Walk a mile in their shoes

TOMS shoes is a small(ish) US company selling cloth & canvas shoes through retailers and through its website. But its USP is that for every pair of shoes bought by a customer, the company donates a pair of shoes to a child in need somewhere.

They say they are a "for profit company with giving at its core". Their customers have a strange sort of "buy one, get one free" arrangement, knowing that they are doing good.

They are not the only organisatiion adopting this approach with what - though very small - seems to be becoming accepted as an alternative business model.

Of course TOMS has to be productive enough to be able to make a profit under this arrangement - and it is!