Hope Business Groups

Hope Business Groups

Every little helps. Together it builds a bridge.

Hope Business Groups (HBG) are our business sponsors: people who use their business to combat poverty with us. Businesses, corporations, churches and foundations are all invited to join and make their work count to eradicate hunger and combat poverty. Each member adds one plank. Together we carry food, shelter and welcome to people in need, in Jesus’ name.

A bridge of twelve planks. One plank is laid by Smart Utilities; eleven are open for new member businesses.

1 plank laid. 11 open for businesses like yours.

Every little helps

27¢buys a school meal for a hungry child through the Bridges of Hope 1 Million Meals Hunger Solution. Small gifts from many businesses add up quickly.

370school meals every month
4,444school meals in a year

Based on the 27¢ meal of the 1 Million Meals Hunger Solution. Your gift can also support other Bridges of Hope work.

Who can join

Every business, corporation, church and foundation is welcome

We need more corporate sponsors and foundation partners. Whether you run a corner shop, lead a large corporation, pastor a church or steward a foundation, you can join Hope Business Groups and put what you have to work against hunger and poverty.

Small and local businesses

Shops, trades, restaurants, salons and services.

Corporations

Companies ready to make a share of sales, profits or a signature campaign count.

Churches

Congregations that join like any other sponsor, alongside business people caring for the poor.

Professionals

Practices and firms of every kind, from consultants to realtors.

Foundations

Foundations that give a grant toward school meals, water, care or a whole project.

Why business people join

We are changing how charity is funded, for good.

You built something good. Let it carry hope further. When businesses give a little every day, the work no longer waits on one-time appeals.

The tension

Business pulls in every direction

Payroll, suppliers and customers all need attention. Giving often waits for a quieter season that never comes.

The longing

Perhaps you want your work to mean more

Many owners want their business to do good beyond the bottom line, and are not sure where to start.

The answer

Give a little, together

Bridges of Hope serves in 21 countries and handles the work on the ground. You choose a simple way to give, and the group multiplies it.

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”Matthew 25:40

Hope Business Groups

Our members

Every member on this board gives part of what it earns to Bridges of Hope. Anyone who would like to use their business to combat poverty can take a place by becoming an HBG member. The open spaces are waiting for you.

Smart Utilities and Bridges of Hope flyer: Your utility bill can make a difference. Smart Utilities is donating 10% of all profits to Bridges of Hope. Make the switch today at smartutilities.ca.
Energy Smart Campaign flyer. Scan the QR code to switch.
Switch to Smart Utilities
Founding member · Energy Smart Campaign

Smart Utilities gives 10% of all profits

Smart Utilities is a new, local provider of electricity, natural gas and solar. Every customer who switches helps Bridges of Hope, at no extra cost to them.

  1. Grab a recent utility bill

    Your account details make signing up quick.

  2. Visit smartutilities.ca or scan the QR code

    Choose the electricity, natural gas or solar plan that fits your home or business.

  3. Tell them Bridges of Hope sent you

    Your switch is then counted toward the work.

Smart Utilities is owned by Bridges of Hope board member Rudi, who has committed 10% of the company’s profits to our work. Rates, contracts and service are provided by Smart Utilities.

What members receive

Good for the world. Good for your business.

A place on this page

Your business is featured on the Hope Business Groups board with your flyer, your story and a button that sends customers to you.

Customers who choose you

We invite our supporters to choose member businesses. People want to buy from businesses that care.

Regular HBG gatherings

HBG members meet periodically to connect, pray, hear updates from the field and plan together with other business people who want their work to serve people in need.

Impact you can see

Hear how your giving feeds children, welcomes newcomers and cares for families in 21 countries.

Invite your customers to give

Six simple ways your business can fight hunger

The best-loved brands invite customers to give at the counter, in the app and during one big day each year. Every HBG member can do the same with Bridges of Hope. Pick one or several.

Once a year

Hope Day

Choose one day a year when 100% of the proceeds from one product or service go to Bridges of Hope.

Example: every coffee, haircut or oil change on Hope Day feeds children.
One week a year

A Hope item

Create a special item for one week, with all proceeds given to the work. Customers love a product with a purpose.

Example: a Hope cupcake, a Hope candle or a Hope bundle.
Every day

Round up at the till or online

Invite customers to round up to the next dollar at the counter, the kiosk, your website or your app. Small change becomes school meals.

Example: round up $8.73 to $9.00 and 27¢ goes to Hope.
Every day

A Hope box on the counter

Place a Bridges of Hope coin box by the register. Every 27¢ dropped in is one school meal.

Ask our office about a Hope box and counter sign.
During your campaign

Hope hearts on your wall

Offer paper Hope hearts for $2, $5 or $10. Customers write their name and you post them on the wall for everyone to see.

A wall full of hearts invites the next customer to give.
Every month

A share of sales or profits

Commit a percentage of sales or profits, the way Smart Utilities gives 10% of all profits to Bridges of Hope.

Your customers give simply by choosing you.

Fund something that lasts

Your business can build hope people can touch

Beyond everyday giving, an HBG member can take on a whole project in its own name. Choose the one that moves you, and we will show you the cost and report back on the results.

Education

Build a school

Give children a classroom, desks and a place to learn.

Clean water

Drill a water well

Bring safe water to a whole village and free children to go to school.

Care

Build an orphan care centre

Give children without parents a safe, loving home.

Livelihoods

Fund microloans

Help families start small businesses and earn their own way out of poverty.

People

Pay a teacher’s or nurse’s wage

Keep a teacher in the classroom or a nurse at the clinic, month after month.

Hunger

Fund school meals

Feed a whole school through the 1 Million Meals Hunger Solution, 27¢ a meal.

Join our Hope Business Groups or create a chapter where you live

Become a conscientious business person

Add your plank to the bridge. Businesses, corporations, churches and foundations are all welcome. There is no minimum. Every little helps.

1

Sign up

Fill in the short form below with your details. No phone call needed.

2

We welcome you

Our office follows up by email to welcome you and answer any questions.

3

Choose how you give

Customer giving, a share of sales or profits, a monthly gift, a grant, or a project of your own.

4

Take your place on the board

We post your flyer here with your own button underneath and invite our supporters to choose you.

5

Gather and see the impact

Meet with other HBG members periodically and hear what your giving has done.

No group near you? Start a chapter where you live.

Hope Business Groups can grow in any town or city. Gather a few business people or churches who want to combat poverty, and we will help you begin.

  1. Sign up below and tick “Start a chapter where I live”
  2. Invite two or three business owners or churches in your community
  3. Meet periodically, give together, and add your chapter to this board

What is at stake

The same business, two different stories

When you join

  • Part of every month’s business reaches people in need
  • Children receive school meals that help them learn
  • Your customers see a business that cares, and come back
  • You build something that outlasts the next quarter

If nothing changes

  • Business carries on, and the good it could do waits
  • The wish to give more stays a wish
  • A plank in the bridge stays open

Picture what happens next

One business is a plank. Together we are a bridge.

Picture a classroom of children who ate breakfast today, a village drinking clean water, a mother running the small shop her microloan built, and your business name on the bridge that carried them there. Use your business to combat poverty and help change how charity is funded, for good.