Our Cause

5% of the profits from sales of Mini-Green go directly to creating and supporting outdoor and athletic programs for underserved youth. We believe that exploring, learning and being exposed to new things is what childhood ought to be about. And for kids that don’t have easy access to outdoor and athletic programs, we feel privileged to be able to create and finance programs that broaden their horizons. Whether it is after-school and weekend sports programs, or day trips to meet and experience new people and places, we want to introduce these kids to the world that our customers readily experience in their indoor and outdoor activities.

In choosing which programs to support, we employ certain parameters:

1) WE CONTRIBUTE 80% OF OUR DONATIONS TO CHARITIES WITH THREE OR MORE YEARS OF OPERATING HISTORY. Three or more years of operating history allows us to see the work a charity has been doing over time, and it allows for them to have worked through any start-up issues.

2) WE CONTRIBUTE 20% OF OUR DONATIONS TO START-UPS. We contribute the large majority of our donations to established charities but we also realize that there are young, innovative organizations for whom even a smaller donation might make the difference between success and failure. Donating to smaller organizations is riskier, but by playing a meaningful role in their early years as they grow and become established we will play an increasingly larger part in their work.

3) AMONG CHARITIES WITH THREE OR MORE YEARS OF EXISTENCE, WE DO NOT CONTRIBUTE TO CHARITIES THAT SPEND MORE THAN A COMBINED 25% ON ADMINISTRATIVE AND FUNDRAISING EXPENSES. This one is simple for us. We want to support organizations that are putting donations to use offering new experiences to kids who could use their help, not paying disproportionately high salaries to executives or sending dozens of solicitations to every person throughout the year. We’re not paying for them to raise more money; we’re paying to make a difference in the lives of kids.