Toms
Toms shoes are the first product I remember that gave one item for every item purchased--One for One. Now it seems these types of companies are a bit easier to find, and quite frankly I think it's fabulous! So this is a list of a few of the marvelous companies I've come across that are all about giving back. I encourage you to check them out and to be intentional with your money!
The Adopt Shoppe
One of my absolute favorite shops is one I discovered on Instagram by chance!
From their website:
Adoption is the gospel you can see and touch.
I am Kate. I am a blessed mother and wife. My husband and I buried 2 baby boys before we had our 2 biological children. Through the miracle of adoption, we are blessed to have another daughter and son. I started my shop to raise money to bring our son and daughter home. Now I try to use my shoppe to bless, uplift, and encourage women. It is also a way to help other adoptive families overcome the financial hurdles so that they can bring their children home.
Noonday Jewelry
From their website:
Noonday Collection's first trunk show was hosted by founder, Jessica Honegger, in her home as a means to raise money to adopt her son and third child from Rwanda. The style and purpose of the products drew an overwhelming response, and the business quickly grew beyond a fundraiser {and her head is still spinning}. Thanks to Noonday sales,Jessica and her hubby brought home their son Jack in October of 2011. Orphan care and prevention remain a core value. At Noonday Collection, we believe every child belongs in a family.
In the summer of 2011, we launched the ambassador opportunity. The desire for women in the US to earn an income while creating pathways out of poverty for the vulnerable was overwhelming. Jessica needed help! She soon partnered up with another socially minded friend, Travis Wilson, to enable her to grow the business beyond what she could do alone. Both Travis and Jessica spent years living in resource poor areas of the world and both dreamed of starting a business that would alleviate poverty through entrepreneurship.
Together with the Noonday ambassadors across the country, we offer you the opportunity to use your purchasing power to create change in the world {while looking really good along the way}. Your fashion sense can now restore dignity to abandoned women in Ethiopia, empower communities in Ecuador, and create business opportunities for Ugandans.
We invite you to join our growing movement by wearing Noonday, sharing Noonday by hosting a trunk show, and becoming an Noonday Ambassador. Style your friends, change the world.
Warby Parker
From their website:
You buy a pair of Warby Parker glasses. We tally up the number of glasses sold and make a monthly donation to our nonprofit partners, which covers the cost of sourcing that number of glasses.
The nonprofit trains men and women in developing countries to give basic eye exams and sell glasses to their communities at affordable prices. These men and women work hard to spread awareness and make eyecare available to their communities. “But wait,” you’re thinking, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why sell the glasses? Why not just donate them?” Glad you asked. It’s a sticky fact of life that kind-hearted gestures can have unintended consequences. Donating is often a temporary solution, not a lasting one. It can contribute to a culture of dependency. It is rarely sustainable.
Instead of donating, our partners train men and women to sell glasses for ultra-affordable prices, which allows them to earn a living. More important, it forces our partners to offer glasses that people actually want to buy: glasses that fit with local styles, look good, work well, and make the wearer feel incredible. Because everyone wants to feel incredible.
Blanket America
BUY 1, GIVE 1
Giving should not only be as easy and as fun as shopping, it should be the same thing. We believe it is possible to turn consumers into benefactors, generating vast quantities of donated goods in the process.
Effective
If you need something, chances are someone else does too. Basing our giving on what our customers actually buy means donated goods are more effective.
Changing Expectations
We believe that, when consumers are given the option to do good, they will. Given this option enough times, they will come to expect it. If this expectation is not met, consumers will demand it from other brands.
Community Building
Domestic giving brings neighbors, often in very different circumstances, closer together. Blanket America is a pioneer in developing ways that allow consumers to give within their own communities.
Raising Awareness
Everything we make is designed to address domestic poverty. Through Facebook, Twitter, and our website we maintain an ongoing discussion about poverty in America with over 150,000 subscribers.
Promoting Support Networks
By promoting charitable organizations through our network, we help build support for them. We regularily publish original profiles of food pantries, transitional housing facilities, shelters, and homeless communities.
EMsquared
We have friends that have recently become ambassadors for this company. Traveling to Mexico to see their operation furthered their belief and commitment to this company that is working on ending malnutrition in children.
From their website:
There is now a new bar in a category of its own. The standardized whole-food Hope bar. Hope bars are made from whole food ingredients and enriched with all food sourced vitamins and minerals. Hope bars are one of the most nutritionally dense whole food products on the planet. And every time you choose to nourish yourself, our company will donate a Hope bar to a malnourished child. That’s right, instead of attacking childhood malnutrition with the cheapest and most highly processed ingredients our model provides these children with the highest quality standardized whole food product available.
Baby Teresa
Baby Teresa sells a line of gorgeous 100% organic cotton baby clothing and accessories. For each baby outfit we sell we also donate another to a child in need. For each accessory item we sell, a portion of the sales go to purchasing formula for babies in need (typically in orphanages). So far we’ve made donations in over 20 countries from Peru to Indonesia, Australia to France and Uganda to Egypt to name a few. Our baby clothes and accessories are soft, cuddly, fair trade and make a superb baby shower gift.
For other awesome opportunities to do the most good with your money, you might consider following Shop With Meaning!
Labels: Christmas, holiday, recommended
