Humanity over Profits. October 13, 2007 By Steve Fafel

It's been a while since I've posted. Russ has largely taken over blogging for the company, focusing a lot more on fundraising approaches and GiftWorks tips; I tend to focus on broader issues, which I talk about on my personal blog. But today I wanted to share a few things from this weekend's Social Venture Network conference (www.svn.org).

First, SVN was founded by Josh Mailman of the Mailman Foundation and Wayne Silby, the founder of Calvert, the leading socially responsible investment fund and foundation. Both helped fund Grameen and Grameen Phone; the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize last year was the founder of Grameen.

SVN is made up of a group of business owners, innovators, and nonprofit leaders working to change the world through their work, business practices, and economic models. Some of our members: Ben Cohen from Ben & Jerry's, fundraising author and speaker Mal Warwick, Judy Wicks of the White Dog Cafe and founder of BALLE (www.livingeconomies.org), and the late Anita Roddick of The Body Shop, who passed away last week. It's an impressive group of people committed to social change and the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit.

The panel last night talked about corporate social responsibility and sustainability, and the moderator, whose father was or is a purchaser at WalMart, works for Business for Social Responsibility (bsr.org). Panelists were from Nike, Method, and Worldwise, all of whom are seriously committed to social responsibility and sustainability.

The panelists, that is, and at least two of the companies. Nike is doing a lot of work to improve its sustainability and impact on the world, with a legitimate effort to change anything from supply chain policies to manufacturing practices. Hannah (Nike) knows her stuff. But as she spoke about Nike and Walmart, I began to feel troubled by the entire dialog. So I spoke up during the Q&A.

I don't shop at Walmart. I don't shop at most national chains because I'm committed to buying from local businesses, as the economic impact is 3 to 4 times greater when you buy from local vs national businesses. But that's not why I don't buy from Walmart; on occasion I'll buy from Target, Costco, and rarely, Lowe's.

I stopped buying at Walmart in 2001 when I learned that if they took 25% of their profits, they could provide full health coverage and living wages to all of their employees. Walmart has the largest percentage of workers receiving public, taxpayer-funded assistance--TANF, Food Stamps, Medicaid, etc. Instead of paying their workers enough to live on and adequate health insurance, Walmart pays its shareholders billions in profits. 25% of that would solve the problem, and shift the responsibility from the taxpaying public to the company.

So we're subsidizing those profits, and I have a problem with that. At Mission Research, we always pay a living wage, and we provide great health benefits. Nobody in our company will face bankruptcy because of a healthcare crisis in the family.

So yes, it troubled me that Hannah from Nike (I wear Earth Shoes now, great running shoes!) was promoting certain aspects of sustainability, but Nike itself stops at about where WalMart stops: at profit. So my question to Hannah was this: in the choice between human rights and profit, what does her board choose? In the choice between human misery and profit, what does Walmart's board choose? She answered honestly. It's profit.

At SVN, we believe in a different kind of business. Social Responsibility isn't a coat you put on everyday. You breathe it, you drink it. None of us is perfect, but the answer to the question in our board meetings will always be "humanity over profits". In the choice between greater profits and humanity, humanity wins.

We're not perfect. Ben & Jerry's was never perfect, and with the Unilever acquisition a few years ago, it will never be. None of the companies here is perfect. But we choose humanity over profits. We compete, we innovate, we fight hard to be the best, increase revenues, and build profits, but not at the expense of our neighbors, communities, and values. That's the difference between a socially responsible company and a company with an office on social responsibility. It's not an afterthought, it's part of the framework of principles that inform our vision, planning, decision-making, and execution.

My co-founders and I donated a combined 20% of our personal stock in Mission Research to the Underdog Foundation and the Mailman Foundation as part of our commitment to social responsibility. The company is over 27% foundation owned. We like making money. We enjoy serving customers with affordable, easy to use fundraising software, and we invest in customer service and education (more coming!). But this company will never choose profits over humanity. 

