Generation G

Creative vs. selling out, capitalist vs. socialist, greed vs. community service : these opposing forces stand at the forefront of american culture. The greed described in Wallstreet has become very real and personal. Now the assumption that successful business and doing good are conflicting practices is about to change.

Generation G "captures the growing importance of 'generosity' as a leading societal and business mindset as consumers are disgusted with greed and its current dire consequences for the economy." GOOD magazine, promotes a philosophy that aligns business with doing good. The Taproot Foundation, Planning for Good and other such organizations realize that non-profits need professional services and seek to connect volunteers with service programs.

These are great but the concept of Generation G is acknowledging that it isn't enough to volunteer on your free time. What if businesses ingrained this philosophy into their corporate mentality? Putting a $500K cap on the salaries of greedy execs is the beginning of a trend that will change the fundamental principles of how businesses operate.

Here are a few ways corporations are looking to join Generation G:
1. Co-Donate - customer collaboration Google's Project 10^100 is a good example
2. Eco-Generosity - a shift from simply offsetting carbon footprints to boosting the environment. Ecoigo aims for their green car service to be carbon positive and offset double the emissions of their trips
3. Free Love - companies offering free products or services. TripWolf offers free travel guides.
4. Brand Butlers - assist customers in smart, relevant, generous ways. IKEA let's customers use bikes with free trailers to carry products home.
5. Perkonomics - brands that offer perks for preferred customers
6. Tryvertising- allowing consumers to decide on products based on experience, not messages.
7. Random Acts of Kindness - everything from picking up the tab to sending a surprise gift to loyal customers
8. Frigid No More - It’s about return policies that don’t require a receipt from loyal customers. It's what Seth calls learning how to lose. It’s about hotels not charging an extra night for that late checkout. It’s about ditching three-months-notice rules for a gym member who wants to cancel his membership due to illness.