It has been a great week at Aura Collective.
Out of the blue, a wonderful mid-size regional company purchased a range of items from Aura and in so doing, initiated a $300+ donation to the Huntington Society of Canada. And all this company did was purchase thoughtful gifts for their employees or customers from Aura Collective.
I wish every company had the foresight to understand that, by purchasing corporate gifts from Aura Collective, the company is supporting remarkable Canadian artists and, at the same time, supporting the company's charity of choice. Why? Because Aura Collective donates 15% of the retail price of every item sold to the customer's charity of choice.
Let's take an example. Say XYZ company wants to give each of its 50 employees a Christmas gift (or perhaps a thank you gift for winning that big account or contract). The company can purchase a range of pieces from the Aura website - or a company rep can give us a call on 1-888-318-AURA (2872).
During checkout, the customer (company) is asked to select a charity. Like most Canadian companies, the company supports a particular charity (ABC charity) as part of its social responsibility charter. The purchaser simply enters ABC charity in the Charity Selector Tool during checkout, and voila! Aura Collective donates 15% of the total order value to ABC charity. Remember that you can select from any of the 85,000-odd registered charities in Canada when purchasing from Aura Collective.
Pretty wild, eh?
Everyone wins - the company, the employees, the artist, and of course the charity.
I love coming into work in the morning...
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Fraser & Hoyt Incentives Partners With Aura Collective
While it went unannounced, Aura Collective partnered with Fraser & Hoyt Incentives (www.myreward.ca) from Halifax back in June to bring fine Canadian artists to more than 6000 employees across Canada. Now, these employees can use reward points earned during work hours to purchase remarkable fine craft from Aura Collective through various corporate reward websites.
And here's the kicker. Fraser & Hoyt Incentives accepted the Aura Collective business model that 15% of the sale had to be donated to charity. No negotiation over pricing, no kicking and screaming, no threats - just quiet appreciation for the concept of giving back.
The people at Fraser & Hoyt are top notch, and we are proud to work together with them in expanding the reach of Canadian artists and supporting charity.
Here's to Fraser & Hoyt Incentives and the myrewards program.
And here's the kicker. Fraser & Hoyt Incentives accepted the Aura Collective business model that 15% of the sale had to be donated to charity. No negotiation over pricing, no kicking and screaming, no threats - just quiet appreciation for the concept of giving back.
The people at Fraser & Hoyt are top notch, and we are proud to work together with them in expanding the reach of Canadian artists and supporting charity.
Here's to Fraser & Hoyt Incentives and the myrewards program.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Annkristine Hedlund Joins Aura
We are very proud to announce the addition of Annkristine Hedlund to the growing Aura family.
Annkristine designs some sensational accessories for human and animal alike.
The belt shown above is an excellent example of Annkristine's detailed work and we present her pieces in a new section called Accessories.
She also makes some great canine collars for all you dog owners out there. These pieces are displayed in the Outdoors section under Canine.
Also new in the Outdoors section is Equine gear for the horsey set, including browbands and lead lines. Very good work.
Welcome Annkristine!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Aura Collective On Aeroplan!
A new milestone for Aura Collective!
Today, 3 pieces by Kimberley Price are presented on the Aeroplan website. Not only can Aeroplan members purchase these beautiful items with points, a donation of 10% of each sale will be made to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
Aura Collective has been working together with Aeroplan representatives for some time in the promotion of Aura artists. The three pieces on offer represent the beginning of a new channel to market for Aura artists. We are working hard to grow this channel to market.
Now people can use their points to purchase beautiful pieces made by stunning Canadian artists - a first!
We are hopeful that Aeroplan members will recognize the value in purchasing magnificent art and fine craft from Canada's best artists while contributing to the effort to find a cure for breast cancer research.
Today, 3 pieces by Kimberley Price are presented on the Aeroplan website. Not only can Aeroplan members purchase these beautiful items with points, a donation of 10% of each sale will be made to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
Aura Collective has been working together with Aeroplan representatives for some time in the promotion of Aura artists. The three pieces on offer represent the beginning of a new channel to market for Aura artists. We are working hard to grow this channel to market.
