Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

In an interview on the freakonomics blog, Craig Newmark the founder of Craigslist and Jim Buckmaster its CEO, were asked a question on making more money for the purpose of donating it to non-profits, charities or other causes.

I like their answer because it's been something I've thought of for some time in a world of endless causes and sometimes radical activism.

Buckmaster responded to the question by saying, "We do donate more than 1 percent of our revenues to charitable causes, but we feel it is much more important to serve the community directly as our primary business."

To me he's completely right on this. Many businesses, in an attempt to fall over one another to use their giving to causes as a marketing tool, can get off the focus of why they exist in the first place, and miss serving those that should matter the most: their customers.

Craig added that it is "more effective to let people keep the cash. We also see that groups like the Gates Foundation have lots of money to donate, but it’s very hard to do so in a sustainable way. No one has really figured it out yet." 

I'm not saying we shouldn't give to worthy causes, I am saying we can be persuaded by those in some causes to believe their cause is so great, that it must be taken up. It doesn't matter to a lot of these people how it can impact your business. They can just go to another potential donor to start the process all over again.

The point is the greatest thing we can do as a business is to be a successful business and focus on that. Everything else must be considered secondary.

As Buckmaster said, he understands what the primary purpose of Craigslist is, and that is what he will focus on. Those that can be consumed with the endless needs or pet causes in the world, will find themselves suffering as a business and having less to help out with.

No matter how seemingly important a cause or need is, we need to be cautious not to allow it to move us off our purpose. Taking care of our customers is the greatest cause we should have, and that, more than anything else, will make the world a better place.