June 2007

• Revised SPP Supplier and Purchaser Criteria now online and accepting applications!
• What is Community Economic Development?
• How to integrate Cause-Related Marketing into your business practice
• Links of the Month

Revised SPP Supplier and Purchaser Criteria now online and accepting applications!

After reviewing the criteria for listing businesses as Suppliers and Purchasers of the Social Purchasing Portal, we have arrived at a revised set of criteria that makes involvement in the SPP more meaningful and effective. Effective immediately, your business will be able to apply to be listed on the SPP as a Supplier or a Purchaser (or both) by filling out an application form and receiving a response within a 7-day time period. If you qualify as a SPP Partner, you will receive referrals of potential businesses you could supply to and purchase from, invitations to networking and information sharing sessions, and promotional materials that recognize your SPP involvement among other things. So check out the revised information for Suppliers and Purchasers!

What is Community Economic Development?

Community Economic Development (CED) is locally motivated action to create economic opportunities on a sustainable and inclusive basis. Through a multi-sectoral collaborative process, CED has the potential to develop good jobs, a vibrant downtown, a strong local economy, affordable housing, a sustainable city and opportunities for low-income Calgarians. To help advance CED in Calgary, the Calgary CED Steering Committee has been hosting information and networking events. The Alberta CED Network Cooperative has held CED learning events in Grande Prarie, St.Paul, Red Deer, and Edmonton. For more information on CED please contact David Wilson at (403) 272-9310 x256 or davidw@momentum.org.

How to integrate Cause-Related Marketing into your business practice

An emerging trend in marketing a business is to associate with a charitable cause by linking sales of products or services directly with a donation. Think about how your business can partner with a charity and encourage sales growth at the same time. For example, promote to your customers that each sale of one of your products/services will either generate a fixed dollar donation to a charity or a percentage of your profits from the sales of your products/services will be donated. Make sure to explain in detail who the charity is and why it is important to your business to support them, as well as ensuring you pick a charity that fits with your businesses area of expertise. If this area of business practice is of interest to you, email the SPP at info@sppcalgary.org and we can look at organizing a workshop to help your business do this efficiently.

Links of the Month

• Natural Step (www.naturalstep.ca) provides results orientated advisory and training services to help community and business leaders integrate social, environmental and economic decision making into their operations with a holistic, proven and scientifically-rigorous framework.
• MBAs Without Borders (www.mbaswithoutborders.org) is engaged in the field of international development, where their mission is to contribute to the business and social development of upcoming nations through work rotations of MBA professionals.

If you have good links to share, pass them along!

Go to:
• Current Issue
• Back Issues
• Subscribe to the SPP Newsletter