Now people can use their points to purchase beautiful pieces made by stunning Canadian artists - a first!
We are hopeful that Aeroplan members will recognize the value in purchasing magnificent art and fine craft from Canada's best artists while contributing to the effort to find a cure for breast cancer research.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Aura Collective Supports Habitat's Women Build Program
Aura Collective has partnered again with Habitat For Humanity in support of the Women Build Program.
The Habitat Women Build Program empowers women as leaders through homebuilding projects supporting families in need with safe, affordable housing.
When you purchase any item from Aura Collective, we will donate 15% to the Women Build Program and you receive a 15% discount on everything we sell!
Simply enter charity coupon code HABITAT2009 during checkout.
What better way to feel good about buying top quality handcrafted jewellery, objects, housewares, and even toys - all designed and handmade by Canadian artists - while supporting the fantastic work of Habitat For Humanity.
The Habitat Women Build Program empowers women as leaders through homebuilding projects supporting families in need with safe, affordable housing.
When you purchase any item from Aura Collective, we will donate 15% to the Women Build Program and you receive a 15% discount on everything we sell!
Simply enter charity coupon code HABITAT2009 during checkout.
What better way to feel good about buying top quality handcrafted jewellery, objects, housewares, and even toys - all designed and handmade by Canadian artists - while supporting the fantastic work of Habitat For Humanity.
Improvements To The Aura Charity Model
As you know, Aura Collective donates a portion of retail sales (usually 15%) to the customer's charity of choice. We also have three charity partners (Habitat For Humanity, Field Hockey Canada, and Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto) to which we donate 25% from sales of our Charity Collection.
To add a new partner charity was a big deal. We had to develop a collection of pieces designed specifically for that charity (well, Lisa Ridout did anyway), gain approval from the charity to showcase the pieces online, then promote the programme to charity supporters. Clearly, this is a rather cumbersome process that makes it very difficult to gain new charity partners.
So we've decided to tweak our model to make it easier for new charities to join our partner charity programme. We are issuing Charity Coupons to interested charities. When used by charity supporters, these coupon codes provide a couple of benefits:
When adding an item to your cart, a window pops up requesting your charity coupon or discount code. Enter the code, and everything self-calculates in the checkout process. Simple. The charity is automatically allocated the 15% donation, and the 10% discount is applied to your entire order.
A list of charity codes can be easily found on the Partner Charity page visible on the navigation bar. So shop until your drop knowing you get a 10% discount AND your good work is helping your charity of choice as well as homegrown Canadian artists!
To add a new partner charity was a big deal. We had to develop a collection of pieces designed specifically for that charity (well, Lisa Ridout did anyway), gain approval from the charity to showcase the pieces online, then promote the programme to charity supporters. Clearly, this is a rather cumbersome process that makes it very difficult to gain new charity partners.
So we've decided to tweak our model to make it easier for new charities to join our partner charity programme. We are issuing Charity Coupons to interested charities. When used by charity supporters, these coupon codes provide a couple of benefits:
- Aura will donate 15% of total order to the specified charity
- Supporters receive an automatic 10% discount on all Aura products during checkout
When adding an item to your cart, a window pops up requesting your charity coupon or discount code. Enter the code, and everything self-calculates in the checkout process. Simple. The charity is automatically allocated the 15% donation, and the 10% discount is applied to your entire order.
A list of charity codes can be easily found on the Partner Charity page visible on the navigation bar. So shop until your drop knowing you get a 10% discount AND your good work is helping your charity of choice as well as homegrown Canadian artists!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
SickKids and the Big Fundraising Sinkhole
A news article appeared today in the Toronto Star concerning the $2.7 million severance payout to the President of the Sick Kids Hospital Foundation. As a company that donates a minimum of 15% of retail sales to the customer's charity of choice, I sat up and took immediate notice.
I also downloaded the Foundation's annual report to check the facts.
SickKids is the fourth largest foundation in Canada with 2009 revenue of $100 million ($109.4 million in 2008). The Foundation supports children's health research across Canada to the tune of $60 million annually, so it's a pretty big deal.