Pittsburgh Post Gazette Publishes My Opinion on Healthcare... April 19, 2007 By Steve Fafel

As the CEO of Mission Research, I don't get involved in political issues on behalf of the company very often. I have a ton of opinions on a wide variety of issues, but some of the only issues I feel it's appropriate for me to speak out on in my capacity as CEO are healthcare and sustainability.

On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette published my opinion on single-payer healthcare, something I've actively advocated for since 2003. I truly believe it's in the best interest of Mission Research and our customers, it's best for business, it's best for nonprofits, it's best for families, and best for the economy.

And it's a moral imperative.

EXCERPT

"As a businessperson in the state's technology sector, I encourage other businesses to look seriously at SB 300 and to condemn the governor's costly, inadequate approach. You can either continue with ever-escalating health-care costs; inadequate insurance coverage; high insurance-company sales, marketing and executive spending; costly ER visits by the uninsured, and businesses relocating to states with better systems, or you can demand change."

Go to www.helpfundpa.org and donate to fuel the advocacy effort, and read the bill itself. The work they are doing there is really great, and the bill will be introduced soon. This can be a greta model for the rest of the country, and is to date the best plan in the country (I've read them all, and yes, it's not fun reading this stuff!).

Thanks for listening and tolerating the occasional opinion. So do you have health insurance?

Back at Work--A bit March 20, 2007 By Steve Fafel

Today Chris Walker picked me up at home and helped me get my jacket on. It's tough with the sling, but I can usually do it myself be now. I'm learning to be self-sufficient as a right-hander with a right-shoulder injury; my left hand is able to write a bit and use a mouse now.

After a few hellos I held a couple of "quick" meetings, mostly about product development. Then we held the first company meeting since the accident. I started with me--people have been asking and wondering when or if I'm ever returning:) The good news about the broken shoulder is it's healing well. The bad news is I'll still be out of the office for most of the next 4 weeks.

Next, I explained a bit about our product schedule for GiftWorks. I'll post the details here in the next week or so, but the short version is we've released 5 free updates containing about 60 features and a larger number of changes or fixes. The next major update comes April 23rd, and that will include a significant upgrade to our QuickBooks integration, plus some other fixes and features you have been clamoring for.

This summer you will have a renewed, redesigned, and simpler way of handling households. Mary Pat Donnellon is the dedicated product manager on GiftWorks and will be posting here about the changes and improvements over the next few months. Oh--the next version of Giftworks is going to rock, and is scheduled for either June 30 or later in the summer, depending on how we decide to roll out the features. I expect you'll want it sooner than later, and for the other additions to come later in the year. Let us know (we'll send a survey).

Finally, Online Donations will be ready in 2 weeks. This has taken longer than we expected, but it will be well worth the wait. The forms are well-designed and easy to use, and the transactions import easily into GiftWorks. More on that later from Chris Walker when we get closer to the date.

It's good to be back. While I was there I squeezed in a meeting on the Lancaster Free Wireless project, which I'm catalyzing but not working on directly, and another with the ED of the Lancaster Y (I'm on the Board). By 4 pm I was pretty tired and ready to head home.

My takeaway from today? Hire great people. And ask them to recruit people who will reflect well on them. We have a great set of people working hard to serve customers, and we get it right most of the time. It's a pleasure to see thing running  so smoothly, so see how deeply everyone cares about serving nonprofits and how they will go to the mat to solve a problem or get a feature or change approved. We don't always get it right, but with the right people, always make it right.

So everyone at Mission Research, thanks for your support. And customers--you too. We've heard you and we're digging deeper to do well for you. I love this job.

Succession Planning March 12, 2007 By Steve Fafel

9 days ago I was on a date and in a moment of proving chivalry was not dead, I slipped on ice while reaching for the passenger side door, landing on my shoulder. The shoulder shattered, and ever since I've been out of the office coping with the constant pain and regular painful muscle spasms. It's going to be a long road--8 weeks, but likely more if they decide to operate, which is likely given the doctor described my shoulder as "mush". Thanks doc.

