B1G1 was founded by Social Entrepreneur Masami Sato. It began as a very powerful idea in Brisbane, Australia in June 2007. Through to mid-2009, B1G1 concentrated its efforts on getting the giving going by developing the necessary systems and processes with SME businesses. This provided the opportunity to test the processes before scaling them into the larger corporate ‘space’.

This map illustrates the growth well:

That growth continues apace. B1G1 is now a Foundation based in Singapore with all the transparency that implies. In its May 2009 report to the Board, B1G1 revealed these statistics:

• a total of 130,621 giving transactions
• we supplied 19,135 meals to children in orphanages and slums
• we housed 15 homeless people
• we paid for 4320 days accommodation for blind people in Malaysia
• we paid for 4,258 healing sessions for young girls rescued from the sex trade in Cambodia
• and much more

The important thing here is that the ‘we’ in those examples are the people who run businesses and become Members of this global giving community. Through B1G1 transaction-based giving, they chose their worthy causes. And they connected much more deeply with themselves and with their customers.

Meet the B1G1 team

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