Lush Cosmetics is proving that it’s good business – maybe even great business – for retailers to invest in sustainable charitable giving.
Through the sale of a single item, the Charity Pot, the Vancouver-based company has donated more than $11 million to 900 organizations in 42 countries over the past eight years. The Charity Pot is Lush’s best-selling hand and body lotion and its number three selling product overall.
Fully one hundred percent of the sale price of the lotion ($6.95 or $25.95 depending on size, less tax) is donated and contains seven Slush Fund Ingredients. The mechanics of the Slush Fund are straightforward: 2% of the amount Lush spends on raw materials and packaging is donated to the fund. This money is then used to start sustainable farming and community projects from scratch.
Lush concentrates on three categories: animal protection, human rights and environmental conservation. Grassroots organizations can apply for funding the same way that charities apply for grants from dedicated foundations. Sixty percent of Lush grants are distributed in North America, 40% worldwide.
The company, which awards grants to about 40% of applicants, actively seeks out and encourages organizations that meet its funding guidelines to apply.
The Lush program differs greatly from other corporate charitable initiatives, which tend to be marketing or PR driven: Lush donates the entire purchase price of its item to its causes, versus a percentage; the Charity Pot is an ongoing program, versus a temporary or one-off event timed around the holidays; Lush focuses on supporting small grassroots organizations that, as Charitable Giving Manager Tricia Stevens puts it, are “non-sexy causes that may not get funding any other way,” versus the charity-of-the-moment or the latest cause celebre.
“Consumerism can be negative, but we believe that people often don’t want to be sold something. They want to believe in something,” says Stevens.
Indeed, recent research by Cone and Ebiquity found that more than 90% of Internet users worldwide expect companies to do more than focus on their bottom line. And they’re putting their money where their mouth is: 84% said they tried to purchase products and services from socially responsible companies. Moreover, nine in ten survey respondents said they would switch brands to one tied to a social cause, when quality and price were on par.
