Selling Coffee with a Purpose?

[Mr.GreenBean]

Hello All,

I was curious about your perspective of the coffee consumer. My goal is to penetrate my local New England market. We are a Blue State, yet not very progressive.

One thought I am toying with is donating a % of proceeds on one of my blends to a local non-profit that helps families effected by childhood cancer. My question to you is if I should wait until I am up and running successfully with my wholesale coffee business for a year before doing something like this?

I dedicate a lot of my time volunteering for non-profit organizations (too much really), and know that finances will be tight for the first 6-9 months of operations. On the flip side, this could also help my sales through word of mouth promotions about our cause.

Any feedback on your experiences with this approach would be greatly appreciated.

Matt

 

[JoeConiglioArmenia]

^Good points above Alex, but Matt you need to decide A. do you want to help locally? or B. help related to any part of the under privileged coffee chain globally.

Matt if you decide to go local maybe you can work with a trustworthy organization that supported your run? Just an idea.

 

[Musicphan]

Me opinion as a consumer - having a percentage of sales go to a non-profit has little/no incentive on my buying habits. I always tend to think that it could be a negative if the charity is not "right" in the consumers head... say a political topic/cause may turn off a percentage of your consumer base. Looking at statistics only 2/3 of our population give to charity - will you turn off those 1/3 that don't? Do 'givers' align with your customer demographics?

https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/statistics/u.s.-generosity

And the reality Matt... money is going to be tight for longer than 6-9 months (hopefully not... but its a tough game)... consider yourself a charity until money isn't a issue.

 

[Mr.GreenBean]

Hey ensoluna,

I agree with your plight. My wanting to help families who are struggling with childhood cancer is something that is very personal and close to my heart. I do my best to help farmers with the beans that I choose, but my first focus is not to neglect the community that is right under my nose. I was President of a 501(c)3 for the last 2 years, and I was 100% volunteer. Know that when I chose my local charity, I will be choosing one that has a small fiscal operating budget, so that what I give actually goes to running the organization. Not towards a $75K promotional van.

Nonetheless, my question was geared towards the business aspect and pros vs cons to starting like this. And again, thank you for sharing your great idea.


Again,

 

[Mr.GreenBean]

Holy crud!

Musicphan... you are so spot on! I created a half marathon for my non-profit last year that sold out in its first year. My philosophy on road races is that every road race is raising money for a charity, so don't your race theme about your charity. Make it a fun experience that will draw runners 15 miles past the other charity race to run your race because it is different.

And it worked. To the point where we had runners flying in from FL, CA, TX, etc. Sold out to 400 runners on our first year. Why would I think that slapping a charity on a bag would make the coffee drinker buy my coffee if that particular cause does not matter to the consumer.

Thanks for opening my eyes. You are brilliant. I can give in a different way. \

Love this coffee community.