In 2008, the Foundation held an endowment of $490 million. Proceeds from the endowment supplement annual charitable giving as mandated by the Board.
The President, Michael O'Mahoney, was paid an annual salary of $612,000 plus incentive payments in 2008. According to the Star, incentive payments made up $2.1 million of his severance. Whoa! Good gig.
In reading the article, the biggest shock was administration and fundraising costs equated to 40 cents on the dollar. Wow! That means SickKids must have paid out upwards of $40 million to generate $100 million in revenues.
Well, the Star got it wrong. It's worse. Yes, program costs were $39.1 million (39.1%) to get that $100 million in revenue. But on top of this, there was $10.2 million (10.2%) in "general fundraising and administration" expenses.
To be clear, SickKids paid out 50% of its revenue in expenses. Is this high relative to the Foundations peers? Yes, very. Prevailing benchmarks by Charity Navigator in the US state that no less that 75% of revenue should go towards the mission of the charity, while no more than 25% should be spent on expenses associated with fundraising and administration.
So while that is a reason to dump the President, its also a reason to dump the Board of Directors of SickKids. The Board hired the president, set his objectives, oversaw his performance, and approved his budget. The Board is responsible.
To satisfy myself, I keep scanning down the SickKids financial statements looking for any other reason for the sacking of the President. And then I see it. A loss of $58.4 million on endowment investments during the year! An entire years work in fundraising was wiped out by the markets.
What better time to cut costs and restructure your internal team than a time of catastrophic loss. Time to clean house.
So SickKids is a little sick but it will sort itself out. The Foundation remains the largest supporter of children's medicine and research in Canada. It could just do better managing its affairs. And the system sorts itself out over time. Just watch SickKids in the coming months.
But please don't buy into the "I'm never giving to a big charity again because of this travesty!" hype. Big charities need big money and incur necessary expenses to get it. Money isn't free, even for charities. They need every spare cent, and we all need to help.
And Aura will continue to make that happen!
I also downloaded the Foundation's annual report to check the facts.
SickKids is the fourth largest foundation in Canada with 2009 revenue of $100 million ($109.4 million in 2008). The Foundation supports children's health research across Canada to the tune of $60 million annually, so it's a pretty big deal.
In 2008, the Foundation held an endowment of $490 million. Proceeds from the endowment supplement annual charitable giving as mandated by the Board.
The President, Michael O'Mahoney, was paid an annual salary of $612,000 plus incentive payments in 2008. According to the Star, incentive payments made up $2.1 million of his severance. Whoa! Good gig.
In reading the article, the biggest shock was administration and fundraising costs equated to 40 cents on the dollar. Wow! That means SickKids must have paid out upwards of $40 million to generate $100 million in revenues.
Well, the Star got it wrong. It's worse. Yes, program costs were $39.1 million (39.1%) to get that $100 million in revenue. But on top of this, there was $10.2 million (10.2%) in "general fundraising and administration" expenses.
To be clear, SickKids paid out 50% of its revenue in expenses. Is this high relative to the Foundations peers? Yes, very. Prevailing benchmarks by Charity Navigator in the US state that no less that 75% of revenue should go towards the mission of the charity, while no more than 25% should be spent on expenses associated with fundraising and administration.
So while that is a reason to dump the President, its also a reason to dump the Board of Directors of SickKids. The Board hired the president, set his objectives, oversaw his performance, and approved his budget. The Board is responsible.
To satisfy myself, I keep scanning down the SickKids financial statements looking for any other reason for the sacking of the President. And then I see it. A loss of $58.4 million on endowment investments during the year! An entire years work in fundraising was wiped out by the markets.
What better time to cut costs and restructure your internal team than a time of catastrophic loss. Time to clean house.
So SickKids is a little sick but it will sort itself out. The Foundation remains the largest supporter of children's medicine and research in Canada. It could just do better managing its affairs. And the system sorts itself out over time. Just watch SickKids in the coming months.
But please don't buy into the "I'm never giving to a big charity again because of this travesty!" hype. Big charities need big money and incur necessary expenses to get it. Money isn't free, even for charities. They need every spare cent, and we all need to help.
And Aura will continue to make that happen!
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