Over 30 years ago, founding-family member Aaron Morse wisely stated that, A worthwhile firm must have a purpose for its existence. Not only the everyday work-a-day purpose to earn a just profit, but beyond that, to improve in some way the quality of the community to which it is committed.” Today, his sentiments remain very much relevant. To discover the importance of why brands should get involved with a charity and how to choose the right fit, bd sat down with a number of beauty brands that are doing their bit for the community.
Why get involved with a charity?
For , there are three main reasons why a brand should team up with a charity. One is the feelgood factor, for both the staff and our customers. Giving back feels great! The second is about doing business for good, not just for profit. Plain and simple. The third is the importance of aligning your brand with a charity to reflect who you are and what you stand for,” says Oasis Beauty managing director Stephanie Evans.
At LUSH (LUSH NZ), the company believes giving to charitable organisations is simply just the right thing to do, while the founder of instilled the importance of giving back to others in the brand’s heritage. Mary Kay is now honoured to continue founder Mary Kay Ash’s legacy of making a difference.
WOTNOT and both became involved with charities aligned with their own values. It was extremely important for us, from the start, to support a charity. We started our business working out of our garages and, while we hoped to build a successful company, we wanted others to benefit from this, not just ourselves and our families,” says WOTNOT Naturals brand manager Claire Lind. Cedel became aligned with the National Breast Cancer Foundation in order to help the brand pursue its corporate vision to enrich the lives of its customers and employees.
How to choose which charity to support?
Each brand has a specific reasoning behind the decision on which charity to align themselves with – choosing the right fit is just about deciding what the key focus is going to be. At LUSH, our ethics guide every decision we make as a business, from the products we invent to the charities we give donations to. The causes we support cannot conflict with our ethics,” explains LUSH charity pot manager, PR and marketing support Emma Hart.
For WOTNOT, it made sense to team with Bear Cottage – a children's hospice in Manly that cares for children with life-limiting illnesses. As our business started up on the northern beaches, we wanted to support a local charity. We owe our success initially to our local community, and with a range designed to be as gentle as possible on babies and small children, Bear Cottage was such a perfect charity for us,” says Lind.
and Mary Kay both aligned their brand with the Salvation Army due to the charity’s work with women. We chose the Salvation Army because of their amazing work in the Australian community supporting women who have been affected by domestic violence. We are a female-owned and managed business and we are really touched by the great work that the Salvation Army does every day for Australian women,” says Kosmea business manager Olivia Jenkins. Mary Kay marketing manager Juliana Hui adds, we selected Salvation Army Domestic Violence as our charity as it resonates with our empowering women mission.”
Pantene Pro-V (Pantene Pro-V NZ) chose to partner with Look Good… Feel Better as it makes sense that Pantene partners with a charity whose purpose is to make women look good and feel better during a very challenging time in their lives.” At Oasis Beauty, the company teamed up with the World Society for the Protection of Animals as the brand has strong ties with animals. WSPA do amazing work for animals. Here, at Oasis Head Cottage, we provide a home for many rescue animals, so supporting an animal charity like WSPA fits with our ethos nicely,” reveals Evans.
Is supporting a charity really making a difference?
While we all know the saying every dollar counts”, this couldn’t be more true than when it comes to supporting a charity. Contributions big or small can all help towards turning a person or animal’s life around. Every $1 donated makes a difference for the positive. The work that we do to raise awareness of WSPA through our marketing efforts also makes a difference,” says Evans. Hart adds, We believe that the funding and support given from our Charity Pot really does help to make a difference to grassroots groups in the work that they do, as it can sometimes be hard for small organisations to get funding.”
At , the brand is helping whole communities with its various partnerships. In Afghanistan, our Rose Essential Oil Partnership gives a viable alternative to opium production. Afghanistan produces 80 per cent of the world's opium. All our partnerships are long-term, so they provide stability of income. With the Shea Butter Project in Burkina Faso, we are helping to preserve village communities by purchases from the villages at above average prices and giving long term purchase guarantees,” explains Dr.Hauschka’s Janet Southern.
