Donating to Military Charity Question

Is there anyone out there who made a donation to a charity organization focused on the military and/or veterans and then took a tax deduction on that donation? Would knowing that over 25% (1 out of 4) of federal taxes goes to a current or veteran member of the military influence your decision on taking the deduction? 

KeaneVCC is doing some research to find why people take tax deductions. Please take the below survey, leave a comment, and share! 

Tax Deduction Survey

Thank you!

Capitalism Wins Iran Deal, Not Politics

by Michael Keane

In the end, the lure of capitalism and wealth won over both sides when it came to striking a deal in Iran. There are many Fortune 500 companies like GE, Apple and other global companies that will benefit from Iran’s government opening up their markets. Iran now can also have the ability to sell more oil. Because so many people depend on the profits that these companies and commodities provide (including you and I), the benefit could not be ignored by either side or stopped by the extreme elements of each side. That is not to say that things can’t change. But it will take extreme measures in order to do so.  A link to the Wall Street Journal article is here.

The opponents of this bill will both yell and demand changes, especially the political figures. But one thing they will not do is sell shares of the companies involved in the trade aspect of the deal as they (and everyone else) know that the new market will provide profit and wealth growth. They will not even mention the economics of the deal. That is a clear indication that there will not be enough teeth in the bite to change the deal. There will be lots of positioning on the political side, but hardly any action.   

Trade and Commerce have been given an opportunity to thwart hard line patterns and create a higher level of peace. Let’s work towards pushing this forward in a responsible way as shareholders and continue promoting the benefits while guarding against the greed that Trade and Commerce can create. 

Opinions are that of the author and are not to be taken as to take action for or against any organization or person mentioned in the article. The Twitter handle is @keanevcc and the facebook page is KeaneVCC.

The Power of Sharing Your Company's Labor Identity

by Michael Keane

Who Made All This Stuff?

Why Letting Your Customer Base in on your Labor Identity Can Increase Loyalty

Recently, I was watching a Ted Talk by Matt Ridley (link here) named “When Ideas Have Sex” that was focused on awareness of who and how many people and ideas were involved in the making of the product or service that you have purchased. Funny enough, I had a Fleet Feet bag with a couple of pairs of socks from Balega that I had just purchased earlier in the day sitting next to me on the couch. On the packaging, there was a picture of a member of their inspection team and how to get a hold of the company. This simple step of identifying a member of their team provided me with an extra bit of confidence in the product. Letting customers know in some manner who is involved in making your product or service provides an added level of comfort and support that can only assist in developing and improving the business to customer relationship.

The discussion on the topic of knowing who worked on creating the product or service a customer purchased is increasing. Spending according to personal ethos is also growing in the marketplace. With technology and other tools, customers are better able to analyze whether or not their ethos is supported by the product or service that a company provides. When companies are transparent to customers with their team, there will be a benefit in that they will be better able to legitimize their message to the marketplace and will tend to attract a more loyal customer base quicker. Another benefit of allowing the customer access to their labor identity is that it will also improve the company's focus on attracting the talent needed to run a successful business. It could spur hiring within a certain area or particular demographic group. Some companies are already doing this. One example that I like is the commercials currently being run by the cereal Honey Bunches of Oats. They have employees directly involved in the commercials and become the face of the company. My experience with the Balega sock purchase is another good example.

When I opened up the packaging to my new running socks, I was greeted with a sticker identifying (with a picture) who inspected them before they were delivered to Fleet Feet. Even though this is the first time I have purchased the Balega brand of socks, seeing that little sticker gave me some satisfaction in knowing that I have an avenue of communication if I have an issue or to simply convey my level of satisfaction on the socks. By putting a personal identity on the socks, Balega also gave me reason to have the opinion that this person is trained and does good work.   Knowing that Balega is willing to take the risk and put a face to their quality control openly gives me trust in the company

To be fair, the market is full of companies who keep their operations secret. Unfortunately, one reason why some companies do this is because of their fear that customers will find out how cheaply they treat employees, products, and services. Tech hardware and agriculture companies are famous for this type of process. But this style of business model is becoming harder and harder to implement as communication technology continues to improve. It is getting more and more difficult to keep the customer away from knowing all there is to know about the product or service.

