the doctor is a big believer in sustainability. He’s one of the few bloggers in the space who’s been blogging about green since before it became a hot topic. That’s why, even though he is not in the position that you are as a buyer to enforce the production of sustainable goods and services (because your money speaks louder than words to a supplier), he wanted to do something anyway.

So what’s the doctor‘s solution? Donate 10%^* of all current and future sponsorship and advertising revenue on the Sourcing Innovation Blog, web-site, and future on-line properties to charitable causes that are pursuing sustainability options. Every quarter, after the sponsorship and advertising cheques come in, the doctor is going to take 10% of the gross revenue and immediately donate it to one or more charitable causes – and then tell you which causes, and how much, he donated.

This quarter, the doctor chose to make two $525 donations. One to the David Suzuki Foundation (acknowledgement), which works to find ways for society to live in balance with the natural world that sustains us, and one to Doctors Without Borders (receipt), known as Medicins Sans Frontieres en Canada, which endeavors to find ways to respond rapidly and effectively to public health emergencies, with complete independence from political, economic, and religious influences. I’m a big fan of both of these organizations. David Suzuki is a tireless crusader on behalf of our planet Earth, and Doctors Without Borders recently started trying to mass produce Plumpy’nut, a very simple food that does wonders in keeping young children in third world nations healthy. (There are lots of videos on YouTube that describe its success.) I look forward to being able to make additional donations to both of these charities on behalf of Sourcing Innovation in the future.

Unfortunately, the doctor is not as dim as he looks (or, at least according to some trusted colleagues) and realizes that, on his own, he’s not going to make much of a difference. Even if this site was fully sponsored, at what the doctor perceives it’s market value to be, he’d only be donating thousands a year. A nice number for an individual donation, but peanuts in the grand scheme of things. But the doctor has a solution!

The Solution: The 10% Blogger Challenge!

the doctor is hereby challenging all bloggers who generate advertising or sponsorship income off of their sites to donate 10% off the top (off the gross for you financial types) to sustainable charities of their choosing from all advertising and sponsorship income they receive, and to do so at least yearly, with quarterly donations being preferred. Furthermore, each blogger should advertise the charities they are donating too, and why, and try to convince their readers to persuade their companies to also donate 10% of at least one revenue line, off the top, to sustainable causes.

Just think of the difference it would make if every organization in the developed world took 10% of their revenue and applied it to sustainable causes (charities, community programs, green energy investments, etc.). And since you can supposedly take 10% off the top of everything when buying, there’s no good reason you can’t spare 10% yourself. (Maybe your company would have to do away with the private box at the track, or cut back on it’s over-priced private art collection, but does it really need those?) So join me, and let’s show them that us bloggers are the future, on-line and off.

^*The fine print. 10%-off-the-gross of all sponsorship and advertising revenue from the Sourcing Innovation Blog and the Sourcing Innovation Website in 2008 will be donated to registered charitable causes on a quarterly basis, after the revenue is received. This excludes any revenue that is due to a partner through a joint effort or due to an individual or enterprise that sells sponsorship or advertising on behalf of Sourcing Innovation. So, if a quarterly Sourcing Innovation sponsorship is sold for $10,000 by itself, $1,000 will be donated to a registered charity within 3 months of receipt of the funds; and if a partner, with a 30% gain-share agreement, sells an advertising slot for $1,000, then $70, or 10% of the $700 net, will be donated to a registered charity within 3 months of receipt. Furthermore, the doctor is open to having his books audited by any sponsor or advertiser who makes a minimum $1,000 donation to a registered charity of the doctor‘s choosing, as long as they agree to a rigid non-disclosure agreement and make the donation up-front.