Brands Giving Back: Three Causes That You Can Easily Support

Photo by 88Bikes

Giving back to the community is an essential part of running a business these days, and there are a lot of brands out there that have caught on. But it’s not just about giving, it’s about choosing causes that align with a brands’ core, ones that resonate with employees and consumers alike. And of course, if you’re going to support a cause in this day and age, you better be using social media to spread the word.

We picked out three causes that do just that, and are currently being promoted by savvy brands that we love (and no, none of them are clients of ours). Added bonus: they are all super cool initiatives that you can help out with in one way or another.

88 bikes: Saving the world one bike at a time

Bikes really can save the world! At least that’s the thought behind 88Bikes, a non-profit that provides an enjoyable, sustainable form of transportation to young people in developing countries. The formula is simple: choose a destination in need, raise money to pay for bikes, then travel to the site and deliver bikes and in the process change lives. Straight and to the point. Why the number 88? $88 is about the cost of a bike in the developing world.

Portland-based Keen Footwear has been a big supporter of 88Bikes, including a partnership with the organization that matched donations and helped deliver bikes to children who have been rescued from human trafficking in several different countries. And because bikes don’t take care of themselves, Keen also donates money to provide tools and bike maintenance training for bicycle recipient

Want to take part yourself? 88 bikes is always looking for donations — and yes, they do accept values other than $88 — but you can also help simply by spreading the word. In fact, 88Bikes depends a lot on the power of its social networks, so if you want to help, check out what they’re up to on Facebook and Twitter.

Send a Kid to Camp: Creating tomorrow’s outdoor enthusiasts

I know a lot of people that discovered their passion for the outdoors while at camp, be it a weekend school trip to a camp that hosts an outdoor school or a more extended stay at a full-on summer camp. These are the places that put kids into programs that build confidence and create leaders. Of course having spent most of my summers at camp, both as a camper and a counselor, I am biased. But statistics prove that exposure to nature is essential to a child’s healthy physical and emotional development, and for some children, attending camp is the chance to get that exposure.

Mountain Hardwear is currently running a Send a Kid to Camp initiative, and it doesn’t take much more than believing that camp is a good thing in order to support it. To take part in the initiative, just go to Mountain Hardwear’s Gives Back site where for every click on the “send a kid to camp” button, the brand will donate $1 towards the program, up to a total of $40,000.

10 camps around the country are part of the 2010 program, and they do everything from getting urban teens into the outdoors to putting children on telemark skis. All you have to do to help them is go here; that’s really all it takes, one click, and you’ll be helping create tomorrow’s outdoor enthusiasts.

Search for Adventure: Empowering adults with developmental disabilities

11 years ago, Santa Barbara company Horny Toad partnered with Search Developmental Center, a non-profit life-skills training group that works with adults who have developmental disabilities. The partnership gave rise to Planet Access Company (PAC), which provides training and work opportunities to this overlooked population. Part of those training and work opportunities have been picking, packing and shipping Horny Toad goods in the company’s warehouse.

But since we’re talking about Horny Toad — the company whose motto is “Everyday is an Adventure” — they couldn’t just provide work opportunities, they had to make sure the PAC crew was having fun as well. This turned into Search for Adventure, an experiential travel program that uses proceeds from PAC and a grant from Horny Toad to send Search residents and members of the PAC work crew to have opportunities to see the world outside of the daily routine. As Marketing Director Tami Snow puts it, “experiences that you and I take for granted but empower people with developmental disabilities to achieve their full potential and lead rich and rewarding lives.”

Now Search for Adventure is up for a Pepsi Refresh Grant, and you can help them win. Simply go to the Search for Adventure page and give them your vote. If it gets enough votes, Search for Adventure will get the funding it needs to make a difference in the lives of developmentally disabled adults. So go vote now!

You can read more about the program here.