When Eric Ritz founded Global Inheritance in 2002, high speed internet connections were just becoming prevalent enough to allow for unprecedented accessibility in the establishment of tech savvy nonprofits. "It has to have been next to impossible to start a nonprofit before the internet unless you had a lot of money. We built something out of nothing based on high speed internet connections," says Ritz who, though no longer a kid, is very much a part of youth culture.
Eric Ritz, Founder, Global Inheritance
Technology may be the tool that allow us to communicate our ideas in ways never before possible, but our ideas still have to resonate with our audience. That is, dumb is still dumb even with a T1 connection. But hip, creative and cutting-edge is still going to be just that only now with the technological equivalent of a global bullhorn. Hello Global Inheritance.
Fundamentally, Global Inheritance asks, "Why can't a message be cool?"
Just this past year, Ritz has worked on greening the X Games and the ESPY's with ESPN, on greening Coachella with Goldenvoice and Amtrak, with Radiohead when they played Outsideland Festival, on greening the recent four sold-out concert dates by Tegan & Sara at The Fonda, on greening the Teen Choice Awards with Fox Broadcasting Co. and lots, lots more. One of his strengths is "connecting with youth culture, which is more of an ideology than an age," he says.
Global Inheritance Installation
When you think of social justice and environmental activism nonprofits, a diaspora come to mind. Probably none of that is what Global Inheritance is about. "We cater the message to the audience. We apply traditional advertising and marketing methods to a nonprofit. Why not apply the tactics that are used in mainstream marketing and advertising that gets people to want to buy a beverage or an article of clothing and apply that to a social environmental cause?" comments Ritz. "Why can't a message be cool and relevant for lung cancer or for recycling?" he asks, as if it's the most obvious observation in the world.
It works. Ritz says that people are much more hip to these kinds of social messaging campaigns in the nonprofit sector than they ever were previously. He sees the whole field as evolving and says that Global Inheritance is seeing excellent results in pushing the role of interactivity with their audiences. He notices that when people feel connected, when they feel they have a role or a part to play in an issue, that that's what gets people involved and taps their enthusiasm for causes. "Interactivity is much hipper now. You have to have your audience relate to you or you're done," says Ritz.
Ritz notices these characteristics about the youth culture of today: they are much more diverse, much less traditional and they don't respond well to cookie-cutter presentations.
Global Inheritance's clients are some of the most global and globally branded companies: Disney, AEG (owner of Staples Center and the Lakers), Amtrak. Ritz says the key to forging these alliances with his nonprofit has been, "...again it comes back to the marketing approach. A lot of these people see our ideas and see that there's a demand for ethics and having companies be concerned about the environment or concerned about social causes. I think what we're good at is we're really creative people. We have really good ideas. A really good idea can take you far. We've also been doing this for a really long time and often for very little money. So, hopefully, we've earned the respect and credibility of people so that they're willing to take the risk; They're willing to partner with us. We hope that they recognize that by partnering with us in this realm of social and environmental activism that they will be seen as being a leader in their industry rather than just being content to stay on the sidelines. Our clients are people who want to be the first."
Innovation is something Global Inheritance has going for them. For example, earlier this year at the Coachella Music Festival, which is produced by Goldenvoice whose parent company is AEG, GI built a train stop, with Amtrak, in Indio. They then chartered a train so that people coming from LA could ride the train instead of driving their cars out to Palm Springs. The end result was a lot less cars on the road and a much smaller overall carbon footprint for the music festival.
"Our programs are integrated into the event. So it's an asset to the event. It adds another layer to the event that people can interact with. It's great for the partner of the event because it provides entertainment, it provides an education, it's photogenic. It's a talking point for people around the event," explains Ritz.
Some Recent and Upcoming Global Inheritance Projects
Designing a program around carpooling and using public transportation at large venues such as the Hollywood Bowl.
Designing an energy factory to showcase alternative energy and renewable energy sources at events such as Coachella. This included solar-powered DJ stations and cell phone rechargers powered by bicycles.
Designing recycling programs for all the major festivals across the U.S.
Trash'd Program
"We're going after the highest hanging fruit in youth culture. They are the ones who are really the innovators. They are really the ones who are breaking new ground. We target the leaders of peer groups, the trend setters. The ones who don't follow trends, they set trends. We try to connect with them. They are going to be the best investment in the long term. They're the leaders," says Ritz. "And what really matters is not money or star power but respect. It's the people who are the most respected."
They use common sense in the issues they get behind, such as more recycling, less nuclear bombs, more ways to be less dependent on oil. Ritz explains they are generally issues that most people can agree on and understand, even if you're not a rocket scientist. "We just present these ideas in a new way that are a little bit more compelling, a bit more interesting," he says.
"For us, it's all about offering people a great experience," says Ritz, "And we try to stay as human as possible."
Check out the fun things Global Inheritance has coming up and be sure to email them for information and rad volunteer opportunities wherever you might be on the globe.
