One for One

A credible CSR policy (CSR = Corporate Social Responsibility) includes all departments and positions at a company. It takes into consideration employee interests, environmentally sound operations, environmental protection, humane working conditions all along the supply chain, and consumer protection.

TOMS Shoes is a shoe company that from its creation has made corporate social responsibility one of the company’s core principles. TOMS Shoes was founded by Blake Mycoskie, who after a trip to Argentina was inspired to create a shoe company that gives back. Considering sustainability, Mycoskie concluded that starting a business rather than a charity would help his impact last longer.

TOMS Shoes have fulfilled their promise and for every pair they sell they give one pair to a child in need. By this practice the company has given children in developing countries over 1,000,000 pairs of shoes since the One for One movement launched in 2006. The canvas shoes have been given to children in the United States (Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and Florida), Argentina, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Guatemala, Haiti, and South Africa. TOMS are sold at more than 500 stores nationwide and internationally, including Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Whole Foods, which features styles made from recycled materials. In January 2009, TOMS collaborated with Element Skateboards to create a line of TOMS shoes, skate decks and longboards. For each pair of TOMS Element shoes and/or skateboard bought, one of the same was given to kids at the Indigo Skate camp in the village Isithumba in Durban, South Africa. Blake Mycoskie is hoping to expand the One for One model into other areas like housing, water and schoolbooks. Mycoskie would like to create partnerships with companies so his customers can buy what they need while the same things are given to those who need them across the globe.

Other companies such as Walmart, which I talked about in my last post, also have charitable aspirations. The Walmart Foundation mission statement mentions the company’s objective to improve the live for people in their communities through financial contributions, donations and volunteerism. The Walmart foundation has pledged to give $2 billion dollars by 2015 to help hunger relief efforts in the United States.