• The importance of seeking to understand the reality of those you intend to help through your charitable giving
• What to consider when selecting a charitable partner
• Differences in working practices, priorities and desired outcomes of business and causes
• How to build trust with partners and stakeholders
• The key components of a successful cause marketing campaign
• The benefits of partnering with businesses, from the perspective of causes.

 

This episode is packed with examples of campaigns and stories of people on the ground who have 'benefited' from them.

 

About Nada:     One of Nada’s biggest achievements was to develop the global Pampers UNICEF partnership, P&G biggest cause marketing campaign that helped build the Pampers brand equity and business for over 11 years and has been recognized as one of the best global cause marketing programs and set as a business case study by Oxford University. The campaign has also won many awards and was presented at the Clinton Global Initiative as well as World Economic Forum as an example of « doing well while doing good.     Nada was featured as one of the most successful Arab women in a book entitled Domains of Influence by Jacqueline Hassink .    Nada has also been featured in the book  “Leading with Care:  How Women Around the World Are Inspiring Businesses, Empowering Communities, and Creating Opportunity” authored by Mary Cantando. Nada was featured in Oxford case study for public private partnerships done by Said business School and recently in the “Path to Purpose” book by Carolyn Butler Madden.     Nada's links: LinkedIn     Give-to-Profit Resources   Give-to-Profit Website Community Give-to-Profit Fundraising Challenge   Give-to-Profit book: Amazon UK Amazon US The Book Depository Facebook     Follow Alisoun Mackenzie   Website TEDx talk Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Heartatude Book     © Alisoun Mackenzie 2018

Listen to the audio version of the TEDx talk Alisoun delivered in February 2018. During this talk Alisoun shares how the work she did with young genocide survivors in Rwanda, and the fundraising she did for her humanitarian trips changed her life AND inspired the Give-to-Profit business model.   You can watch the TEDx talk here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPX2msa-p3c   Give-to-Profit Resources   Give-to-Profit   Website - http://www.givetoprofit.com Community - https://www.heartabiz.com/p/Give-to-Profit-Community Give-to-Profit book: Amazon UK - http://bit.ly/givetoprofituk Amazon US - http://bit.ly/givetoprofitus The Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/Give-Profit-Alisoun-Mackenzie/9780993075223?ref=grid-view&qid=1496676035747&sr=1-1 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/givetoprofit/   Follow Alisoun Mackenzie   TEDx talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPX2msa-p3c Website - https://www.alisoun.com Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/alisounbusiness/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlisounMac / @AlisounMac LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisounmackenzie/ Heartatude Book - http://bit.ly/heartatude   © Alisoun Mackenzie 2018

The scope of your impact depends on how influential you are.   In this episode, I have an enlightening conversation with one of the world’s leading experts on entrepreneurship and business giving: Daniel Priestley.   During our conversation we discuss:  

• The part of the brain where entrepreneurship happens
• The importance of focusing on outcomes rather than the functionality of your business
• Traits of successful entrepreneurs versus behaviours that trip others up
• How the success of your business is dependent upon the success of society 
• The difference between building emotional partnerships with causes rather than making transactional donations
• How the UN Global goals make it easy for you to step into fulfilling your life purpose
• Numerous ways to support and partner with causes

 

About Daniel:   Daniel is one of the co-founders of Dent Global which runs a 9-month growth accelerator programme for small enterprises, working with over 500+ entrepreneurs each year to develop their businesses. He started out as an entrepreneur at age 21 and built a multi-million dollar event, marketing and management business before the age of 25.   A successful entrepreneur, international speaker and best-selling author of 4 books, Daniel has built and sold businesses in Australia, Singapore and the UK. He also uses campaigns to help raise up to $100,000 for charity each year. His books are: Key Person of Influence, Entrepreneur Revolution, Oversubscribed and 24 Assets.    Daniel's Links:   DENT Global: https://www.dent.global/ Key Personal of Influence: http://www.keypersonofinfluence.com/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/keypersonofinfluence LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielpriestley/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/KPImethod Books - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Daniel-Priestley/e/B00699HDBA B1G1 - https://www.b1g1.com/   Give-to-Profit Resources   Give-to-Profit Website - http://www.givetoprofit.com Community - https://www.heartabiz.com/p/Give-to-Profit-Community Give-to-Profit Fundraising Challenge - https://www.heartabiz.com/p/G2Pfundraisingchallenge Give-to-Profit book: Amazon UK - http://bit.ly/givetoprofituk Amazon US - http://bit.ly/givetoprofitus The Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/Give-Profit-Alisoun-Mackenzie/9780993075223?ref=grid-view&qid=1496676035747&sr=1-1 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/givetoprofit/   Follow Alisoun Mackenzie   Website - https://www.alisoun.com TEDx talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPX2msa-p3c Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/alisounbusiness/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlisounMac / @AlisounMac LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisounmackenzie/ Heartatude Book - http://bit.ly/heartatude   © Alisoun Mackenzie 2018

 

One of the most common questions people ask is whether charitable giving is good for business. In this show Alisoun Mackenzie shares the strong business case for commercial businesses of all sizes to embrace social impact and charitable giving.

