Why Your Company Should Be Mission Driven
Some of my favorite entrepreneurial companies have very strong social missions: Stoneyfield Farm, Honest Tea, TerraCycle, Timberland, and Patagonia, to name just a few. Note that these are all extremely successful companies whose CEOS routinely talk about how having a social mission -- whether it's promoting community-based agriculture, supporting environmental causes, or creating a culture of volunteerism - has helped drive revenue growth, increase employee retention, and provide the company with a brand differentiation strategy. You may rightly wonder if much smaller companies might benefit in the same way. For Ken Windjack, the owner of The Greens at Brock, an executive length 18-hole golf course, the answer is a resounding "yes."
Windjack, whose company is right outside of St. Catherine's, in Canada's Niagara region, says that while other golf courses in the Niagara Peninsula have been hammered by the recession, that he has experienced steady increases in revenue and profits. "There's one factor which has had the biggest impact on my success," he says. "And that is a higher purpose. We have a goal to raise $1 million for charities." Windjack, 51, is a second-generation family business owner. His mother and father started the course as a driving range, and Windjack helped them build it into a full-service course.
A few years ago, The Greens started attracting charity tournaments. Windjack charged them a $24 greens fee per golfer, but then donated five dollars per golfer back to the charity, which would typically charge golfers $40 or so to play. One thing led to another, he explains, and he began thinking of other ways that he could help local charities raise money. Now, he also invites the participating charities to come back to the course on a different day and set up a table on the shortest hole. "When the public comes through, they can donate five dollars, and if they hit the green they win a free round of golf," says Windjack. "If they miss the green we give them five dollars off their next round." He also invites each charity back to the course at the end of the season for a putting contest; the charity closest to the hole gets the course for free the following year. And his 15-year-old son pitches in as well: he plays guitar on the course and donates all of his tips to local organizations such as soup kitchens and the Humane Society.
Windjack's program attracts its share of big charities, but small local philanthropies also participate; his charity tournaments have raised money for a scholarship fund in honor of a young basketball player who died of heart disease, a fundraising effort for a sick child, and a local not-for-profit that builds schools in Africa. He now hosts more than a dozen charity tournaments a year. "The past two years have been two of my most successful years in business," he says. "Others are struggling, but our profits are 10%. I think a good part of that is because of these tournaments." He adds that the commitment to charities also helps him retain employees; he has ten employees and has not had to replace anyone for seven years. His goal is to attract 50 charity tournaments a year, he says. "If they each raise only $1000 and this continues for 20 year, we will have raised $1 million. It's a true legacy for the business. If the business is ever sold, it would be business suicide to discontinue the program."
Does your business have a social mission that also contributes to your bottom line? Tell us about it.
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