I can barely type, certainly not more than a few minutes at a time, even though my fingers are fine. I can't drive my car (yay Prius!). I can't play piano or guitar, can't tie my shoes, and many times simply can't move. The pain medication helps as long as I don't move or get jostled. Riding in cars is now completely out of the question after the past few days of my drivers hitting speed bumps and potholes. Ouch.

In my absence, COO Leron Lehman will take over some of my duties. Chris Walker will step up for others, and we'll have team leader meetings in my living room. I'll still coach and help people make decisions, but I'm dropping out of product cycles. I'll still have a hand in marketing, but other than that, I'm toast.

Last year we had the Truck discussion: what happens if I get hit by a truck? Or rather, what happens if I can't work ever again, or for 3 months, which is possible now?

We started looking for a director of operations last summer. Leron was my accountant, and had startup experience and was not your typical accountant--he is a strategic thinker. So after a few months of getting to know each other better, we hired him as COO, my right hand man.

Over the past 18 months we've been careful to hire team leaders who can act autonomously, lead their teams, and still follow the overall strategic goals. Mary Pat Donnellon was one of those hires, and we've recently assigned her to be product manager of the new version of GiftWorks, scheduled for later this summer. Internally we've developed Megan Corr into a self-driven marketing manager; actually she was already self-driven, but now she's really grown into her role.

We've hired a sales and support manager in Joe Rock, who has brought clarity and unity between the two groups and is currently building out that team. And Russ Burke, as always, takes the initiative on a number of customer education efforts regularly.

We're not finished succession planning or disaster planning, but we're close. My question to you is this: what happens if YOU are hit by a truck? Who picks up from where you left off? How does your board know who to bring in, or how to recruit? is your role documented enough that someone could read it and start filling in right away? Do you have a statement of principles for everything you do?

We do, and we don't. I've been working on institutionalizing my  role as much as possible over the past 6 months, in case something like, well, this happens. We are doing it for all of our roles, and for the company principles. We're also doing some of the basic disaster planning stuff, but that's a lot easier.

I'm tired from typing and should get back to bed. You can still email me but I'm generally not working, and only holding occasional meetings. If you'd like to send flowers or chocolate or a nice guitar, save it and send a check instead to the Lancaster Y---it would be most appreciated. In the meantime, develop your Truck Plan, the instruction manual for when you are suddenly incapacitated. And I hope, truly, that it gathers dust for all time.

Ice Cream, Anyone? January 30, 2007 By Steve Fafel

Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's recently invested in Mission Research. While I think we're a great investment for customers, employees, and investors, I think for Ben it's more than the possibility of upside. It's about our triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit. Here's what he said for the press release:

“The founders at Mission Research, through their contribution to the Underdog Foundation, are providing a great example for the next generation of corporate leaders”, said Ben Cohen (founder of Ben and Jerry’s and investor in Underdog Ventures).

He's referring to a substantial donation of stock Dave, Chris, and I made, which  I'll talk about separately sometime soon. David Berge leads Underdog and is a force of nature himself. here's what he said:

“A lot of people seem to think that you can either get involved in business or get involved in helping your community.  The founders of Mission Research are showing that your business can be one of the best ways to help your community”, said David Berge, CEO of Underdog Ventures Legacy Fund.  He added, “At a time when you read so many stories about the harm that businesses are doing to the environment and to their communities, it’s particularly important to support companies like Mission Research, whose products help smaller non-profits and who have set aside part of their company to give back to charitable organizations.”

Last year we donated over $1 million of software to needy nonprofits. We made GiftWorks free to any Katrina-affected nonprofit (sadly, many of those never recovered after their donor bases were scattered across the country). Next month we'll announce another series of software donations as well.

But philantrhopy and community support is just one leg of our mission. Our internal culture is one of respect and autonomy. Respect includes what we think is a smart investment: full health coverage for our employees. We pay higher than a living wage, and all employees have stock options. And our turnover is very low--we have great employees who work hard for our customers. Perhaps it's our application of the golden rule, perhaps it's the free m&ms provided by Barb, but there's something to that.

