by Kristin Michele Miler Profitable Ventures Napa Valley non-profits and businesses partner to improve lives JANUARY- F E B R UARY 2 0 1 5 49 Giving back to the community is a Napa Valley tradition, and this, my friends, is what the Mustard Seed Clothing Company is all about. This small town upscale boutique owned by Barbara Wiggins has been outfitting the women in Napa and beyond for thirty-two years! Barbara works with Queen of the Valley Hospital on their “Day for the Queen” Fashion Show event, and the “Glam and Giving” event in December for Cope Family Services. If you have not attended one of these shows I highly recommend you add them to your calendar of mustdo events, as they are normally sold out to a crowd of 400-500 people. Barbara’s boutique has become a fashion-friendly hotspot for many of Napa’s actively involved women. What you may not know is that Barbara and other local businesses give back on a regular basis by hosting “Shop and Donate” events for nonprofits in Napa. This not only generates revenue for the nonprofits but new customers and sales for the businesses. In fact nonprofits are a large and vital part of California’s economy, with nonprofit economic activity contributing 15% of California’s Gross State Product (GSP) and generating $37 billion in taxes in 2012 at federal, state, and local levels. In our small town of Napa we have a very active nonprofit sector and a lot of creative collaboration with local businesses and municipalities. For instance, look at the Give!Guide. This philanthropic guide, which came out for the past two holiday seasons, featured 40 nonprofits and asks that all active participants coordinate partnerships with local area businesses and actively cross-promote services. One of the nonprofits featured in this guide is Moving Forward Towards Independence, which had four business partners: Foodshed, Molinari Caffe, Sala Salon, and Velo Pizzeria. The plan is that with all participating nonprofits having such a reach, up to 160 businesses in Napa will be actively cross-promoting their offerings on social media, during speaking engagements, at events, on websites and then some. Il Posto Trattoria routinely hosts “Dine and Donate” events on Monday evenings, filling up their restaurant and giving back 30% to the nonprofit. You can’t even get through the door without a reservation, it is so packed! Each year California nonprofits bring in at least $40 billion in revenue from out-of-state sources. They rank as the largest industry in California for employment, producing more jobs than construction, finance or real estate industries, accounting for six percent of the total state employment. On average small nonprofits employ more people than for-profit small businesses, with a greater racial/ethnic workforce diversity. California nonprofit volunteers also contribute more than $24.7 billion in unpaid labor each year, the equivalent of 450,000 full-time jobs. With the strong economic power of the nonprofit sector and its ability to use power for the common good, we should expect to see more and more businesses forming collaborative relationships with nonprofits. For additional information contact Kristin Miller at kristinm@moving-forward.org or 707.259.1125
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