Strengthening a Force for Good

UncommonGoods has donated $1 to a customer-selected charitable partner through its Better to Give program since 2001, totaling more than $1 million. American Forests’ dollar-a-tree model was a perfect fit, and we became UncommonGoods’ first environmental nonprofit partner in 2010.

Historically, the company and its founder have voiced support for a variety of causes, working with elected officials to champion those issues. Inspired by other members of the business community, UncommonGoods wanted to encourage a deeper relationship between its customers, nonprofit partners and the missions they all support.

“We turned to our Better to Give partners to learn which policies were most important to their causes and how we could help advocate on their behalf,” said Jennifer Coleman, PR & Social Media Manager at UncommonGoods. “After speaking with the team at American Forests, we decided that we needed to take a stand to protect the Endangered Species Act.”

From those conversations, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Toolkit was built. The toolkit features a variety of resources to help concerned citizens learn more about the ESA and the various ways they can contact their elected officials to voice opposition to the proposed “modernization” of the legislation.

Many UncommonGoods customers have been very supportive of both the partnership with American Forests and the issue-specific campaigns. In addition to the positive response from customers, Coleman and her colleagues at UncommonGoods realize the valuable role businesses play in making a positive impact on the world.

“What we’re hoping to do is raise awareness and build resources to take action,” she said. “The voice of the business community is incredibly powerful, and has great potential to create everlasting change.”

Take action for the Endangered Species Act at americanforests.org/ProtectESA.