One of the most striking lines in Provost Jeff Van Duzer’s talk at the Nashville Institute of Faith and Work a few months ago was his statement that “even bank robbers can tithe.”

See a somewhat similar version of that talk here.

Jeff Van Duzer’s point seemed to be that you cannot be a truly socially responsible company simply by giving some money to good causes. I think he was exactly right. He went on to explain that socially responsible businesses should focus on creating good products and good jobs. 

This week I was thinking about Jeff Van Duzer’s talk when I considered, for about the one hundredth time, how to define social enterprises.

Think about Ben & Jerry’s, a company that comes up at almost every social enterprise conference. While I can think of some good that ice cream does, I wonder if Ben & Jerry’s main products are, on the whole, socially beneficial. We have a serious, deadly obesity problem in the country, and Ben & Jerry’s products seem to be contributing to this problem. Perhaps Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is more healthy than most options or uses more natural ingredients (I am unsure if this is true), but are Ben & Jerry’s core products a net benefit to society? Perhaps Ben & Jerry’s tip the scale in the social direction by providing good jobs with good benefits. However, Ben & Jerry’s is best known for their giving and advocacy, which any business (no matter how socially destructive) could do.

The same arguments could be made against Hershey and Mars Corp., both of which are also well known for their focus on social responsibility. Are there certain industries that social enterprises should avoid altogether? Or should social enterprises enter all industries and try to make them incrementally better?

As a consumer, I am becoming more convinced that providing good products should among the very highest priorities. High quality products and thoughtful customer service is becoming increasingly difficult to find.

Given that I have two young children, Melissa & Doug toys come to mind as a company that is doing it right. Their products are durable and well-designed. Their products are designed to encourage Free Play, Creativity, Imagination, Learning, Discovery. Little Tikes is an older, but similar, company. I have never heard Melissa & Doug or Little Tikes referred to as “social enterprises,” but, in my opinion, both companies benefit society much more than many of the frequently mentioned “social enterprises.”