Over twenty-five years ago, I became a financial advisor to help people reach the goals that were important to them. Money was the tool that could provide for their families and help them enjoy the life they’d always wanted. I was determined to help them achieve their goals by managing their money wisely.
As I got to know my clients, I came to realize something else. While there were many financial advisors my clients could work with, unbeknownst to me, I was differentiating myself from the rest of them. Like any business, my customers could just as easily buy the product or service I was selling from another investment advisor. My firm was the only firm in town that was making giving an important part of its investment strategy—using some of our profits to support education and causes that benefited our local community. I lost count of the number of times during my career when a client or potential client said to me, “We’re working with you because we saw a picture of you in the newspaper giving an award to a student at a local school,” or, “We saw you on television being interviewed about investment advice, and we’ve heard of your contributions to the community.” The more I gave back, the more people wanted to work with me. I became the giving investment advisor.
The perception people have of you is important in any business—and positive perception leads to profitability. When people perceive you as a giver, they think of you as someone who cares about their community, and they’re more likely to trust you. It makes for causal relationships because now they’re not just working with you; they’re working with both you and the causes you’re a part of, and that becomes what’s important to them too. They are part of something bigger.
One of the most repeated pieces of advice I’ve given to my kids is, “You want people to know you, like you, and trust you.” This is practical life advice, but it’s also good business advice. Connecting your business to your Generosity Purpose allows both potential and current customers to get to know you on a deeper level.
Let me give you an example. You’re out shopping and right next to each other, there are two cookware stores. At the first store, an associate walks up to you, asks how you’re doing, and tells you how nice and high quality the cookware is. “Enjoy your shopping and let me know if you need anything!” he says.
At the adjacent cooking store, an associate walks up to you, asks how you’re doing, and proceeds to tell you why this store is special. “Particularly in Third World countries, many people don’t have access to healthy food,” he says. “As a result, children and their families are malnourished and sickly. As a company, we’re passionate about doing what we can to solve this problem. That’s why when you purchase anything in our store, part of the proceeds goes directly to help families struggling to find healthy food.”
Which cooking store will you buy from? The second one. Why? Because you need some nice cookware and can impact the world at the same time. So you buy a pot, a pan, and a couple sets of silverware and walk out of the store pleased because you’ve spent money that benefited a cause you believe in. Now every time you open your silverware drawer and pull out a fork or spoon, you smile. Your purchase met a need and made a difference.
“It’s good business. Giving back is, in fact, a way to get more,” agrees Jason Feifer, editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur magazine. “You obviously have to create a sustainable business in order to operate and to do good. But what I have found over and over again in the companies that I talk to is that when they figure out ways to really connect with communities, and to really support those communities, they engage and excite their own team members, they create a better, stronger culture of people who are excited to show up to work every day and to be a part of this mission, and they also attract new customers.”
Feifer cites numerous research studies that demonstrate the willingness of consumers to spend more and make purchasing decisions because they feel aligned with a company’s mission. “If you’re gonna survive as a business in times like these, then you have to go beyond just offering a product or service. You have to be really meaningful to people in their lives. And so I think that, in a way, this is going to be a filtering moment. And the companies that are really crystal clear about their mission are the ones that are going to thrive, and the other ones may not have a place in this new world.” Ultimately, as Feifer himself has said, it’s not about what you do, it’s about why you do it.
In Part 1, I used the example of Bombas socks. For every purchase, they donate a pair of socks to someone in need. Another great example of a company that gives back is TOMS. It all started with a vacation to Argentina, where founder Blake Mycoskie met a lady who shared with him how many children lacked shoes, which exposed them to numerous diseases. He decided to create a for-profit business called TOMS, but for every pair sold, he would donate a pair of shoes to a child in need.
I remember when my daughter Lauren got her first pair of TOMS. The packaging even came with a TOMS flag that she proudly hung in her room. She participated in “One Day Without Shoes,” where you go without shoes for one day to experience how shoes impact almost every moment of your day-to-day life. All because Lauren knew the TOMS mission and was proud to support it. Since 2006, TOMS has impacted over 100,000,000 lives.
Clearly communicating your Generosity Purpose to your customers will lead them to like you. And when they know you and like you, the next step is trust. When your customers know you, like you, and trust you, they will keep doing business with you—over and over again. Companies like Bombas and TOMS have done two things well. First, they’ve connected their business with their Generosity Purpose. Second, they’ve clearly communicated their Generosity Purpose in their marketing and advertising. It’s on their website and in their stores—proudly showcased for the world to see.
In her book Do Good at Work, Bea Boccalandro makes a compelling case that those who pursue a social purpose, who are givers throughout their careers, end up doing better financially. “It’s the power of all people living out their inner giver, getting things done,” she says. “We all have that potential.”
And yes, studies show that unselfish people tend to earn more than selfish people. That’s the conclusion of research by Stockholm University, the Institute for Future Studies, and the University of South Carolina published in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The study defines unselfishness as the desire to help others because you care about their welfare.
My friend Moody is a well-known orthodontist in my community. How did he get to be so popular? Besides excelling at his craft and creating great-looking smiles, many years ago Moody connected his dental practice to his Generosity Purpose: helping children in Africa get quality dental care. He and his family, along with dental and non-dental friends from the community, periodically set up dental clinics in rural areas where children and their families can get emergency and pain-relieving dental care. His patients are always talking to him about his experiences. You want your children to receive high-quality orthodontic care. Combine that with playing a small part in helping to make the world a better place? That’s a real winner. As a business owner, it’s a special moment when you experience a point of intersection between doing what you love and loving how it makes the world better.
“I believe that if you’re able to love what you do and show up with intent and share way more than you think is possible to share, I believe that the wins that come out of that in the long game will flood out any short-term losses,” says Charles Antis, founder and CEO of Antis Roofing. This mindset began with spontaneously giving a free roof to a woman in need. After thirty years of building his company, Charles’s Generosity Purpose is clear—to give more and to inspire his employees and other companies to make a difference by volunteering and giving financially to causes in their communities. His message is simple: give, give, give.
What goes around comes around, which is another way of saying, “You get what you give.” For years, Ken Rusk, author of Blue Collar Cash, has been paying for the production of fundraising commercials for the Make-A-Wish foundation. In one, a girl named Kaylee Halko, who has progeria, a rare genetic disorder that causes children to age rapidly, was featured in a television spot. “She is the neatest young lady you’ll ever meet,” Ken told me.
Ken explained that he didn’t fund the commercial to enhance his business; it doesn’t even mention his company. “I never thought it would happen this way, but I’ve had many customers say, ‘I called you because of that commercial, because of your willingness to give back.’ So, again, you don’t ever want to do charity in the hopes of getting something back—you don’t wanna do that—but if it does happen, it’s kind of a nice little thing to occur. But I believe in the power of good ... and it goes all the way around.”
You must connect your business to your Generosity Purpose. When you do, your customers will know you, like you, trust you, and become a part of a mission you’re passionate about. Plus, you will make more money while creating the impact and fulfillment you’ve always wanted.
(To be continued...)
This excerpt is taken from “Good Money Revolution: How to Make More Money to Do More Good” by Derrick Kinney. To read other articles of this book, click here. To buy this book, click here.
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