This Company Thrives by Giving Away 20 Percent of Its Revenue It's neither a paradox nor an accident; it's the reason MADD Coffee was founded: to make a difference in the lives of others.
By Kristen Prager Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Some may say "no good deed goes unpunished," however that is far from what is occurring with MADD Coffee, a Brooklyn-based business. The returns on this newly established coffee company have been growing rapidly as news gets out about their movement and promise to give back 20 percent of their revenue to charities.
MADD Coffee launched with a mission of making a difference daily through their philanthropic efforts and promoting kindness. Call it good karma -- or good marketing -- but this company is definitely reaping the benefits of being a good-doer.
Every quarter polls will go up listing various charities for which customers can vote to whom MADD should give their large endowment. They have announced the name of the first organization that will receive its 20 percent of quarterly revenue: Covenant House New York, an organization that saves and shelters homeless, abused, trafficked, abandoned and exploited youth.
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A shared vision.
The co-founders of MADD Coffee, Manny Lopez and Marco Perez Del Cid, have big visions for MADD. As the business grows, so do the gifts to charities that their customers are passionate about. They want to not only raise funds for specific organizations but also form a movement that encourages others to get into the habit of kindness and generosity.
MADD Coffee is a company founded from the Guatemalan family tradition of coffee bean farming and roasting. The idea all started from a casual conversation between Lopez and Perez Del Cid to import fresh coffee beans straight from the Perez Del Cid's family coffee bean farm in Guatemala to create a mutual benefit for both of them and their family back home.
A shared heritage.
Marco Perez Del Cid and Manny Lopez were both raised in New York but come from diverse backgrounds. Lopez, born in Queens, had worked his way up in the finance industry but left his job on Wall Street to pursue this passionate endeavor. He felt the need to do more than continue his career of simply making the rich, richer.
While Perez Del Cid was born in Guatemala and raised in Brooklyn by a family of entrepreneurs, he had his family's dream at heart: To introduce Guatemalan coffee to the American market. Additionally he owns a vintage thrift shop chain, L-train Vintage; he also exports second-hand clothes back to his home country.
Partnering together, they established MADD Coffee. This trendy, Brooklyn-based coffee company's vision is to motivate others to mirror their "pay-it-forward" ethos through kind behaviors and charitable acts. All while providing robust, organic and fair-traded coffee. It contains subtle notes of cocoa and toasted nuts and delivers a naturally sweet and rich taste without the extra help of flavors such as sugars or even creamer.
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The goal of MADD Coffee above all is to communicate love through humility and service and to encourage both their customers and the world to key into the MADD pledge which is to "make a difference daily" through acts of kindness and generosity.
Sharing the revenue.
The gift this quarter will go to Covenant House, a nonprofit that saves and shelters homeless, abused, trafficked and exploited youth through all of the Americas. Manny Lopez, a philanthropist and the co-founder of MADD Coffee Company, has a close affinity to this program, given his personal upbringing. Before founding MADD Coffee, he donated and volunteered for the organization in NYC.
Covenant House New York is not only respected for providing loving care and vital services to homeless and abandoned youths, they also help transform the lives of these young kids by setting them on a path towards achieving success. Dan Ryan, a developmental manager of Covenant house stated, "Covenant house gets homeless and trafficked young people off the street, a movement in 31 cities and six countries. Covenant house is reaching 80,000 young people every single year."
Sharing their stories.
According to Marcus, a 21-year-old occupant of the Covenant House, "Covenant House is like a foundation because you can build something for yourself, you have the time and the resources to make it happen." Another grateful occupant Mia, 20, expressed how lucky she is to be part of the program: "I feel like I just rolled some dice and hit something lucky because I don't think I would have found a place that genuinely takes care of kids like they do here."
This organization is impactful, not only for those it helps, but for society as a whole. The way children are brought up now will form how the next generations will lead our country. Frederick Douglass once said, "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men." This resonates strongly with the ethos of both Covenant House and MADD Coffee: They want to improve lives and motivate people to do the best for themselves and those around them.
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MADD Coffee's love for humanity is not just found in their daily pledge to make a difference in the lives of their customers and the community through providing quality and organic coffee rather, it is seen also in their habit and act of giving. In a discussion, Lopez gave a simplified reason for his affection for Covenant House, "The Covenant House youth occupant's resilience throughout their struggles and their ability to continue to work through and chase their dreams only helped me to chase mine. When I started MADD Coffee I knew that I wanted it to be something more than just a product, I wanted to start a movement."
