Author: Eleda Towle
What is the name of your company?
Triple Mountain, located in Hiram, Maine.
What do you do?
We are a niche collectibles business, catering to model horse collectors and LEGO™ collectors. We are a mom-and-pop business, but we ship models to collectors around the world. We sell both "regular" retail items and also vintage pieces on consignment, with an inventory of over 5,000 items.
Why did you choose to take the Pledge?
We were already donating 1% to charities using the Give & Grow app by Pledgify (through Shopify), as well as helping our local animal shelter and other local non-profits before we heard of Pledge 1%. We believe that businesses have the power to positively impact their communities and the responsibility to do so. We joined Pledge 1% as a way to be part of a community of like-minded businesses and as a way to display our pledge to customers.
If you could share one story about your company's impact, what would it be?
There's not one single "big" story I can share because a small business's greatest impact is made in a series of small stories. As an animal-centric business, many of our impacts revolve around animals. As word came of horses and livestock trapped in the flood waters of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, we set up a fundraiser and donated 20% of our profits to the Texas Equine Veterinary Association, which spearheaded rescue efforts by boat and treated, fed, and housed animals they found until their owners could reclaim them. After the horrific attack in Lewiston, Maine, we donated all of our profits to the fund set up to help survivors and victims' families with medical or burial costs.
We have a permanent consignment sales account set up for our regional animal shelter. Since 2016, people have donated model horses to the account, and when they sell, the proceeds have gone to the shelter, raising over $10,000 to date. The benefit of being a small business is that we can pivot quickly when there is a need and we can be ready to help within hours.
How do you measure the impact of your Pledge?
Being a mom-and-pop business, we don't need to document or measure impacts like a corporation might; instead, we measure impact by the help we are able to offer our community. We visit many of the nonprofits we help, such as Harvest Hills Animal Shelter and Riding To The Top Therapeutic Riding Center, and see firsthand the ways our contributions are helping. It's a great joy to have the means to help others.
What advice would you give to other small but mighty companies that are thinking about taking the Pledge?
If you have a small business, you are probably already active in your community. Why not put that love for your community into writing and use it in your marketing? As much as we help our neighbors in Western Maine, they return that kindness many-fold by shopping with us and spreading the word that our business helps area non-profits.
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