This article appeared in the Business Section of the Dallas Morning News on Dec. 31, 2009.

By SHERYL JEAN

Salah Boukadoum’s start-up company is based on a business model to help make the world a better place.

Jonathan Reece and Lawrence D. Schwartz donate part of their young companies’ sales or profit to charities in which they have a personal connection.

Whatever their motivation, more Dallas-area entrepreneurs are serving a broader social mission while developing a business. And they’re passionate about both. Experts who follow entrepreneurs and philanthropy say they’ve noticed an increase in social entrepreneurship.

The participation rate at Entrepreneurs for North Texas, a Dallas-based group that helps entrepreneurs develop philanthropic and volunteer programs, is expected to more than double during the fiscal year that ends next June, said executive director Pam Gerber.

The number of U.S. entrepreneurs with dual social and economic goals more than doubled in a year to 44 percent in 2008, according to a Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report. The trend is expected to continue.

So-called cause marketing is booming, but some entrepreneurs are putting their money where their mouths are.

“Statistics show that people are more likely to buy something if it’s related to a cause they support, but that’s not why I started a business,” said Dallas jewelry designer Elizabeth Carlock, who donates part of her sales to charity. “It was the other way around. How can I help others and pursue my passion for designing?”

The increase in social entrepreneurship comes as charitable giving has declined during the recession . In 2008, charitable giving fell by an inflation-adjusted 5.7 percent to $308 billion – the largest drop in 40 years. A recent poll of 395 charities found that more than half expect fewer donations this year.

Health issues influenced the latest ventures of Dallas entrepreneurs Schwartz and Reece.

Nearly a year ago, Schwartz was diagnosed with a brain tumor and underwent successful surgery to remove it. The experience changed his approach to life and work.

“I’m a healthy guy. I work out. Me having a brain tumor was kind of crazy,” said Schwartz. “I thought, ‘Can I give some of the profits I’ve earned to people who need it rather than just use it for myself?’ “

Schwartz, 44, started and sold two companies before founding Pilot Fish Labs in June. He plans to donate up to 5 percent of the branding and public relations agency’s quarterly profit to Fort Worth-based Legacy Brain Foundation and similar charities.

For Reece, it was a port-wine stain birthmark on part of his face and neck that was the catalyst for his new men’s skin care line. And it’s why part of the proceeds will benefit other people with facial disfigurements.

This spring, he launched six Permission skin care products that cost $35 to $95. He plans to donate 1 percent of Permission Inc.’s annual sales to Dallas-based Children’s Craniofacial Association.

“My facial difference inspired a strong desire to give back to others [who] struggle with challenges larger than my own,” said Reece, 40, who ran a Dallas hair salon for 14 years before starting Permission Inc.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report revealed that more women and younger people become social entrepreneurs. In 2008, 53 percent of women started a venture with dual social and economic goals vs. less than 40 percent of men. People ages 25 to 39 are more likely to start such a business.

Take Carlock, a 22-year-old who started her home-based jewelry design business in August, the same month she graduated from Southern Methodist University. Elizabeth Carlock Designs items sell for $25 to $400 each online and at trunk shows. She plans to add e-tailers and retailers in 2010.

Carlock gives 15 percent of trunk show sales and all sales of her “charity collection” to a variety of nonprofit groups. In February, she plans to travel to Uganda through a nonprofit group to teach jewelry-making techniques to women.

So far, Carlock estimated she has given several thousand dollars to charities.

Social entrepreneurs say not only are they doing good, but also it’s good business.

Studies show consumers are likely to switch to a brand or service tied to a good cause, and companies can reap better returns by creating an affinity with social causes.

Bettina England of Dallas bought four bracelets from Carlock as Christmas presents for relatives because all of the $100 cost went to charity.

“I think it’s wonderful that you can buy cute things and benefit other people at the same time,” England said. She said she would pay extra for a product that benefits a cause.

People identify with a humanitarian corporate image, said Joseph Picken, executive director of the University of Texas at Dallas’ Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. It creates a culture that attracts employees and customers, he said.

Michelle Fraser and Tonya Martin think their charitable focus has helped a business they co-founded last spring to run designer consignment sales for women. They met years ago doing charity work.

