One group wants more businesses digging deeper into their pockets for charitable causes, and it believes they'll make more money in the long run by doing so.
The One Hope Foundation, an organization working with companies to integrate charitable giving into their business models, believes companies that commit to worthy causes will boost bottom lines by complying with customers wants. The foundation's success causing positive change reflects a growing number of businesses prioritizing cause-related missions.
According to One Hope, if Fortune 500 companies donated just 1 percent of the $12.21 trillion they garnered in 2013, several milestones could have been reached with the funds: access to clean water for everyone who doesn't have it and an end to homelessness in the U.S., to name a couple.
Here's what else the world could do with 1 percent of $12.21 trillion:
As Time.com pointed out, "times have changed" from past decades, when businesses were skeptical to implement any form of social responsibility into their goals. Ten years ago, roughly a dozen Fortune 500 companies around the world issued a corporate social responsibility, or CSR, report -- today, the majority do.
The dramatic increase can be tied to a large number of consumers who want to support businesses that give back to charitable causes. A 2011 study by Cone Communications found that 94 percent of customers are likely to switch brands to one that supports a social issue, if the brands are about equal in price and quality.
The One Hope Foundation, which claims to have facilitated more than $1.5 million in donations to more than 200 charities thus far, is pushing for more business partners and soliciting donations from supporters in its latest campaign video above. The group says that a $10 donation to One Hope generates $500 to charity.
