ladyislingering

My job and the company I work for is really cool. Most of the time the nice customers and the coworkers I enjoy are around to sort of even out the rage a little bit. It doesn't follow me once I walk out the door. The company is so important; we're changing lives with the profits we're making and the product we're receiving (shares are paid to several different non-profit organizations that exist to help people in need). You can't say that about other American corporations.

Despite the large number of inattentive parents, drug addicts, and hurricane poopers, it's a decent place.

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simplephysics

There's actually a multitude of for-profit organizations that also work toward benefiting/funding non-profit organizations. From the way you've described the kind of service your company provides, I would agree that it's kind of rare that a retail based organization would be willing to directly fund the work of nonprofits, with a few obvious exceptions.

Scarlett O'Hara

Aww I'm relieved to hear that. That's a good sign if you can not take it home with you. For a minute there I thought it was happening all day every day. People can be really cool sometimes, it's not always bad. That's great that the company contributes to society in a positive way. Are the products donated or is it just the profits from new products that get donated? I love the hospice on my street, I can donate my clothes and then get clothes from other people in the $1 bin. It's amazing how people donate high quality clothes.

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ladyislingering

Our non-profits deliver things that have been dropped in donation bins around the metro area, or somehow donated to their association; the public also donates to our store directly (and we give them coupons and freebies and stuff). We pay our non-profits for the stuff they deliver to us, and we pay them for the in-store donations from the community as well. People drop off really great stuff (though sometimes it's not so great, but we have a sorting team that picks out only the best). Unsold items are recycled and sent/given to some sort of benefit (I'm not really sure but I assume they're either sent to developing countries or crisis centers in the states).

We don't like to waste things, or to have to throw things away. I buy a ton of jewelry and clothes there (the associate discount is super generous - 50% off all clothing and accessories; 30% off housewares & furniture) and both Ki and I are always finding cool stuff for our apartment. We get compliments all the time, at the front end, from people who love our store. (We're the 2nd largest store in our region.) It's sort of mean but I'll be so happy once Goodwill gets swallowed up by our company (Goodwill sucks!) and ceases to exist and ceases to have ties with Salvation Army (one of the most deceptive organizations here in the states - their values are built on white supremacy and homophobia - much like Walmart).

So yeah, we're kind of a big deal.

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Engine

This is true. In fact, the wealthier any corporation becomes the more likely it is to be charitable. Not necessarily because they want to, but it is expected of them and enhances their public image (and maybe because they have actual scruples). Whatever the reasons, non-profits routinely get an appreciable amount of money from full-on capitalist corporations. It's not just thrift store chains that are helping out the needy, even if it appears that way on the surface.

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Like an arrow,
I was only passing through.

ladyislingering

The best part is the genius business model that the company built. Take in (almost) free stuff, make a hefty profit, share with people in need, pay their employees generously in both wages and super discounts.

This also enables the company to buy new product for Halloween and Christmas (they've got ties with wholesale vendors, and they even get huge amounts of sample products, which can also be turned over for a profit) - these are huge sellers when marketed properly. (Unfortunately the Halloween thing went down the tubes last year because of how poorly the whole plan was executed.)

We do take some losses, with shoplifters and accidents (stuff gets broken or ripped from mishandling) but the profits adequately outweigh the losses.

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Engine

I don't mean to be hyper cynical but you just described another type of corporate posturing; and they get the benefit of attracting employees like yourself who want the comfort of feeling like you're helping heal the world. They want you to feel that way. Its definitely good that your company gives to the needy but it's still all about the bottom line. As for the employee benefits, how does getting a super discount on donated/sample products reflect on the company? Like you said, they already had the stuff for (almost) free.

Anyway, I don't mean to argue, you seem to recognize what I'm saying. I'm just long past the point of believing that real altruism exists in any corporation at its core. It's all just marketing strategy.

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Like an arrow,
I was only passing through.

simplephysics

That does sound pretty awesome. I work in an industry and for a specific company that, in my opinion, should ethically operate on a nonprofit model and give back or contribute something to the population we serve, given the kind of work we do for our customers (senior care), but this doesn't seem the case. It is thankless work for employees, and it sucks to see the company we give so much to does nothing to better the lives of others.

It's really interesting to see the way charitable giving is broken down in the U.S. I'm currently pursuing a B.A. in Philanthropic Studies and one of the first things you learn is how skewed monetary donations are, and where the money actually goes. Corporate giving is a surprisingly small piece of the pie, but on the same token, corporations are able to give much more in a single donation and can generally be relied on to contribute annually, and like you said, it works in their favor as far as their imagine is concerned. Individual giving still remains the biggest single contributor to the nonprofit sector.

Janszoon

Hey! Welcome back dreadnaught!

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ladyislingering

I'm totally aware. In a perfect world, the company would give massive shares to our nonprofits but we also have a business to run. We're expected to do everything we do both in the interest of the company and our non-profits (though sometimes it's tricky to just go up to someone and be like "I see you've found some awesome things today - they were brought to us by our non-profits. Do you know what they do?"). We have a new business plan for the year and they're expecting a considerable growth over last year (we've got stores in the US, Canada, and Australia) so it's super important that we tell people what happens when they donate, what we do for our non-profits, etc.

There is a certain level of altruism but it's also a genius business model. It really is.

Senior care is really expensive and seedy in the states. They're not always taken care of adequately and their families (or their social security/disability/other income) pay massive amounts just to keep their loved ones from wandering away or hurting themselves in the home.

Some years ago I was working for one of America's biggest retailers and we were pushing for monetary donations to benefit the Children's Miracle Network. I didn't realize it at the time but the most heinous part of it was that they turned it into a contest to see who could sell the most $1 donations. I actually won. I was gifted a $50 gift card. But it made me wonder where that came from, and where the money is actually going, and how much money is being swallowed up by the corporation to cover the cost of distributing all those little paper balloons (bar code for $1 donation on the back) and whatever else was involved with the preparations for the drive.

You really don't know where it goes, and it's weird.

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