Business’ Giving Insight

Shedding light on the effect of sharing the wealth

Let’s start with a simple statement: giving to the needy is good.  We all know it and when possible, most of us are happy to contribute something – usually on a whim, oftentimes through some sort of set and forget direct debit system.  And that’s fine, it makes sense and every little bit really does count but it also keeps some of the world’s woes and interestingly, stories of relief from personal struggles at bay.  It would be good to change that.  It would be good to be able to regularly devote a moment or two to what we give and the quantifiable impact it may be having on a life…

Dr John Fawcett had his eyes firmly fixed on a comfortable, uneventful retirement in Indonesia before coming face to face with the cycle of blindness in Bali.  “People are blind because they are poor and they are poor because they are blind,” declares the masthead on Dr Fawcett’s foundation website (johnfawcett.org).  A familiar story of the ravages of cataracts and other treatable eye ailments that if left unchecked, often lead to blindness.  Having screened almost a million people, applied half a million medicinal drops and performed almost 45 thousand cataract surgeries, clearly The John Fawcett Foundations has had an unbelievable impact. 

Know the impact of knowing your numbers

But what’s even more unbelievable is that innovative avenues of business giving created by global giving initiative Buy1Give1 (B1G1) made it possible for my business to contribute to these inspiring numbers.  These impacts on the lives of the afflicted are partially made possible by client meetings and workshops that my company runs during the course of its everyday business.  And here’s the kicker: your business could be in the same enviable “pay it forward” position because it’s not about workshops and meetings specifically. 

At Inspire CA we decided that for every attendee at our Know Your Numbers workshop, we would fund an implant lens for a cataract operation in Indonesia.  We do this through our partnership with B1G1 but for you, any day to day function within your business could be the catalyst to change someone’s life for the better.

Send an email, it’ll be worth it!

Did you know that every email that enters or leaves the Inspire CA server represents one cent we donate which means safe drinking water for a family in desperate need for a day.  There’s a temptation to mark all your emails urgent and important!

But as mentioned emails are not the only catalyst.  Prospect and client meetings can yield funds for schools in Cambodia and strategic planning sessions provide food for impoverished children in India.

“This is great because it overcomes the inevitability of a very common problem with traditional workplace giving – we sometimes lose sight of what we’re achieving as predetermined amounts of pre-tax dollars noiselessly, almost apologetically exit the account at regular intervals.” Ben Walker CEO, Inspire CA on remembering what’s important

Every day, vision, lives and prospects are improving with every welcoming handshake, email and initiative.  Inspire CA and others have B1G1 and people like John Fawcett to thank for providing the impetus and a new approach to disrupting poverty during the normal course of the business day.

If you want to create hope and better lives for others with every email or phone call, start by chatting to B1G1 at xxxxxxx.