The Ultimate Exchange’s sales increased 36 percent between its first sale in May and its second event in October, Martin said. She estimates the company will reach revenue of about $60,000 and turn a profit.

This year, the company donated nearly $3,000 to charities that help women. It also set aside dozens of garments for Dress for Success, a charity that provides professional clothing and employment to women, and encouraged sellers to donate part of their proceeds to charity.

Dallas’ Soap Hope, which sells all-natural soap online, is taking a different approach.

The 1-year-old company plans to invest all of its annual profit in interest-free microloans to help women start businesses through three nonprofits, Dallas-based Chiapas Project, Dallas-based Plan Fund and San Diego-based Esperanza International. If Soap Hope doesn’t turn a profit this year, Salah Boukadoum said he and partner Craig Tiritilli pledge to invest $20,000 in the groups from their own pockets.

But their plans go beyond their company. Boukadoum and Tiritilli call their effort Good Returns and hope to roll it out to at least 1,000 other companies and raise more than $1 billion in the next 10 years.

“I want to show through Soap Hope that it’s not just helping, but it’s good business,” Boukadoum said. “We’re trying to introduce a new business model that would transform this segment of philanthropy.”

10:22 am  •  4 January 2010

9:34 am  •  18 December 2009

Salah Boukadoum and Craig Tiritilli believe women can save the world. Ladies, once you’ve done swooning from this sentence, let’s talk about its radical impact. Gentlemen, if you are still reading this, then I am already extremely hopeful.

First, it comes from the mouths of two men. Women usually carry the banner of women’s empowerment. Women’s rights seem to be exclusively fought for by women, which may be a reason why making headway for women’s rights has hit the glass ceiling for decades. Those who write and enforce the laws are most often men. For women’s true empowerment, we need the forces of power on our side. In addition to paving our own ways as women into power structures, we need more men advocating for women’s rights. It’s a two-pronged approach and we need allies in seats of influence.

Second, it acknowledges the current, uneven power structures by stating the affirmative in a sense that is only prospective, rather than fully realized; women “can”, rather than women “are.” When you look at the world’s power structures, you see men. When you look at the state of world affairs you see an overwhelming panorama of war, greed, destruction and disease. Salah claims there is a connection between the destructive interactions of nations and the people or groups in power; if more women were in higher seats of power the world would look very different. This is not to bash all men, but the connection is too strong to be ignored.

Salah and Craig know that women can save the world. The two business partners founded Soap Hope with a deeply-integrated social mission to end global poverty by investing 100% of profits each year into microfinance funds that target women entrepreneurs in poverty. To empower a woman means to empower her children and neighbors as well, which can ultimately lift entire communities out of poverty. The fuel for these loans comes from the all-natural soap products sold at Soap Hope.

This social mission comes from the founders’ innovative business model called Good Returns. This paradigm engenders a system of mutual support between the for-profit and non-profit arenas. Through this model, Salah and Craig encourage companies to invest resources into systems that continually empower others, rather than giving a one-time donation. Reciprocally the businesses benefit through returns on investments, increased community visibility and enhanced reputation.

Soap Hope is already on its way to fulfilling its promise. This fall, Soap Hope signed a partnership with The PLAN Fund, a Dallas-based non-profit that provides loans and business training for low- to moderate-income entrepreneurs in Dallas County, Texas, especially women.

Salah and Craig aren’t your typical idealists, nor are they your typical business owners. In a radical business model for sustainable progress, they combine the inspiration of Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank and the power of profit in corporate America.

10:43 am  •  14 December 2009

10:40 am  •  14 December 2009

You can see this article at Ode Magazine as well.

May 16, 2009: Doomsday. With a degree in public relations and an economic environment of fear and hiring freezes, I found it hard to have faith in finding a decent job in public relations and even less faith in a job that shared my vision for progressive change. Then along came a job at Soap Hope: a company with a deeply integrated social mission to end global poverty.

The first thing we learn as an introduction to PR at school is “Don’t Lie.” As a PR practitioner, I am well aware of the traps and narrow roads that challenge our paths as communicators. But at Soap Hope I have never once felt the need to lie or twist the truth. *Sigh of relief* It’s nice to work for a social responsible company.

Serendipitously, Soap Hope brought hope to my career but more importantly it brings hope to women entrepreneurs locally and globally.

