Innovation

Prosper for Purpose’s innovation is that they are a marketing, PR, branding, and creative services agency that is focused on helping for-profit and non-profit businesses define the direction that they wish to go in. Moreover, they are unique among PR firms in that they are a certified B Corporation, and this means that Prosper for Purpose is not only responsible for the social and environmental impact that they have, but also for the impacts of their clients and even the suppliers of the companies that they assist.

As a child, Lorraine Schuchart got to attend a city planning meeting with her father, and after hearing about so many different plans for improving her community, she was inspired to pursue a dream of creating social impact. Lorraine was not alone in her quest to help clients achieve their visions. In Prosper for Purpose’s early days, Lorraine was joined by Kathryn Perkins, who is now a Managing Director and has been with the company since the second month of its existence. Laura Bean has also been instrumental to the company in her role as an Account Services Director, which she has served in for over three years now.

Lorraine and her team’s unique approach to running a PR firm with B Corporation certification means that Prosper for Purpose has a major stake in helping its clients truly achieve their goals. Lorraine was inspired by her previous work and childhood experiences to start her own venture and make a big social impact – she continues to live and breathe this goal every day.

Lorraine Schuchart, Founder & CEO of Prosper for Purpose

Inspiration

Lorraine Schuchart believed she was going to be a writer or a teacher as she loves telling stories. "At the age of 8, I attended a council meeting with my father who was city manager then chief admin officer, Shaker Heights and worked in the city council. There was a discussion about building a school in the meeting. Hearing about the different plans people had to better the community, I was instantly inspired to pursue the dream of making a difference. This instilled a desire in me to pursue social justice."

Throughout her career, Lorraine went from nonprofit to for-profit to nonprofit again. Before starting her own business, she was working at Joann's for PR. "I was asked to leave my job. Since I wanted to leave it anyway I felt it was “divine intervention” to work on my new business. With a monetary incentive, I started my business," Lorraine said.

In November 2012, Lorraine started her new company: Prosper for Purpose. People, Planet, Profit, and Purpose are the foundations of the company. Lorraine said "We are a people-friendly company with a focus on the community. Planet represents our efforts to measure carbon footprint and continue being almost paperless. The purpose is the fuel, without which there is no direction."

“Social purpose drives us,” Lorraine said. Her new company offers services to help companies with socially or environmentally business ideas. "We impact the community with pro bono work. We take these organizations and individuals from purpose to profit," Schuchart said.

Overall impact

Unlike many companies whose impact can be immediately unearthed and evaluated, Prosper For Purpose has a broader impact. By helping other companies find their identities and realize their missions and goals, Prosper For Purpose’s aim is instead present in the paths of every company they help develop. In the short term, this can be seen by looking at the various companies which Prosper For Purpose has helped find the story they wish to tell, and what kind of company they envision to be. In the longer term, impact can be seen via the social or environmental impacts these companies will then go on to do on small or large scales.

Prosper For Purpose’s impact is more than just an arbitrary statement. As a Certified B Corporation, there are definitive and concrete metrics by which Prosper For Purpose’s impact can be measured. Certification requires meeting standards set by the B Lab, known as the B Impact Assessment. This looks at how a company impacts everything from its own employees, to the local area, to how it handles environmental and broader social issues. As an example, Lorraine mentioned that her entire office has gone paper free, dramatically reducing their waste output. Once a company is certified, they need to be recertified every three years to ensure that they are still having a net positive impact, and are still on the right path.

Business benefit

In efforts to meet the global goal supporting gender equality, women entrepreneurs are prioritized for employment at Prosper for Purpose. As Lorainne mentioned in our interview, this decision is not only to give women more opportunities in entrepreneurship but also to create a supportive team with a common passion. To better understand the team atmosphere, Loraine described her most challenging task working for this company as letting someone go when circumstances in positions changed or when her founding partner and her had unaligned goals. The relationships and driving purpose of this company is valued by all employees laying the foundation for a successful, organized, purposeful team.

Prosper for Purpose supports their clients with fundraising efforts through the construction of brand narratives, brand marketing, and researched donors. These initiatives prepared by the Prosper for Purpose team are volunteer-led with an ask for the company vision. With fundraising and generated revenue, Prosper for Purpose opened up an unknown market of purpose-based consulting that not only helps companies find their drive for change but also provides marketing, branding, and expansion support for the chosen goal. Since they are able to build upon their foundational skills of marketing and modify their services for each client, Prosper for Purpose is able to reach a variety of triple bottom line companies and spread awareness of their corresponding missions. Investors in Prosper for Purpose are thus helping to serve a variety of social and environmental sources of change.

Social and environmental benefit

As a Certified B Corporation, Prosper for Purpose is put to high environmental and social standards. Not only are the organizations Prosper for Purpose helps following the triple bottom line, but so is the agency itself. Lorraine Schuchart completes the B-Corp assessment every two (now three) years for recertification, and each time it is an eye-opening experience to be able to measure her company’s social and environmental impacts.

Lorraine uses Prosper for Purpose to benefit the local community. She has done pro bono work for numerous local organizations, offering her services in order to help them find the guidance they need to be socially and environmentally responsible. Many of Prosper for Purpose’s clients are also Cleveland or Ohio based. Lorraine’s commitment to helping other local organizations tell their story with a sustainable mission has a multiplier-effect impact that spreads throughout the fabric of the community.

Prosper for Purpose aims to be an environmentally-friendly agency in addition to serving other environmentally-friendly organizations. The company has gone nearly completely paperless, helping reduce its carbon footprint. One of Prosper for Purpose’s past clients echoed a lot of the same values the agency holds. 1% for the Planet is a network of businesses and nonprofits working to support environmental solutions. Prosper for Purpose helped the organization develop a brand and donation platform called SEED Ohio, which connected funding to Ohio nonprofits in various environmental areas.

Interview

Lorraine Schuchart, Founder & CEO