Putting a labor identity on your product or service can be a strong message to the customer as to how much you believe in your company's mission and focus.. It shows belief in their products and employees. It most certainly needs to be part of the company’s culture that all employees should be the face of the company. It shows that the company is proud of their employee training and not afraid to show it. A certain level of customer loyalty can be traced back to these concepts.  

For more information on this post, companies or individuals mentioned in this post, or KeaneVCC, feel free to reply or email your comments to keanevcc@gmail.com. If you are looking for assistance in your company's mission development, or or your company's culture development, send an email to the above address and we will discuss options to improve.

All opinions are the author's alone. Please do your own do due diligence before acting on information contained in this article.


 

Culture Difference Chipotle vs. McDonalds

A very interesting thing happened today. KeaneVCC follows both CNBC and The Wall Street Journal on Twitter. The differences in cultures of Chipotle and McDonalds were put on full display with separate press releases thrown up on Twitter within an hour of eachother. 

Chipotle has announced (CNBC link here) that in order to continue to get the best employees, they are raising benefits to include tuition reimbursement, paid vacation, and paid leave.

McDonalds also had a major announcement today. They hired Robert Gibbs their new Chief Communications Officer (Wall Street Journal link here).

It is interesting to think that up to a certain point, both companies are committing millions of dollars on their corporate message in very different ways in order to achieve the same goal. Lately there is more and more evidence of this cultural divide between companies run by Boomers and Gen Xer's and newer companies run by Gen Xer's and Millenials. Newer companies seem to be going back to the WWII generation model when it comes to compensation and employee value. 

Eliminating Food Waste Gaining Worldwide Traction

Written by Mike Keane


Food Waste has been a regular problem that has not garnered enough attention in the past. With the help of some dedicated companies and groups, that attention level is being raised exponentially. There is evidence that from the local to the international levels, eliminating food waste is becoming a topic that powerful people are becoming more and more active.

Locally, there is a company named Zero Percent (website link here) that has created an app that connects food sources (restaurants, stores, warehouses, etc.) with shelters and food banks in order to alleviate the issue of food waste in Chicago. The company has been very successful being able to sign on some of the most recognizable restaurants (Lou Malnati's, Hannah's Bretzel, etc.) to use their app and assist in providing assistance to the area's food banks and shelters.

On a global scale, western Europe has seemed to take on this topic full steam of late. Recently, the French government has put in a law demanding that grocery stores donate unused expiring food (Huffington Post link here). Now Britain's largest retailer is getting in on the action. Tesco will be instituting a test program by having some of their stores donate unsold food to shelters (Huffington Post link here).

The exciting part of this growing area of interest is that less and less families will be hungry due to common sense values and focused action. There is even some value economically for those looking to create a business around the topic. If you are looking to participate, or just simply have an idea about eliminating food waste, feel free to reply or email keanevcc@gmail.com.

Bullied Comics Looking For Animator

Hello

A client of ours named Bullied Comics is looking for some animation help. If interested, you can email Dan at bulliedcomics@gmail.com.

Thank you

KDK Fund Reaches 5,000 Views

Congratulations to KDK Fund (link here) for its blog reaching 5,000 views! People from each continent (excluding Antarctica) have read the blog at some point since its beginning. As the fund grows, KeaneVCC will be there to help advise and improve operations including the blog. Thank you for the opportunity to help you grow and help influence the investing community!

KDK Fund Reaches Readership Milestone

Hey

Congratulations to KDK Fund for reaching a blog viewership milestone of 4,000! KDK Fund continues to grow and the blog does to. Its regular posts include a weekly review, entries for any transactions made by the fund, and any other pertinent news related to the fund. Please take a look at the blog (link here) and pass it on to others. KDK Fund is always looking to improve the blog and its business. Be sure to comment!

We have been more than happy to support and assist such a wonderful group.

Keane Venture Capital and Consulting