The founders, Salah Boukadoum and Craig Tiritilli, founded Soap Hope after selling their technology company. Taking a full pendulum swing in the other direction, not only in product and services but also in corporate culture. The two decided to found Soap Hope on a strong social mission to end global poverty. Soap Hope invests 100% of profits into anti-poverty organizations that provide microloans and business training for women entrepreneurs.

The social mission is based on the founder’s innovative business model called Good Returns, an innovative, sustainable paradigm in which businesses invest resources in non-profits that improve the lives of others and reciprocally the businesses benefit through returns on investments, increased community visibility and enhanced reputation. In this model a for-profit company simply delays dividends by one year in order to accomplish a positive social purpose.

Rather than donating a portion of a company’s profits to a charity, the Good Returns model engenders a cycle of mutually beneficial results.

In exchange, these nonprofits tell others about Soap Hope, helping to gain visibility in the market and giving customers a special reason to choose Soap Hope over other vendors. This completes the virtuous cycle of Good Returns.

Good Returns isn’t simply a charitable act, it is a sound business investment.

My days at Soap Hope are filled with cheery scents of the stacks and rows of all-natural soap in the adjacent room. Each day I leave smelling of lavender, geranium or some other flora or fauna. Each bar of soap represents money in a woman’s pocket, empowering her economic freedom. Giving back to the global community never smelled so good.

10:22 am  •  11 December 2009

“Soap Hope has quickly proven that it is possible to be both financially successful while being socially and environmentally responsible. These characteristics are not mutually exclusive, but rather they enhance each other to benefit the company, the customers and the community. The best ideas are those most beneficial for all people involved.”

— Craig Tritilli and Salah Boukadoum, founders and owners of Soap Hope

1:02 pm  •  4 December 2009

Soap Hope is serious about supporting our customers, our community, our environment, and our world. You probably already know how we take care to minimize our impact on the environment by reusing and recycling materials, with initiatives like our Ugly Box. We also made a decision when we launched our company to use the profits to support women entrepreneurs worldwide. The effect of small loans and investments in an underprivileged community can be amazing. That’s why Soap Hope has decided to invest 100% of its profits into microloans for women entrepreneurs. Every dollar of profit will spend one year invested in a microfunding program with an emphasis on emerging businesses run by women.

Owner and founder of Soap Hope, Salah Boukadoum, says “Women can save the world.”

12:59 pm  •  4 December 2009

generationstrategy:

Corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, corporate social responsibility, sustainability… Even among sustainability professionals, there is little agreement on the name, let alone the definition. Perhaps a simpler approach then is to discuss what is does.

Corporate responsibility efforts minimize an organization’s negative environmental impact and optimize its positive social and economic impacts. A strategic approach to CR means assessing an organization’s operations to identify opportunities for improvements in environmental, social, and financial results (the triple bottom line) and, significantly, building a program to communicate those results good or not so good.

Environmental sustainability initiatives focus on resource inputs and waste outputs, including energy, supplies, water, raw materials, packaging, life-cycle impact, etc.  A commitment to decreasing an organization’s carbon footprint, for example, saves energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Such initiatives increase efficiency and lower costs.

Social sustainability encompasses issues such as fair trade, living wages, safe and healthy working conditions, employee wellness, gender equity, and community engagement.

Economic (financial) sustainability has to do with the organization’s long-term financial success, as well as the economic impact it has in the larger community including, for example, through socially responsible investing.

Ideally, organizations are addressing all three aspects in as many of their activities as possible. Outdoor clothing and gear company Patagonia provides an excellent model, articulated perfectly in their mission statement:

“Make the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”

Their practice since 1985 of contributing 1% of sales to protect undomesticated lands and waters (where customers put their Patagonia outdoor clothing and gear to use!) led to the creation of the non-profit corporation 1% for the Planet to encourage other businesses to do the same.

And Patagonia is a leader in communicating the results of their initiatives, including results that fall short of their desired goals. This degree of transparency is essential to any genuine corporate responsibility effort.

Generation Strategy works with organizations to define and execute sustainability strategies that align with and support the overall business strategy to improve environmental, social and financial results. We help our clients to build trust among stakeholders by communicating activities and results through marketing, PR, and formalized reporting.

