How to embed giving within an organization by forming habits, showing impact and building connections for good as you Buy1Give1 with Masami Sato

Imagine a coffee shop giving access to life-saving water for every coffee they sell, or accountants educating a child in need for every client they serve... And imagine if every time you sold one of your products or services, something great happened.

As I recently joined B1B1 I was able to invite Founder of B1G1 (BUY1GIVE1) Masami Sato to share with me all about this Global Business Giving Initiative which I believe also meets a real need for companies to be able to demonstrate the impact of their contributions by using some innovative technology apps.

Since 2007, B1G1 has worked with more than 2,700 businesses from all industries creating over $200m in impact.

Email Signatures Full of Brand Promise
Create Branded Email Signatures for All Employees in Few Minutes.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

Jim: 0:00

Masami Sato. Welcome to the speak PR podcast.

Masami: 0:04

Thank you for having me.

Jim: 0:05

Masami Sato. You're the founder of and you're joining me today from Singapore, which is a place close to my heart as well. Tell us about B1G1

Masami: 0:14

Okay. So B went through a songs and it's all strange, right. But the one day, man also stands for the idea of buy one, give one. And so if you imagine a world full of giving, where, for example you have a cup of coffee and then at the same time, a child in need receives the access to life-saving water, or every time you purchase a book, a tree. It gets planted though. Every time you go to see your health guru or a doctor, then somebody else in the world receives the access to healthcare. So this is the world of the one-to-one and the, how we make it happen is by working with businesses around the world and to help them and bed effective, giving it in what they do. So this is a business initiative and Since the starting, it'd be one. Why in 2007, we have worked with at close to 3000 businesses and those businesses have already created over 200 million giving an impact. So these impacts could be novel, but trees being planted or meals being given or books being contributed and so on. So yeah, so that's kind of, in a nutshell. That's amazing. And having just recently joined I was impressed as well by how structured now organized it is. And from a public relations point of view, interested in the CSR element as well.

Jim: 1:38

Masami so one of the aspects that struck me was it. The platform that you've got that helps companies like East West PR to share what I'm doing. Can you just talk about how you connect those 3000 companies and all of those worthy causes?

Masami: 1:56

Yeah. Because when we look around the world and what's happening, actually we don't have a lack of giving. Like there are lots of opportunities for people and companies to donate money to charities. But what we realized when we started. There'll be one J bomb was that, that there were three important things that were missing in the business giving or charity giving space. Those are impact the habits and the connection. So the first, the thing is the impact that the VB realized that even when people or companies are donating money, it was always about the amount of money you give to you know, specific fatality, for example. And they wasn't the necessarily the clear or tangible about the impact that people get to create by giving. So we realized that dish giving can be much more tangible and clear in terms of the outcome. That is a specific amount of money can create. So we focused on that and then the next thing is a habit. So if everything is driven by ad hoc activities, such as big charity bowl or a natural disaster that happened, and then suddenly lots of donation goes to a particular coast, but then it's only happens once. And then. Die down. So we realized that the habit was very important in making the long-term lasting impact. So, and then finally, we also saw to that that giving can really unite people together. And bring people together with a shared sense of like giving spirit so that when businesses are giving and if they are inspired about what they are doing on the day-to-day basis through their work and then sharing which they are genuine sense of caring and the giving spirit, the way as their customers, team members, then giving has the potential to unite the people together. So that's why we, every single we do in B one G one today focuses on those three things. So you just asked about the sharing part of how businesses get to share what they're doing. So it's possible because we, you know, focuses on data, three things that impact the habitat connection. And so for example if business giving was really about embedding giving, then it could be that the, every podcast episode that might create a special impact or every download of a specific resources could create that impact. And it's very easy in to for businesses to find A specific project that they get to support even from just 1 cent, right? Like, so even just 1 cent, they can create that impact. There were few that I was acquitted to plant the trees in specific regions or help educate children in various different countries. So when things are tangible and every time businesses are doing good through their business activities, then we could provide them like you know, Dynamic widget that they could embed on their website, which it shows the actual impact of the count. Right. Rather than just the fact that, that the company ABC supposed to Teddy T X or so in one, one way that can be always think about that this you know, using the innovation and technology in making the giving more meaningful and impactful for the companies that, and I've seen that and they widget and they. Opportunity for companies like East Western, these 3000 companies to build a good habit and contribute on a regular basis, I think is really a great, great way of doing it. How are you sort of connecting those companies? If a company signs up to be one G one, how can they find which companies to, to connect to this army? Cause we've all got different, different interests. Haven't we. Mm. Mm, true. One thing about the B one German, because we don't necessarily target one industry. Like we are not about just the restaurant and then trying to work with as many restaurants as we can, or just walking away to a specific service business. Like, because it'd be one-to-one model actually works for all kinds of businesses. And, you know, we, we, we can even work a bit very Piney business or even start up companies because it's very, very easy to do so. So that's why sometimes it's difficult for us to say, okay, this is exactly how we are going to connect with these businesses. So in our case, how do you want your mind has grown over the years? Is through a lot of referral activities. So in the earlier days, when there was no demand and also awareness for social impact or even corporate social responsibilities we have to get out there and then go and visit the different, the business meetings or events to try to talk to individual businesses and get to know them. And so it took really a lot of time to get to know more and more businesses. And. Bring them on board in this initiative. But over the years, I think that awareness is a building that the more in the more business people today, thinking about the, how to do more meaningful work, you know, whether or not it's about effective giving that's still a work in progress like in the world, but still more and more business owners that are BD, like wondering how they could. Have a greater sense of purpose or to make their business activities more meaningful and purposeful. So with the growing awareness for this kind of business mindset, it's became much easier to reach more business people through word of mouth. So many of the companies that we work with, they are the ones that are also championing this messaging and that the spirit of giving and the spreading the word. So they, you know, embed the widget on their website or spreading the word in different social media channels and by empowering them to share their own sense of kind of passion and purpose and impact, then we can reach more businesses. So that's how we are spreading. I love that. Masami the, the way that you're helping companies like mine by using these widgets to make it go viral. Because what you've got with the widget is actually a totalizer right. It continues to demonstrate both that a B one G one level, but also at an individual company level, what you've contributed.