Finally, we're committed to changing the world through our work. When nonprofits work more efficiently, they can spend more time and money on their missions and less on technology and training. We know we're having impact, and it drives us to work harder to help nonprofits do more with fewer resources.

So next time you go for ice cream, keep us in mind and grab some Ben & Jerry's. And read Ben's new book called Values-Driven Business, which he co-wrote with Mal Warwick, our friend and advisor.

Sustainable Business Practices May 25, 2006 By Steve Fafel

We impact our customers, employees, investors, and community. The world, in fact; we produce software that sometimes gets packaged, and that packaging starts from trees and oil--dwindling resources. Trees for the paper or cardboard, and oil for CDs if we make CDs.

Trees are harvested, and then in some process that must be like making sausage, turned into paper. That paper gets cut and shipped to distributors, which then ship to retail distribution centers or retail outlets directly. The shipping itself requires energy, as does the manufacturing of paper. That energy comes from diesel fuel, or burning coal, or nuclear, wind, or solar energy. But mostly it's fossil fuels.

The trucks that carry the materials use oil-based tires. The waste from the manufacturing can and often does pollute streams and rivers. Rain washes tire tread waste that leaches into the soil and streams.

So when we say we're about to start using 100% post-consumer recycled paper, and will start to require that from our suppliers, you can see why. We're also likely to discontinue most CD manufacturing, and will no longer ship CDs to customers--you can download the software with minimal negative impact on the world, and 100% positive impact on your nonprofit (we hope!).

Check out New Leaf Paper to learn more, and consider how you can cost effectively minimize your negative impact on the world, and maximize your positive impact.

Back from Nicaragua January 31, 2006 By Steve Fafel

On Friday I spent some time at a music store and bought some instruments for the kids--a few guitars and some rhythm intruments, then spent the rest of the day at Casa Alianza. The kids gathered in the courtyard and we played a few Beatles tunes (the kids asked for Nirvana but I couldn't bring myself to play it).

Later I played basketball with a number of the kid. I'm in no shape to play anything at the moment, but we played for over an hour and I made it through with merely a sprained ankle and some cuts.

Nicaragua is in a little better shape than my last visit; it's a little cleaner, has better roads and more chain stores, and it seems there are a lot of new cars on the road. But the poverty is just better hidden, and the number of street kids has increased. There's hope, of course, as always.

On the way down I ran into some people volunteering for Operation Smile, and some others working on an orphanage in Matagalpa. As I left I remembered why I started Mission Research in the first place--it was after spending a ton of time in Central America and New York trying to help with human rights issues, trying to help nonprofits but not really finding where I fit.

I think this is it. Mission Research. Our mission is to support your mission. We make the tools for your work. And we make them affordable and easy to use so you can spend more of your precious resources on your mission, and less on technology. It's a great fit, and a fulfilling one.

Slow blog week November 23, 2005 By Steve Fafel

I've been off for a few days, though it's tough to be truly off.  I've postponed vacations 3 time, and the one I took I worked 12 hours a day. Not fun.

This working "vacation" I'm doing a lot of computer maintenance at home--reinstalling Windows, all my audio software, replacing drives, etc. My next project is to give wireless to the block near the office. We're in a low-income area and have a T-1 we can happily share.

In the meantime, check out co-Founder Dave Waver's blog on GiftWorks development.

Moving Day July 21, 2005 By Steve Fafel

Mission Research moved to new space about a week ago--with no interruption of service! Chris did an excellent job of managing the move. This is the first time I've moved where phones and internet worked from Day 1!

The new space is in an old tobacco warehouse in Lancaster. Our floor is 8400 sf, has brick walls and high ceilings and there's room to for growth--we'll need it!

Here are some pics: First, the Big Empty...

...the big mess

...and Steve with the big sugar overload.