New sustainable business awards to be funded by the crowd

As well as reducing their ecological footprint, businesses may now be competing to increase their positive Handprint, with the launch of a new Australian-founded global awards scheme to be funded through crowdfunding platform StartSomeGood.

The first Great Big Handprint Awards will acknowledge organisations making a positive contribution through the five Ps of sustainability - People, Planet, Profit, Purpose, Passion.

Winners of the Great Big Handprint Awards will be selected through a unique social media  competition where participants from around the world will have their say, in conjunction with a panel of high-profile social innovators.

Founder of the Positive Handprints Foundation Kathryn Bottrell says brands that resonate today embody values such as authenticity, transparency and purpose. “Positive Handprints create a new benchmark for corporate trust, rewarding organizations that contribute towards a thrivable world.

“It’s about looking for win-win opportunities that contribute both to success as an individual enterprise and to the wellbeing of the eco-system as a whole.”

According to the Edelman Good Purpose Report 2010, 86 percent of global consumers believe that enterprises should place equal weight on society’s interests as they do on business interests, and 62 percent of consumers would switch brands in order to support a cause.

“Despite this huge opportunity, businesses still see societal issues as peripheral rather than core – it’s what the Harvard Business Review calls the ‘social responsibility mindset’,” Bottrell says.

“Positive Handprints is a symbol for igniting positive behaviour change. We aim to develop language and tools will help inspire, reward and encourage businesses that are doing good in the world through enlightened self-interest, and leverage their success the more they embrace this way of working.”

The Positive Handprints campaign aims to raise between $5,000-$20,000 on crowdfunding platform StartSomeGood. The site’s most recent success story was Sock Monkeys Against Cancer, which raised over $35,000.

 Visit the Positive Handprints campaign page: http://startsomegood.com/Venture/positive_handprints_foundation/Campaigns/Show/the_1st_great_big_handprint_awards

Read StartSomeGood crowdfunding success stories here: http://startsomegood.com/Help/Stories

• High resolution photographs available

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