2. • B Lab is a nonprofit
organization that serves a
global movement of
entrepreneurs through
business to solve social and
environmental issues.
• B Corp is the legal sector of
the organization and gives
B Corp certified companies
legal protection to pursue a
higher purpose than profit,
and offer transparency and
accountability.
4. Annual Funds & Capital Campaigns
• B Lab does not do any
individual fundraising
• They rely on
foundations for
fundraising
contributions
• Why? To seeks higher
priced contributions
70%
30%
Fundraising Efforts
Family
Foundations
Commercial
Funds
5. Fundraising on their own?
B Lab is successful without internal fundraising but
could create higher brand recognition if they had their
own measures like a:
“ Sustainable Drive”
a recycle drive to bring electronics and green
equipment, like compost bins and energy efficient light
bulbs to donate to the less fortunate communities
Sponsored by their B Corp partners
6. MARKETING TOOLS
• Global bike ride to bring
awareness to
environmental issues
• crowd funded by the
communities surrounding
the bike rides
• Increased participants and
funding every year
7. Marketing Tools
Every year, B Lab recognizes the top ten companies
creating the most impact for a better world
These top companies are publicly recognized through
Forbes, the B Corp website, and the industry in which
the company belongs to
8. Marketing Team & Campaign
• Marketing Team:
- Director of Marketing, Creative, visual,
social media, and PR
• Marketing Campaign:
- Johnson & Wales
- other sustainability organizations
9. Donor Relations
• B Lab lets their future donors come to them instead of
seeking them out
• Rely on companies who are B Corp certified to donate
money and bring other donors in
• companies pay an annual certification fee ranging from
$500 to over $50,000
• Online option to donate money to the organization
10. Kara Peck
Currently:
-Certified B Corp Sustainability Consultant
Previously:
-Business Development Manager at YR&G, a sustainability
consulting firm
Schooling:
-University of Denver, MBA in Strategic Stakeholder
Communications
-University of Colorado Boulder, BS in Business Marketing
Advice:
- “Get out there and volunteer wherever you can. Even if it is an
organization you think you aren’t interested in, because you will
always learn something and create open doors to other
organizations.”
11. My Opinion & Recommendations
If B Lab used the media to publicize their marketing
events, they would be better known by individuals in
the community
Market towards the consumer
- Increase demand for sustainable businesses
Increase fundraising and donor giving:
- Getting out there and creating public events for business
owners and consumers
Hi my name is Monica Brattich, I volunteered with the organization B Lab, and just wanted to say that it has been a pleasure to be your classmate!
Overview:
B Lab is a nonprofit organization that serves a global movement though businesses to solve social and environmental issues.
B Lab is mostly known by it’s legal sector B Corp because when businesses become certified they are called a B Corporation or simply B Corp.
The purpose behind the legal sector is to allow businesses to pursue a higher purpose than profit while maintaining stock and shareholders.
So what exactly is a B Corp?
B Corp is like being Organic or Fair Trade Certified. The major difference is that the entire business becomes a B Corp whereas organic and fair trade only measure a specific product.
For my volunteer work, I helped a company take the B Lab Assessment which measures their sustainable business measures while decreasing their carbon footprint and giving back to the community. At the end of the assessment, the company is given their results and can continue to work towards becoming certified as a B Corp.
What B Corp stands for is shown through the pictures on the screen and exemplifies the business King Arthur and their B Corp values.
Annual Funds & Capital Campaign:
B Lab does not handle money like a traditional non-profit because they do not do any individual fundraising. Any budget the organization has goes mainly to staff resources.
Through their fundraising efforts, family foundations make up 70% because the donating families care for the cause and want to see more companies become B Corp Certified. The other 30% comes from commercial funds, which are the B Corp companies.
Fundrasing:
Even though B Lab is successful without internal fundraising, they could create higher brand recognition by implementing their own form of fundraising. B Lab could put on a “Sustainable Drive” to bring awareness to the community on who they are and what B Lab stands for. This drive would allow people to bring items they no longer use or need and donate them to less fortunate communities.
One of their major marketing tools:
Even though B Lab does not directly fundraise on their own, they have some measurements on their marketing, advertising, and brand awareness. Climate Ride is one of their major marketing tools to bring awareness to environmental issues related to climate change. The cyclists end at their city’s capital building and act as lobbyists for environmental causes.
B Lab’s second major marketing tool is “Best for The World” which is an award publicly honored to the top ten companies creating positive change.
These marketing tools get the organizations name in the public eye and create brand recognition through their popularly seen logo “B the change”.
-B Lab has a marketing team consisting of a Director of Marketing, as well as an individual for the creative, visual, social media, and PR aspects.
-B Lab does not have many marketing and fundraising strategies, but have lot of activities through Johnson & Wales and other sustainability organizations.
-Some of these activities are discussion panels, information meetings, and assessment help for businesses.
B Lab, as stated before is a very different type of organization, letting their future donors come to them instead of seeking them out.
B Lab relies on companies who are B Corp certified to donate money and bring other donors in.
To be certified as a B Corp, the company pays an annual certification fee ranging from $500 to over $50,000, depending on their level of sales.
On the B Corp website, There is an online donation option to donate through as well.
My supervisor was Kara Peck, who has been working with B Lab for a little over one year.
Kara helps companies become a certified B Corp and take the lead on consultant events for businesses to attend.
Before joining the B Lab team, Kara was a Business Development Manager at a sustainability consulting firm. She did roughly the same thing there by identifying markets, potential clients and partners for the firm.
All of her past work experience involved sustainability and rooted from her childhood, where she was always outdoors and grew a love for the environment. In college, she was part of a “green” sustainability club and from there, her career path followed.
My Opinion:
B Lab is successful; however I do not think they are particularly well known. By increasing their PR, I think the idea behind B Corps would become the next big thing.
A lot of businesses know or at least have heard of B Corp but if they marketed towards the consumer, the demand for B Corps, in my opinion, would become much greater.
Lastly, Just like fundraising, I believe B Lab could increase their donor giving by getting out there and creating public events for business owners and consumers to donate and express their want for more sustainable businesses.