12:37 pm  •  4 December 2009  •  4 notes

Need gifts for 32 people? Really like soap? Soap Hope now offers a 32-pack with every fruity, citrusy, earthy, herby, flowery scent. Get one of each of Indigo Wild’s 32 goat’s milk soap bars.

12:28 pm  •  4 December 2009

All-natural soap bars are this year’s newest fuel for ending poverty.  Soap Hope (www.soaphope.com), a leading online retailer of all-natural, high-quality soaps and body care products, and the PLAN Fund (www.planfund.org), a Dallas-based microlending organization, today announced their new partnership, in which Soap Hope will invest its annual profits to support the mission of the PLAN Fund.

Founded in 2008 by Dallas entrepreneurs Salah Boukadoum and Craig Tiritilli, Soap Hope operates under what the team calls the Good Returns model, in which a business invests resources in organizations that impact the lives of those in need.  The businesses in turn receive a reciprocal benefit through increased community visibility and market awareness.  Soap Hope is the first in what the founders expect will be a series of companies that embrace the Good Returns model.

“Good Returns redefines the relationship between private enterprise and charitable activity,” explains Tiritilli. “We use every resource of the company – capital, communications channels to customers and the media, and the Soap Hope’s products themselves – to expand the capacity of nonprofits that are focused on ending poverty. We want to see every business deploy its resources this way – think of the progress we can make toward ending poverty worldwide.”

Soap Hope deploys 100 percent of its profits through one-year, interest-free loans to local, national and global microlending programs that focus on women entrepreneurs in need. The PLAN Fund was chosen as one of this year’s recipients; the investment will be used to grow the number of microloans made to aspiring, low income entrepreneurs in the Dallas area.

“The PLAN Fund is a natural fit for us,” says Boukadoum, “They provide their constituents with capital, training and support – not handouts. It’s the kind of organization that can help people, families and whole communities become self-sufficient.”

The PLAN Fund’s mission is to increase economic stability and self-sufficiency within Dallas County’s low and moderate-income communities by developing small business entrepreneurs, especially women, through hands-on business training, business development services and micro-credit.

“Most businesses operate as though profits and responsibility are competing interests in a zero-sum game. We started Soap Hope to prove otherwise and to serve as a model for the Good Returns approach,” says Boukadoum of the company’s purpose.

With the Good Returns model, Soap Hope supports empowerment and self-sufficiency through local and global microfinance initiatives. Microlending programs that focus on women extend even further to support their children and neighbors, lifting entire communities out of poverty.  Micro lenders typically focus on borrowers who don’t have access to funds through traditional sources such as banks, offering individuals in poverty a chance to succeed.  Through September 2009, out of 502 business loans the average size of loans at the PLAN Fund has been $1,475.

“Our relationship with Soap Hope brings a spectrum of new opportunities to The PLAN Fund,” says Anthony Pace, executive director of The PLAN Fund.  “It’s not just contributing capital; it’s a whole program of resources and awareness-building.”

Under the arrangement, Soap Hope promotes the mission of The PLAN Fund by including educational materials in customer orders, posting information in its online store and raising awareness of the PLAN Fund through its social media campaigns on its blog, Twitter and Facebook.

The PLAN Fund goes beyond microcredit by providing education, leadership development, support and networking opportunities to ensure that investments are secure and members become self-sufficient.

“Microlending is most successful when the lender also provides education and support,” says Tiritilli. “The PLAN fund excels in this area.”

Members of the PLAN fund participate in hands-on training classes and peer-support programs.  The classes educate members on basic skills necessary for a successful business, including cash flow analysis, sales forecasting and marketing, and pricing and cost analysis.

“With our holistic business and personal training support program, and micro-lending, it is proven we can enable people to become more successful and sustainable entrepreneurs,” says Pace.

Soap Hope was created to be a socially responsible company from end to end.  All products are made from 100 percent natural ingredients, packaging comes from reused materials and all profits are deployed to support microfinance initiatives.

Purchasing all-natural body care products from Soap Hope not only benefits local business entrepreneurs through the PLAN Fund, but also supports independent soap makers and reduces consumer carbon footprints.  The model of Good Returns at Soap Hope leaves the consumer with only one decision to make: which soap to buy.

10:53 am  •  30 November 2009