The Evolution of CoolPeopleCare's Business Model How Should the Founder of a Social Enterprise Increase the Visibility of His Company? The original idea for CoolPeopleCare came to Sam Davidson after he had taken a trip to Washington, D.C., for a Save Darfur Rally in April 2006. While at the rally he saw a man holding a cardboard sign declaring "Cool People Care" and was struck by the power of the phrase. It had a really persuasive ring to it. Returning home to Nashville, Tennessee, Davidson couldn't stop thinking about the phrase, "Cool People Care." Initially he thought it would be appealing to build a Web site as a plat- form to sell "Cool People Care" T-shirts and ask people what they care about. Davidson approached Stephen Moseley, whom he had met while working at a nonprofit in Nashville, for help to build a Web site to promote his CoolPeopleCare idea. A 15-minute conversation turned into a 3-hour planning ses sion in which Davidson and Moseley mapped out what the first version of the Web site would look like. Davidson had observed by working in nonprofits that people tended to give two main excuses for not volunteer ing or actively supporting a worthy cause: (1) "I don't have enough time," and (2) "I have no idea how to get started." He believed that the CoolPeopleCare Web site could poten tially eliminate the excuses. Through the Web site, Davidson wanted to enlighten and connect his audience. He envisioned that CoolPeopleCare would pair people who want to make a difference with organizations and opportunities that need their help. He recognized a need in the nonprofit sector for young, passionate people to connect with these organizations with the aim of making a positive difference in the world. He believed the Web site would be a good way to connect young people with causes they could help and support. In May 2007, Davidson decided it was time to leave his full-time job and dedicate himself to building and grow ing CoolPeopleCare. He set up the business as a social for profit venture. Davidson chose this form of business entity to ensure that his company did not compete for funds with the organizations it sought to help. He wanted the company to be self-sustaining from its own revenue streams. He also wanted to prove that a for-profit business could be successful with a social mission. The Web site initially had two main features. The first was 5 Minutes of Caring, which highlights a single action a person could take in less than five minutes to make the world a better place. The second feature is customized content for more than 40 cities, which includes a community calendar, volunteer and job opportunities, and a nonprofit directory specific to each city. After Davidson committed to working on CoolPeople- Care full-time, it became apparent that he would have to change his business model to make the business viable. Over ness. Davidson began to offer speaking engagements and soon added training sessions for nonprofits to help them create revenue streams that would alleviate the need for tra- ditional fund-raising. Moseley also rolled his nonprofit con- sulting practice into CoolPeopleCare. Next, Moseley and Davidson wrote a book, New Day Revolution: How to Save the World in 24 Hours, and began to sell it through the Web site. They have sold thousands of copies of their book. time, he had added several new revenue streams to the busi- They realized they could also offer more value to the non- profit community. They added "Partner Pages," where non- profits could highlight their organizations, consolidated event and volunteer listings, contact information, links to their own Web sites, donation buttons, national e-mail announcements, and job listings. Nonprofits pay $1 a day to list on this page. Dozens of nonprofits soon took advantage of this new feature. Davidson and Moseley also added "Cool Pages" to allow cor- porate sponsors to highlight their support of social causes. The most significant change to the business model was the addition of merchandise to the Web site, although at the time they did not realize its eventual impact. In addi- tion to the book, the CoolPeopleCare store sells merchandise with the CoolPeopleCare logo, including T-shirts, coffee mugs, and reusable shopping bags. The site also sells fair trade coffee. In May 2010, Nashville was hit by a devastating flood. The Thursday after the flood, CoolPeopleCare began selling "We Are Nashville" T-shirts to help raise money for flood relief. Davidson and Moseley had hoped to sell 1,000 shirts; they reached that goal the first day. Eventually, CoolPeople- Care made more than $100,000 in profits from T-shirt sales, which Davidson and Moseley donated to the Nashville Community Foundation for flood relief. The site also sold "We Are Nashville" prints and bumper stickers that raised more money for this cause. In addition to the good that the new product line delivered for the people of Nashville, it helped put CoolPeopleCare on the map on a national and even global scale as orders came in from around the world for "We Are Nashville" products. This visibility helped take CoolPeopleCare to another level and reach a much broader audience. From this experience with the flood relief effort, Davidson recognized the need to pay more attention to 703 704 CASE 9⚫ THE EVOLUTION OF COOLPEOPLECARE'S BUSINESS MODEL promoting CoolPeopleCare to build awareness for the brand. By doing so, the company could help more nonprofits and reach more volunteers. He also saw the need for new prod- ucts that reinforced the company's social mission. However, with a bootstrapped business, he also had to find creative ways to market CoolPeopleCare without the benefits of a large advertising budget.