When standing in the checkout line at Whole Foods, I periodically see a display with tear off tags ($1, $2, or $5) inviting me, the customer, to select a tag in the amount I would be willing to donate to the Whole Planet Foundation. The mission of the Foundation is to create economic partnerships with the poor in developing world communities that supply Whole Foods Market stores with product by providing microloans to encourage entrepreneurism.  Microcredit is one of the causes my company, Business Nonprofit Connections, Inc., supports through various local and international NGOs.  So…what’s a buck?  A good cause that I believe in and it’s easy for me to take a tag and make a small donation.  Requires no preplanning, no strategic thinking, and I won’t notice not having that money.  Even if I wasn’t such a microcredit fan, it is still easy to do.  Combine my buck or two with the money from a lot of other customers and it can really add up.  This is a great example of a way any retail business can engage their customers to support the cause selected by the company, build reputation and customer loyalty.  Requires no big up front cash outlay by the company – just some signage and tags and a way to track donations in the cash register system.

Today in the Baton Rouge Whole Foods checkout line, I saw the Whole Foods Market 2008 Calendar for sale for $2.00.  What a deal!!  I needed a calendar to hang in my office and this one was the perfect choice.  It is a glossy page calendar with great photos from various countries and of Whole Foods team members with $13 in savings coupons inside for a super deal of a price…AND…100% of sales of the calendar go to benefit the Whole Planet Foundation.  On the January page of the calendar, it states that Whole Foods covers Whole Planet Foundation’s annual operating budget and that donations received by the Foundation are directed to microlending programs in the developing world.   The calendar reports on every photo page that “As of November 2007, Whole Planet Foundation has authorized over $5.9 million to support microlending programs in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, India and Indonesia with plans to expand to east Africa in 2008. This support has helped 14,429 entrepreneurs create small businesses in the developing world.   Average loan size is $157 with an average repayment rate of 99.8%.” 

Go buy your own calendar while they are still available! 

For information, go to:  www.wholeplanetfoundation.org