During this episode Alisoun shares:  

• 3 reasons it's taking so long for micro and SME businesses to accept charitable giving is good for business
• Research that proves focusing on impact and charitable giving can increase profits
• How the UN Global goals are a useful framework for businesses who want to do good in the world

You can check out the full show notes at http://alisoun.com/e027

 

Give-to-Profit Links   Website - http://www.givetoprofit.com Give-to-Profit book: Amazon UK - http://bit.ly/givetoprofituk Amazon US - http://bit.ly/givetoprofitus The Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/Give-Profit-Alisoun-Mackenzie/9780993075223?ref=grid-view&qid=1496676035747&sr=1-1 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/givetoprofit/   Follow Alisoun Mackenzie Website - https://www.alisoun.com Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/alisounbusiness/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlisounMac / @AlisounMac LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisounmackenzie/ Heartatude Book - http://bit.ly/heartatude   Other resources: The UN Global Goals - https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/   © Alisoun Mackenzie 2018

As the distinction between businesses and social enterprises is becomes increasingly blurred all sorts of opportunities are emerging for businesses to tackle social problems.

In this episode, I interview Thomas Gillan who is the Chief Officer for Finance and Strategy at Social Investment Scotland. During our conversation, we discuss various aspects of putting the 'social' into business including:

• The role of businesses versus social enterprises in solving social problems
• How measuring the success of a business is evolving to include measuring social impact
• The potential for businesses to define and formalise their social impact pledge
• The scope of social investment funds and providing finance to social enterprises
• Examples of businesses that put social impact at the core of their business.

You can check out the full show notes at http://alisoun.com/e026

 

In this episode I interview one of the co-founders of a social enterprise called Social Bite, Alice Thompson. Social Bite may have started out as a socially conscious cafe but in only six years it's evolved into a pioneering social enterprise that's committed to eliminating homelessness in Scotland. Its a cause I've been supporting for years and is an excellent example of how a business can be a force for good.

 

During our conversation we discuss:

- The evolution of Social Bite from a cafe to an organisation leading how Scotland is now tackling homelessness

- The value of responding to the needs of those in front you and having this influence the scope of a business

- How Social Bite balances income generation with supporting homeless people

- Ways businesses of all sizes have supported and contributed to their growth

- How having a social purpose can make it easier to win business relative to competitors

- How they secured George Clooney, Leonardo De Caprio plus Harry and Megan as supporter of their work

 

About Alice:

Alice is the Co-Founder & Director of Social Bite. Her journey to creating Social Bite and the fascinating events that have followed are nothing short of bold and refreshing.

Now, in 2018 Social Bite is on a mission to end homelessness in Scotland, using the tried & tested Housing First model by funding the UK's largest ever Housing First programme (The 800 Home Campaign), and lobbying Parliament to adopt this as policy.

Social Bite believes in a Scotland where homelessness is no longer a part of our society. This year Alice accepts an Honorary Degree of Doctorate from Queen Margaret University in recognition of her significant contribution to public service.

 

Alice's Links:

Website - http://social-bite.co.uk/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/SocialBite_ or https://twitter.com/AliceThommo

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/socialbitebusiness/

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-thompson-76062876/

 

Give-to-Profit Resources

 

Give-to-Profit

Fundraising Challenge - https://www.heartabiz.com/p/G2Pfundraisingchallenge

Website - http://www.givetoprofit.com

Give-to-Profit book:

Amazon UK - http://bit.ly/givetoprofituk

Amazon US - http://bit.ly/givetoprofitus

The Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/Give-Profit-Alisoun-Mackenzie/9780993075223?ref=grid-view&qid=1496676035747&sr=1-1

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/givetoprofit/

 

Follow Alisoun Mackenzie

Website - https://www.alisoun.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/alisounbusiness/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlisounMac / @AlisounMac

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisounmackenzie/

Heartatude Book - http://bit.ly/heartatude

 

© Alisoun Mackenzie 2018