The Year of the Socially Conscious
This week we celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and remembered his work as an early champion of social consciousness. With the New Year in full swing, 2012 is showing promise as THE year of socially conscious shopping and business. We’ve collected a few stories for you here in our weekly round up that demonstrate the consumer and corporate mind-shift toward social consciousness.
A recent study mentioned in AOL Daily Finance revealed that “87% of American consumers surveyed believe businesses need to place at least as much weight on society's interests as they do on business interests.” We couldn’t agree more and are embracing the idea of Creating Shared Value for the emphasis it places on the connections between causes and companies. This concept digs deeper than CSR and challenges companies to be inherently good. At BiddingForGood, we just learned this week that each of our employees has personally raised almost $738,000 for good causes over the last year. Talk about inherent goodness!
Smartphones have changed the way we consume content so it makes sense that charities are increasingly their emphasis on mobile initiatives in 2012. In a blog post on Huffington Post, Gingerbread, the U.K.’s national charity for single parents, discussed their decision to harness mobile technology in order to reach more single-parent families. Smart charities and fundraisers are getting smartphone-friendly for 2012. Could mobile push social consciousness into mainstream? We think so and are excited to get our own In-Room Mobile Bidding started.
The final article we’d like to share this week speaks to social consciousness at the highest level – the White House. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, President Obama this week appointed a former nonprofit leader, Cecilia Muñoz, to be his top domestic-policy adviser. The article states that Ms. Muñoz will oversee the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, the White House unit that has the most contact with nonprofit leaders. Congratulations to Ms. Muñoz, and we look forward to seeing your work promoting innovative social projects to advance social consciousness.