Jim: 8:26

Which I think that dynamic element makes it really, really real. Tell us a little bit about the, the organizations that are within that are the recipients, how are they impacted and how are they kind of connecting to those contributors?

Masami: 8:43

So, because we focus on impact. So that's why the type of organizations that we work with are also focused on the impacts that they are creating. So they may not be necessarily very famous charity brands that everybody know of. And many of the cases that these organizations as a charity, you know, a brand that they may not be so well-known, but we choose them based on the specific ways that they bring different impacts to the world. So they may have come to us through also recommendations and referrals from other charities or other businesses that we work with. regardless of the ways that they come to us, we take them through the assessment, the process that we have and make sure that these organizations would that be bringing in, in this initiative meet the, the criteria we set, because it's really about. Did that impact that we get to create this or that organizations need to have an experience and track record in that specific area of work. And then also have a good financial management as well. So it's naturally limited. That type of organizations will be, we can work with immediately, but still that's fundamentally one of the important components. And but you also work with them closely. The, to make sure that we break down that impacts in micro impact the unit. So this is kind of one of the ways that the B one G one model works for businesses in a very unique way, such as like every time you send that email, you actually can make a specific impact, you know, such as give access. To someone in need for a day or every time you have a meeting, you can, you know, give a brick to, to, to build a school or you could plant a tree or clean up the beach, or so yeah, so the tangibility is a key and we are very fortunate to be working with some amazing charity organizations that are doing really great work.

Jim: 10:46

And so what you're talking about there is almost sort of a micro donations, isn't it? You know, so rather than sort of saving up for a hero check, one can actually contribute a dollar. If you like to, is that, is that right? Masami so it becomes very, very granular, right?

Masami: 11:03

And that's very important because when we try to do something really big, then sometimes we become overwhelmed or we feel like we are not ready to do such a big thing and then delay the actions. But if we could do, if we could create a small impact even with a small amount of money, then actually there is no need to wait. Until the business becomes very profitable or super successful, you know? So that w one day you can set up your own foundation or anything like that. So we really love the fact that that even small business can embed a giving in that they do the activities that they are having. And then at the same time experience the joy of giving and the impact that they get to create that together with the people that they work with.

Jim: 11:52

I can see that having joined and started to review some of those companies and an organizations. So just take us through some of the categories and some of the countries where the recipients are. Can you.

