Building a Culture of Generosity

This week, Simple Modern is giving over $1M to worthy nonprofits, with every team member directing $4,000 to a nonprofit of their choice.

Here's the backstory and three things I've learned from growing a nine-figure revenue company while striving to be radically generous.

1. Know Your Why

When we founded Simple Modern in 2015, the other founders and I didn't know the exact product or service we would build the company around.

However, we knew the culture we wanted to create. We didn't know the "what," but we knew our "why." We envisioned a culture where relationships, excellence, and generosity are priorities. Our goal was that everyone who interacted with the company would experience generosity: our partners, employees, customers, and the local community.

As a for-profit company, we have a unique mission statement: We exist to give generously. Since day one, we've remained committed to our "why." It hasn't always been easy.

One clear example stands out to me: April 2020.

It was the beginning of the pandemic, and everything about our business felt uncertain. The world was shutting down. Amazon put one-month shipping timelines on our orders. Target informed us that they couldn't place orders because the focus was stocking essential items.

At the same time, millions of people had lost their jobs. There was more need for generosity than at any point in time I could remember. I'm proud that we chose to lean in. We launched our most extensive giving campaign to date; it included cash donations to 30 charities and over $1 million worth of products to health care workers. It's easy to give when things are going well, but we believe generosity is when we give sacrificially.

2. Generosity builds stronger brands.

Most people would say that you can't run a financially successful business and be radically generous. I think that's a myth. It’s a false dichotomy.

The 2019 AFLAC CSR Survey has some eye-opening statistics about what consumers want:

77% of customers are motivated to purchase from companies making the world better

49% of respondents said that the number one job of a company is to make the world a better place.

Generosity unites and motivates our entire team around a shared mission, which has led to more innovation and productivity. It has opened doors to partnerships that have changed the trajectory of our company. Customers want to support and vote for brands that they see making a positive impact on the world.

These are the reasons I believe the most successful brands of the next generation will prioritize generosity and take action to make the world a better place. It’s time to raise the bar. That's what we are striving to do at Simple Modern.

One of the ways we pursue generosity is by committing to give 10% of annual profits to worthy nonprofits. 70% of those funds go to organizations focused on education, homelessness, marginalized communities, clean drinking water, and human trafficking. Simple Modern employees allocate 30% to the nonprofit of their choice.

For more details on Simple Modern, our approach to generosity, and our giving structure, you can check out this video:

3. Generosity should grow with the company.

A lot has changed at Simple Modern since we sold our first water bottle in 2016. We've grown from 3 co-founders to 65 employees. We now partner with incredible organizations like Target, Amazon, Walmart, Disney, and the NFL.

Even though we are only a few years removed from the company office being a room at my house we have grown from $0 to over $100 million in annual revenue. We now have the privilege of serving over 20,000,000 customers! In fact, in the last 12 months, we've sold more units than we did the past five years combined. It’s been an amazing journey.

I fully subscribe to the saying, “To those whom much is given, much is expected.”

I'm excited to go to work every day because I think we are just scratching the surface of the potential impact we can make. Capitalism is an incredible force for good globally, but we have seen a toxic brand of it during the past couple of decades. It's time for a new generation of socially responsible companies to lead. I’m excited for Simple Modern to play our small part.

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