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Ways to Give Back
Edited by Anna Muoio
Today business is about more than just making products
- or money. It's about making a difference. So Fast
Company invited 19 business leaders to share their
insights on giving back to the community. Their
stories reveal areas in which people are contributing
today - education, technology, environment, health,
community development - as well as shared beliefs
about the new philanthropy: Giving time is more
important than just giving money. Personal commitment
matters more than corporate involvement. And action,
as always, counts for more than mere words.
Katharine Paine
Founder and CEO
Delahaye Group
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
kpaine@delahaye.com
I can't always define community development. But I
know it when I see it. For example, a woman and her
husband had a small farm with about 300 goats. One
evening last year, their hired hand quit. Three days
later the husband died. The couple had usually sold
their milk to Vermont Butter & Cheese. The head of
that company called and said that we had until Monday
to help the woman. I called one of our depositors, who
put up ,000 at 0% interest. We loaned that money to
the cheese company at 0% interest, and the company
loaned it to some local farmers, who bought the
woman's goats. Now that's community development.
We try to function as though we live next door to
everybody in our community. We're not reinventing
banking - we're uninventing it. We make smaller loans,
but they have a high community impact. And we're
outperforming other banks.
David Berge's Socially Responsible Banking Fund
enables customers to earmark deposits for loans that
will make a direct impact on the community. Depositors
have placed million into the fund since its
inception.
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Copyright © 1999 Fast Company. All Rights Reserved.
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