Masami: 12:05

There are more than 42 countries that we have a project in and there are more than 500 project. So it's difficult to say, you know, exactly where we want to run projects, but those are projects are also aligned with. Global sustainable development goals. So which means that then in all of the 17 sustainable development goals businesses get defined a specific project that kind of aligned with that. So for example, there are plenty of environmental causes today in the really early days, or be one-to-one I think in general, like, Busy people. And the businesses wanted to support more emotional project like supporting the child education or, you know, helping people with disabilities. So these are more popular project, but today more and more companies are also keen to support environmental causes such as planting trees or. Cleaning up the beaches or even like saving the food waste and delivering the best skewed food, wet food, like leftover food to people in need. So that certain type of impact can serve two different purpose, like rather than one, one type of impact there. So yeah, lots of creative projects that coming up. Now that the many charities, these becoming more innovative in terms of how to use the limited resources to create the greatest impact. So we BD like excited about the, how these innovation is driving the change much faster today.

Jim: 13:41

if one then is using the platform, do I communicate directly with the, recipient of the money? And do they write back to me, or is B1G! As an intermediary kind of filtering what's going on?

Masami: 13:57

Yeah, I understand. Like we, we really understand that, that desire to have that direct contact, but we actually intentionally minimize this and that there were reasons. First of all, let's say when we facilitated BD direct contact between givers and recipient. Sometimes it's ended up creating sense of a dependency in the recipient decide because they feel like they are helped by somebody else who had more. And then not really, they feel like that's their position. So and then also when we want to maximize. Staff effectiveness of the work that, that these organizations are doing, then it's better to focus on helping them make the impact rather than making them too busy, facilitating these contacts. So between donors and yeah, so we, we kind of all this and then, but because we really want to make the giving experience more meaningful. Of course for the donors too. So that's why B one G one play a part in sharing all sorts of updates to the people who are giving, but not necessarily making that direct link to the specific beneficiary of the giving. So that's one thing. Another thing we do though, is the facilitation of study tours. So even though today we cannot have a day, the trips are happening because of the pandemic. But before the pandemic, we had an annual study trips where we took small group of people to visit the seven projects and that. Gave them an understanding of the impact of being created, but whenever we had this kind of experience, and so we always introduced to that group of people. Yeah. I think those project locations, as like the learner, as you know, we are here to learn from you. These are donors who will help you. So it's very good consultant to make sure that the, any form of interactions and connections will be full very equal and the never about the food is giving and food is being helped.

Jim: 15:54

No, that's a really nice, so you're avoiding a sense of dependency and also of control. What does it cost? Because one of the criticisms of charities is often that too much money goes on the charitable organization and tootle on the recipient.

Masami: 16:09

So our model is different from usual charity model because we never take a percentage of donations from that companies giving to different degrees. So a hundred percent of all of them giving that businesses would do it with go to the project. And we even top up their credit card charges in that process, because if like it's one sense to give access to. What that is somebody for one day. And then we took the percentage. Then that 1 cent cannot go to get water. So we top up at the bank, the credit card charges as well. So the question is then how do we run this initiative? And the cover, all of the associated costs. So luckily we have. The business membership model. So a tiny businesses will contribute a little bit to this thing called the movement to fund, which helps us to then develop all our systems and the resources tools for the businesses. So we are as a social enterprise, so really focused on delivering value to participate in companies because they are like our clients, right. Like members. So that's how it. And then larger companies might contribute a little bit more for whether the movement, the fund. So we make sure that, that the resources to build it, the initiative and the donations that goes to the project clearly separated. And

Jim: 17:30

I think it's also a charitable organization registered in Singapore and the UK, right.

Masami: 17:34

Basically the giving palatable go to the registered charity in the States. And then the membership components will be the one to go to the social enterprise in Singapore. But either way that is, are, there are also more in the more. In a project that joining in the United Kingdom as well. So if you want to support local charities, or if you want to invite the charities that, you know, have to be one to buy as well.

Jim: 18:02

If people want to find out more about you, where can they come to connect to you?

Masami: 18:07

So the best place to go to is B one G one.com. But also if you are interested in connecting with me personally, then you can find me on LinkedIn as well.

Jim: 18:17

Masami Sato, founder of be one-to-one. Thank you so much for joining me today, all the way from Singapore on the speak PR podcast.

Masami: 18:25

Thank you. Great to be here. Great.

Jim: 18:28

So you've been listening to Masami Sato founder of the B1G1 group, and I will put links to her website in the show notes. So thanks for listening to this episode to speak PR in the meantime, I wish you the best of health, a sustainable business, and just think about every time you're doing something, right. Could you be giving something and sharing something? Because my experience is that there's a lot of value in creating value, but even more in sharing that value with others. Thank you so much for listening.