CheckingForCharity.com

CheckingForCharity.com is now up and running. For those who don't know what the Checking For Charity Corporation is you can check out my previous posts here or join our Facebook movement here. The website will serve as our vehicle to spread information regarding the tournament as well as the donation center for the charity. If you are interested in donating or in putting in a team please visit the site.

The whole experience of forming the charity has been very frustrating at times but very rewarding as well. As more teams get locked in to play and represent their various charities I think it will be all the more rewarding. If more and more people join the Checking For Charity movement and spread the word to friends and local businesses the whole experience could morph into something that is truly special. If you are interested in joining the Checking For Charity street team dedicated to spreading our mission please continue to check the website and Facebook page. Thanks to all who have contributed so much so far.

Checking For Charity Corporation - A Journey In The Formation Of A Movement

Checking For Charity Movement is now on Facebook. If you are interested in joining look it up on Facebook or leave me your email via the comments section or a direct email. Not all charitable contributions are monetary, and in the case of Checking For Charity one of the most valuable things you can do is make others aware. The charity started out as a bunch of hockey guys who wanted to throw together a tournament. Now it has become a story that represents everyone who wants to be a part of something that contributes. Join us.

Checking For Charity Corporation - A Journey In The Formation Of A Movement

Yesterday the paperwork went through for the formation of my first company. Oddly with all my posts about personal finance and business, my first venture is a non profit. I never really planned to have my first company be a non profit but it just kind of worked out that way and I am excited to see how it goes. Combine learning about business with a great cause and I couldn't be any more excited to make this journey a success. For all you BadskiBlog readers I plan to update you on the successes and struggles associated with the formation and creation of the Checking For Charity movement.

Since I moved to New Jersey I have played men's league hockey. Having finished a Division I college hockey career just prior to the move, I was looking for something to fill the void. About the time I arrived something interesting was beginning to form amongst the hockey has beens (and never was') in our area. A Sunday skate rental began to grow into very tight knit group of guys that formed their own little hockey community; a tribe if you will. After skates we would all hang out and drink a few barley pops and barbecue. A powerful network was formed.

I don't know how it happened but I came up with the idea of putting on a hockey tournament. I thought I could start a business surrounding something I was familiar with, hockey. I could learn something and maybe make a few bucks in the process. Then I thought it would be cool to donate some of the profits to charity. As I started messing around with the numbers I realized that the profit margins of a typical hockey tournament aren't the greatest, especially if you aren't the owner of the ice, and a small percentage of the profits would also be quite a small monetary portion as well. Well why not make it where we donate all the money to charity?

I started tooling around with the idea of how we could get creative with a charity tournament and thought that each team could declare a charity that they were going to play for. Each team would receive money for their charity and all teams would have the opportunity to win more of a percentage based on how they finished in tournament play. I thought it was a pretty cool idea that would add some competition to a good cause. I also thought it would incentivize each team to hit the donation push. Team's would be more likely to tell their friends, coworkers, and neighborhood businesses to donate to a tournament in which they have a vested interest; their cause. To be honest I just didn't want to be the only one out their drumming up donations for the tournament pot. I felt that this was the easiest way to get everyone involved. I brought it up to a few friends and they thought it was a cool idea so I mentioned it to the Sunday hockey guys. That is when things really started to get interesting. Guys started volunteering to help out. People started soliciting ideas to make the tournament better. People basically appointed themselves to the tournament committee. The whole idea just started to take off. It truly was and continues to be a pleasure to be surrounded with people who are willing to step up and create something special. We are only in the beginning stages but already professionals such as lawyers, bankers, and everything in between are offering their services for free just to be a part of this idea.

Not only is the volunteer base growing, but the scope of possibility surrounding what Checking For Charity is all about it growing. It went from being some little tournament to something bigger, something that feels a little bit more exciting. I think that it is turning into a movement, and I really hope that I am right. I think this is the story of a bunch of guys who feel lucky and blessed enough to live a life where they can play the game they love, drink some beers, and hang out with good dudes. The story of normal people who want to create something larger than themselves. I don't want to give away all the surprises on the first Checking For Charity update, but my gut tells me that this thing is brewing and it may well turn into something worth talking about. If you feel the same forward this post, digg this article, spread the word.

Badski's Consumer Report - Toms Shoes

Badski's Consumer Report - Today I watched a show I DVR'd about two months ago called The Entrepreneurs. The show airs on CNBC and features two cool entrepreneurs each in a short half hour segment. I have seen it before but when I watched it today there was one brand that caught my attention. That brand is Toms shoes.

Toms shoes has a simple mantra; one for one. For every pair of shoes that is purchased the company donates a pair of shoes to a child in need of shoes. This socially conscious business model is something I have become very interested in lately. The concept is very appealing to me. The business raises money for charity that wouldn't have been raised otherwise and they are rewarded with business and profit from people who are seeking a simple way to make a difference. To me this is the way of business in the future. It almost serves as a competitive advantage to give some of your money to a worthy cause as there is a certain buzz around your product or service that traditional companies just don't have. I think the younger generations embrace this concept more so than previous generations and I look forward to hopefully creating a socially conscious for profit of my own some day (I am currently working on my first non profit).

In 2006 an American traveler, Blake Mycoskie, befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created a company that would match every pair of shoes sold with a pair given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by caring TOMS customers.

Since our beginning, TOMS has given over 140,000* pairs of shoes to children in need through the One for One model. Because of your support, TOMS plans to give over 300,000 pairs of shoes to children in need around the world in 2009.

Our ongoing community events and Shoe Drop Tours allow TOMS supporters and enthusiasts to be part of our One for One movement. Join us.

Mycoskie explained in the feature I watched how they use very little advertising to further their brand. They rely heavily on their story to spread and through celebrity endorsements. Having read a few Seth Godin books lately (see Personal MBA Updates), I can tell that Mycoskie gets it. He is a proven entrepreneur and with Toms he is a living how to guide for the new era of business. He has created a tribe, a movement to spread his story. Yeah his shoes are cool and they are based on the native shoe design of the very people he started out helping in Argentina, but people can get shoes anywhere. He has created a movement, even calling it such on their website. Their shoe drop tours allow consumers to help deliver shoes to needy kids. Not only do they deliver they shoes, every shoe is placed on the feet of those children. That is commitment to a cause; that is a movement. He has laid out a vision for the future, taken the lead, and empowered others to spread the word. What the company does not spend in advertising allows them to carry out their one for one mantra and still remain profitable. Their story is remarkable and therefore it will spread. Mycoskie gets it. Still don't believe me? Check out the video below and you will see why this isn't a shoe company, but a movement.

Although this isn't the typical Badski Consumer Report, I felt I had to showcase an excellent business model that is the embodiment of many of the lessons I have been reading about lately in my personal education quest. I plan to purchase my first pair of Toms in the next week or so, but even more powerful than purchasing shoes is spreading the word about a great idea. Hopefully my soon to be unveiled non profit venture can emulate some of what the Toms movement has created. Hopefully our story will create a movement.