Keeping Earth in Business Gets Easier

Brooklyn, NY, [December 11, 2007] – Seven years ago, 1% For the Planet (1% FTP) signed up its first group of members, with the initial group of 21 companies pledging to donate 1% of their annual sales to local environmental nonprofits. Since then, membership has climbed to nearly 800 companies worldwide, and cumulative donations are prepared to top $30 million. With that kind of global influx of attention for 1% FTP's cause, the existing website couldn't keep pace, functionally or aesthetically.

1% FTP has their eye on growing beyond just being a donation coordination site, making the partnership with a firm to take on the project a crucial decision. Remarked Strick Walker, Chief Marketing and Development Officer at 1% FTP, “Our hope is to build a place where consumers can learn about our efforts and find responsible companies to support—a place where members can share best practices, do business with each other and get closer to the nonprofit groups they support. We want to create an online clubhouse where the entire network will live and interact.”

Robust functionality and branding expertise, combined with firms that are well versed in the green marketing space seemed like a tall order. Then they found Core Industries and Groundswell, two Brooklyn-based firms interested in promoting environmentally and socially responsible brands, nonprofits included. Said Corey Szopinski of Core Industries, “Having the chance to work with 1% was a great opportunity. They are they an amazing organization that is providing a critical service. Their mission is closely aligned with ours, which is to bridge the gap between businesses and the environment.” Jeff Harris of Groundswell added, “Projects like this are the reason we started our company in the first place, to merge our passion for environmentalism with our passion for creative problem solving. It wasn’t just the opportunity to work on an interesting and meaningful assignment, it was a chance to work with a group of people who share our values as well.”

Setting out to overhaul the existing 1% FTP web site, the firms tackled the database structure and content management tools, providing a solid foundation for handling detailed search functionality as well as 1% FTP’s rapid membership growth. The site look was refreshed with new front-end design and copy in order to structure a tremendous amount of information, while also enhancing the brand’s aesthetic and fine-tuning its voice. The team even created a French version of the site to accommodate some of 1% FTP’s international members.

Equipped with a retooled logo and a clever new ad campaign featuring the tagline, “Keep Earth in Business,” 1% FTP saw their online presence as an opportunity to truly engage the global marketplace.

With the new and improved onepercentfortheplanet.org now live, the team will focus next on creating an online community for 1% FTP members—a forum for real-time interaction and sharing ideas. Additional components in the works include a feature for members to update their own profiles, as well as a downloadable “Advocate Toolkit,” which will give consumers the tools to sell the 1% FTP concept within their workplaces. Core Industries and Groundswell are confident that their collaborative efforts will help ensure that 1% FTP can help keep Earth in business for years to come.

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One Percent For The Planet is a global network of businesses, small and large, representing a diverse range of industries and personalities, committed to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment. Members contribute 1% of sales to environmental causes, ensuring the sustainability of our planet and their business. One Percent is an active, customized organization that welcomes individuals, entrepreneurs and corporations in their support of nonprofit organizations engaged in efforts to minimize negative environmental impact. To learn more about 1% FTP go to: http://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org


Core Industries is an interactive marketing company based in Brooklyn, NY that provides marketing strategy, design and development to a range of clients, with a focus on environmentally responsible companies. Past projects include working with VW's carbon offset program called the Carbon Neutral Project, and Seeds of Change organic seeds and packaged foods. Visit them online at http://www.core-industries.com


Groundswell is a brand communications firm that works exclusively with eco-friendly and socially responsible companies. Based in Brooklyn, NY, Groundswell creates smart, memorable work across the media spectrum, including online, print, radio, TV, outdoor and guerrilla. A recent effort for Recycline, maker of eco-friendly home products, helped the company secure national distribution of their Preserve® toothbrush in Target stores. Visit them online at http://www.groundswellcreative.com