National Small Business Week and Small Business CSR

Well -I didn't get my wish. Last year I wrote about my hope, (I hope you read this one, as it's one of my favorites,) that this year's National Small Business Week conference would include something about Social Responsibility and/or philanthropy in their agenda as important contributions to small business growth. This year there will be two presenters who come from the social venture and non-profit sectors: Seth Goldman of Honest Tea and Steve Case from the Case Foundation. Otherwise no mention in the schedule of the burgeoning trends of social ventures, cause marketing, and strategic philanthropy.

Small businesses have been hit hard by the recession and many of them are looking for more ways to survive and to be profitable. The conference is providing small businesses with wonderful learning opportunities and the support to help build their small businesses. Businesses may feel they have little to give when they are struggling to survive, so it makes sense for the conference to focus on topics about how to build small businesses.

In spite of the downturn, many small businesses have continued their support of their communities and have adopted more sustainable green practices and have engaged in small business cause marketing. see Why Giving is Good For Business and Patriotic . In addition, an ever increasing number of the hybrid social ventures, many of which we have written about, are popping up and have started up in this last year or two.

These businesses need business advice too, some of which could be general to all start ups and some of which need to be addressed the the specific hybrid form they take if they are supporting charities. As for marketing, while many large companies are dedicating their marketing dollars to go directly to cause marketing ,as they know that customers are seeking to support companies that give back.

This kind of knowledge and advice would be useful for small businesses to have so they too can take advantage of  the cost savings as a result of their green practices, can reap the many benefits of giving back to the community, and can experience the rewards from partnering with a cause as part of their marketing strategy. Maybe all of this will make it on the agenda in 2012.

Job Opportunity: New York Lawyers For The Public Interest

New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI), a non-profit civil rights legal organization. NYLPI pioneered the practice of community lawyering in the five boroughs of New York City. With every case and every campaign, NYLPI continues to elaborate an approach to working with marginalized communities that is ambitious, participatory, and dynamic.

NYLPI activism focuses on issues of racial equality and disability rights. In NYLPI's health justice program, a community organizer and a team of attorneys represent and provide support to community-based organizations mobilizing to rid the New York health care system of racism, language barriers and anti-immigrant bias. The disability rights work focuses on defending and promoting the civil rights of people with disabilities in transportation, education, health care, and other aspects of life in New York City, as well as ensuring that people with disabilities are able to live with independence and dignity in the community and not restricted to institutional settings. In their environmental justice project, NYLPI takes on issues ranging from the overburdening of low-income communities of color with garbage facilities, to the presence of dangerous toxins in public schools, to the development of a green energy policy that places social equality front and center. Finally, NYLPI’s renowned Pro Bono Clearinghouse connects community organizations throughout NYC with pro bono attorneys from the City’s largest law firms.

NYLPI is currently seeking applications for:

• Staff attorney -- Disability Rights
• Staff attorney -- Health Justice
• Staff attorney -- Education and Disability Rights
• Staff attorney -- Environmental Justice
• 2012 post-graduate fellowship
  

Please visit CSO's Symplicity site for application details and requirements.