Brands making a difference:
- bhave are keen supporters and advocates for animal welfare and support many animal charities and shelters including Paws for Thought Rescue, Oscars Law, Puffydoggz Rescue, Pets Haven, Second Chance Rescue in USA, Soi Dog Foundation in Thailand, and the disaster recovery team for animals and people in Australia.
- Cedel’s ongoing partnership with the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) has seen the brand donate over $120,000 and more than 200,000 mini hairspray and dry shampoo cans to official NBCF events over the past four years.
- The brand donated 5 per cent off the RRP of the Luxe Leave-In Masque to the McGrath Foundation. Davroe also helps generate up to $5000 by donating products to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital Foundation SA gala dinner.
- The Dr.Hauschka Rose Projects sees the brand have long-term partnerships with cultivation projects in Afghanistan, Iran, Bulgaria and Turkey.
Florame - Florame has established close ties with about a hundred small producers, half of whom are in France. These partner farms benefit from growing Florame's organic plants, with the brand also installing distillation equipment for value-add to give much needed income to the villages.
- In 2014 alone, GAIA Skin Naturals is supporting the Bumi Sehat Midwifery Clinic, Beyond Blue, Heart Kids, Cancer Council, Miracle Babies, PIPA, PANDA, Premmie Babies, Very Special Kids, many multiple birth associations, kindergartens, playgroups, and also has individually run events nationally. The brand is also a key sponsor of the Eczema Association of Australasia, and helps sponsor the Australia Orangutan Project and National Parks & Wildlife Foundation’s Backyard Buddies program.
- Each year, Jurlique creates a limited-edition product whereby a percentage of the profits go towards supporting AIME - the initiative of university students mentoring indigenous students to help them finish secondary and tertiary education.
- Kiehl’s has contributed product and outright contributions over the years to non-profit charitable organisations. For example, 100 per cent of the profits from the Eucalyptus Bath and Shower Liquid Body Cleanser sales are donated to benefit YouthAIDS. Other products have also had 100 per cent of proceeds going to charities including the Magic Johnson Foundation and the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Two of the company’s latest fundraising projects include working on the Keep A Child Alive and Adoption Awareness initiatives.
- Kosmea operates a micro business programme for locals residing near the wild rose hip’s in Lesotho, South Africa. The local villagers handpick Kosmea rose hips in the Maluti Mountains and receive a sustainable income as a result of Kosmea sourcing rose hips from this region. The brand also supports the Salvation Army, providing their domestic violence women’s shelters with Kosmea product to give to women who arrive at the shelter.
LUSH (LUSH NZ) - The LUSH founders created a product called Charity Pot in 2007, with every cent made from the sale of the Charity Pot (minus GST) going directly into a fund those local and international organisations who are doing great work to help make the world a little more pleasant. Some of the most recent receivers of Charity Pot support include Destiny Rescue, The Nelson Ark, WIRES, Bryn’s School and Women’s Refuge (New Zealand).
- Every year Mary Kay donates excess stock / phased out products to the Salvation Army. Last year, the brand donated $500,000 worth of products to the charity. Twice a year, Mary Kay also launches a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) product designed to support a charity with all proceeds made from the product sale going to the charity of choice. On top of this, staff donate to the Salvation Army Christmas Tree Appeal every year.
- 50 cents from each Blonde muk Toning Shampoo and Blonde muk 1 Minute Treatment sold will be donated to the Avner Nahmani Pancreatic Cancer Foundation.
- Natralus donates products to a range of charities, including Cystic Fibrosis Victoria, Habitat for Humanity International Aid Organisation, HeartKids, Knox Multiple Birth Association, Make-A-Wish Australia, Pregnancy Loss Australia, Royal Children’s Hospital Diabetic Unit, and Women Who Have Been There.
- Oasis Beauty donates regularly to the World Society for the Protection of Animals.
Pantene Pro-V (Pantene Pro-V NZ) - Since September 2012, Pantene Pro-V have been working with Look Good...Feel Better to encourage women around Australia and New Zealand to donate their ponytails to be made into real hair wigs for women undergoing cancer treatment. So far they have donated over 400 wigs.
WOTNOT - A percentage of sales go to Bear Cottage each year.