There's a fascinating article in today's Oregonian about Nau, a Portland-based green retailer of outdoor clothing. The business is generating local buzz because it's taking a different approach to branding. Unlike other outdoor clothing and sporting goods lines which tend to lean heavily on prominent logos and famous athletes, Nau is taking a novel approach by focusing on high-quality garments without logos that are sold online and through small storefront locations designed to promote online sales. The company also has an interesting blog called "The Thought Kitchen" which highlights the socially-responsible beliefs and interests of the company's principals.
Recently, Nau announced that it has awarded $62,000 to charities in its first six months of operations in keeping with its pledge to grant five percent of all sales to nonprofits that customers have selected. There are many companies which are trying to ride the wave of being a socially-responsible business. Yet, when one studies the details, there is oftentimes more sizzle than steak as many companies cap their total donations to nonprofits even thought they promote giving a fixed percentage of sales.
Kudos to Nau for living up to its donation pledge even though the company has yet to turn a profit. I hope that their generosity results in good press and widespread positive buzz because the company is giving far above the average for U.S. businesses. According to the annual Giving USA Report by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, U.S. corporations on average donated 0.7 percent of their pretax profits, which is sales minus expenses, a much smaller figure than the overall sales number which Nau uses to determine its charity contributions.
