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The Business of Changing the World

Marc Benioff

Milton Friedman was wrong.

More than ever, the business of business is not only business -- it's also about changing the world. Around the globe, companies large and small are leveraging their internal resources (money, employees and products) and making tremendous contributions to the lives of others. In turn, they enhance employee performance, boost morale, reduce turnover and heighten their brand recognition.

Among many great examples: Hasbro(HAS Quote) has donated more than one million toys to needy children, Safeway(SWY Quote) donates $100 million in food to local and regional food banks annually and GlaxoSmithKline(GSK Quote) has committed a contribution worth $1 billion to help eradicate a disfiguring tropical disease called elephantiasis.

While the business philanthropy landscape has been evolving, little has been written about the companies that have smartly and successfully pursued both profits and positive social change. In The Business of Changing the World, 20 great leaders reveal exactly how they did this -- and they share how other companies can, too.

I wrote my first book, Compassionate Capitalism, the first best practices guide to corporate philanthropy, in 2003. In researching that book I found that the success of such programs comes down to leadership. The Business of Changing the World is a book about strategic corporate philanthropy, but it is also about the visionary leaders who applied innovation to the traditional philanthropic model to create broad social change.

Each chapter is dedicated to telling one company's story (among the 19 companies profiled are Starbucks(SBUX Quote), Cisco (CSCO Quote) and Timberland (TBL Quote)). Chapters cover the people and events that launched and built the company, and illuminate the environment that fostered the creation of a successful corporate giving program. Also included is an exclusive essay by the company chairman or CEO who candidly discusses in his or her own words what works (and what doesn't) when making philanthropy a part of everyday business.

Michael Dell of Dell(DELL Quote) discusses how making a commitment to environmentally sustainable products isn't just the right thing to do, it has actually saved the company millions of dollars.

Financier Michael Milken explains how applying best business approaches to healthcare and education can increase the assets of the United States by trillions of dollars. Intel(INTC Quote) Chairman Craig Barrett shares how improving educational programs will have a real impact on the future of Intel -- and the future of the U.S.

UPS'(UPS Quote) Chairman and CEO Mike Eskew illustrates how selecting a variety of midlevel managers to spend a month devoted to community work has proven instrumental in building leadership skills.

Many people and companies inspired me as I investigated this issue and created my own integrated philanthropy model. As I share in the first chapter of the book, I was introduced to the idea of combining philanthropic efforts with corporate pursuits when I was an executive at Oracle(ORCL Quote). In 1997, I was invited to the Presidents' Summit for America's Future. General Colin Powell, who just had retired as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the five living presidents at the time, had come together to say that the business of business was to not just to make a profit, but to do good while doing well. They said that businesses could use their assets -- their equity, their capital, their people and their relationships -- as a force for good in the world.

When I started salesforce.com in 1999, I created a 501(c)3 public charity called the Salesforce Foundation and I put 1% of our stock into the foundation. I also committed to give 1% of our employee's time (or 6 days a year) for volunteerism, 1% of our profits, and pledged to run nonprofits for free on our services.

This is the model I have found to be effective when approaching corporate philanthropy and I'm proud that other companies, including Google(GOOG Quote), have adopted it (they now have a foundation worth more than $1.5 billion).

As The Business of Changing the World illustrates, however, there are many ways to give back. There are also many rewards for doing so. It helps attract talented employees and customers who favor companies that care about the community. "We give because it's the right thing to do," Alan Hassenfeld, the Chairman of Hasbro, says in his essay. "We've also learned, though, that it's also the profitable thing to do."

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