Wine industry is trying to give back to the community

As the global business scenario evolved, all the industries had an urge to change and adopt newer policies. The objectives shifted from profit maximization to wealth maximization. Giving back to the society has become a significant indicator. Philanthropy has become an integral part of the industries. These acts add to the company’s reputation. Especially, the younger workers want to work with a company that benefits society and shareholders along with its growth. The same notion stands true for wine industry. Wine is all things old, good and fine. Generosity is a thing that rules the wine industry.

Wine industry gets involved at both micro and macro level

Anyone who has been associated with the wine industry surely knows that wine industry has associated itself with initiatives that are beneficial to the society. They have been a part of fundraising at the community level, they have connected themselves with schools and libraries and the initiatives have not been limited to small scale. There have been grand events like the one at Auction Napa Valley. The focus was on the activities that fuel community health initiatives. Wineries all around are frequently involved in philanthropic activities. They genuinely accept and acknowledge requests for donations received throughout the year.

Especially when the year is about to end and is in its last quarter, wine industry enters into its Giving Season. For all the nonprofit communities, this time of the year is about giving and sharing. Donors are in the festive zone and donate more generously compared to the rest of the year. While having a discussion with Martin Cody, he gave a closer view about the wineries and how the industry works. He and his wife Denise believe that “Giving Back” is one of the three pillars that make their business. The couple founded Cellar Angels back in 2010. Cellar Angels connect the wineries and consumers who are interested in philanthropy and act upon it.

Simple system, basic focus and that is how they prefer to work

For every purchase that is made from a Cellar Angels winery partner, a percentage of sales is transferred directly to philanthropic partner. This initiative is highly fruitful because even if you purchase a small-production, limited-availability Napa Cab, the revenues will go towards a good cause. The purchases can help an organization that is ensuring clean drinking water. It also might help a family who is not rich enough to treat their autistic child or the portion of those sales will aid soldiers by sending a care package. As per Cody, they are not a big-shot fundraiser. They have an old-fashioned and boring system. They also believe in eliminating non-active participants off their list. They have a very minimalistic approach and believe in old-school methods. They reach out to interested participants and arrange visits and phone calls with the clients.

Their model is, as Cody explains, very low tech and, well, kind of boring. They don’t have a large list; actually they continually cull their list of non-active participants. They don’t offer alarmingly high discounts, and they are not an end-of-bin digital flash site. “There’s no fancy app, no cutting edge technology and really no public adoration. There’s really nothing sexy about what we do unless you consider giving back to be sexy”, said Cody.