Creative capitalism: how? One idea for ya: (Score 1)

How do we harness the fruits of capitalism for the betterment of the unfortunate?

Here's a "creative capitalism" approach I ran across and kind of like, for the entrepreneurial and startup-employee types-- the stocktithe .

If you're starting a new company, why not donate 10% of your company's founding stock to a charity that tries to solve or mitigate global hunger and poverty problems?

Then you, and the company's employees, are working not just for your own wealth or success, but also to increase piece of wealth that has been dedicated to others, up-front.

Others who help you out along the way, whether employees or customers, can also enjoy taking part in contributing to your mission of not just earning a buck, but earning a buck for someone less fortunate.

Unlike corporate charity programs where "1%/2%/3%/10% of your purchase goes to charity", the customer doesn't feel like they're overpaying and would be better off donating the difference themselves to their own charity of choice. It's economically more efficient.

The price for them doesn't change, but the revenue and profit does help the company's stock price, and thus helps the charity and its beneficiaries since they own 10% of the founding stock.

Some of the awareness issues raised by Bill Gates's Harvard address, (starting work after college "with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world" and "What can I (concretely) do?") now become of interest to the corporate entity. If they (and the charity) neglect them, then the motivational value of the stock tithe decreases, but if they attend to them, employee motivation can be greater than experienced in a regular company.

Make your next company a stock tithe. Or tell me why it's a lousy idea.

Cheers,
Greg Weiss
slashdotgreg at gregweiss.com

P.S. I think the stock tithe concept, to some extent, fits into the hope Gates was looking for in his talk a year ago:

"We can make market forces work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism - if we can stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or at least make a living, serving people who are suffering from the worst inequities. We also can press governments around the world to spend taxpayer money in ways that better reflect the values of the people who pay the taxes.

If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world." --Bill Gates, Harvard address 2007