Bob Dalton, founder of Sackcloth & Ashes, was inspired to create his business with the broad mission of addressing homelessness after his mother went unhoused for a period. When Bob considered how he could make a difference, he found every shelter needed blankets, so he came up with a business that uses a one-for-one model. For every blanket purchased from Sackcloth & Ashes, the company donates another to a local homeless shelter. Through this unique approach, Bob created a thriving business that’s helping shelters around the US.
A personal connection to a cause
Bob did not set out to start a company. His mother’s unexpected struggle with homelessness acted as the catalyst for his commitment to making a difference through his entrepreneurship, fundamentally altering his perspective. Bob explains, “When it hit that close to home, it completely changed my understanding of why people could end up on the street.”
The local impact
Bob implemented a one-for-one donation model because he liked its simplicity, And because customers could see the impact they made. He felt this contrasted with similar social missions of peer companies that, at best, were a drop in a bucket in terms of impact and; at worst, a greenwashing of corporate priorities.
Bob wanted to make a more obvious impact in a couple of ways: First, he wanted to make sure that customers’ impact would be felt in their own community. He uses a database of homeless shelters to match customers’ ZIP codes to ensure he sends blankets directly to each customer’s local shelter.
He also modified donations based on feedback. Bob found shelters were asking for fleece blankets, instead of the wool blankets he sold to consumers. Fleece blankets are easier to wash, so Bob adjusted the Sackcloth & Ashes’ business model to give shelters blankets that fit their needs.
Cold outreach
Bob didn’t have any business experience or a college degree before he started Sackcloth & Ashes. What he did have was persistence and a mission to make a difference for those experiencing homelessness. With a goal to get into 10 stores, Bob started driving up and down the Oregon coast, walking into retail shops and asking if the owners would stock his blankets.
Bob even naively walked into an Anthropologie and inquired about selling his blankets there. The manager took his card, and a buyer from the corporate Anthropologie office later called Bob to place an order—at the time, his biggest wholesale order to date. “I remember falling out of my chair and calling the local seamstress,” Bob says. The retailer ordered 8,000 blankets; Sackcloth & Ashes only had 20 blankets in stock, so Bob quickly had to scale production.
Supporting social change
As Sackcloth & Ashes continues to grow and evolve, Bob remains focused on leveraging his platform to support grassroots leaders and empower communities.
His vision for the future of business includes more support of social causes. “Business in this next season is going to transform from a lot of do-good brands to companies that are empowering people to do good,” he says, articulating a future where businesses serve as catalysts for social change.
To learn more about Sackcloth & Ashes’ unique business model, listen to the full interview on Shopify Masters.
