Green Pivot: MilkCrate for Communities 101

We’ve been keeping tabs on MilkCrate since it debuted in 2014.

So when we heard the app was changing from its “green yelp” reputation to focus on an employee engagement app, we went straight to MilkCrate’s CEO Morgan Berman to find out the scoop. Here’s our interview about the new app!

Green Philly Blog: MILKCRATE IS TAKING A TURN FROM THE “GREEN YELP” TO “MILKCRATE FOR COMMUNITIES.” WHAT INSPIRED THIS CHANGE?

Morgan Berman: There were a bunch of factors:

First, our users were tellings us what they wanted, and it all fell into three main buckets:

1. They wanted the app to guide them, to show them what to do when.
2. They wanted to feel a sense of progress and get rewarded for it, ‘points’ came up over and over.
3. They wanted the experience to be more social, to see what other people were doing, to be inspired by it, to cheer them on and of course to also show off their green stripes.

Then came the market research we were doing, the trends we saw around Corporate Social Responsibility. There is a not-small number of companies out there that are engaging employees in sustainable behavior. We saw an opportunity to use our carefully curated content in our business directory, our calendar, and lifestyle actions to power a user experience that drives verified data around the social and environmental impact of a group.

We are trying to do a much better job at something that other groups have started trying to do after seeing the paralleled success of programs that track sustainability like LEED and B Corp for buildings and policies, respectively.

There has always been a desire to make the technology we build at MilkCrate to be verifiable and trackable – this just became the best way to deploy and monetize. Ever since former Mayor Nutter declared that he would make Philly the most sustainable city in the country, we’ve been on the mission to make it possible to prove it (or disprove it).

GPB: HOW WILL USERS EARN REWARDS?

Morgan Berman: Every time you check-in at a business in our app (like a farm-to-table restaurant, fair trade coffee shop, or bike shop) you get points. Every time you register for an event or volunteer opportunity in our calendar, you get points. Every time you sign up for a service like a CSA, or switch to renewable energy, points!

Your company or school, who ever bought the platform for you and your colleagues; they reward the highest earning people with rewards. These vary from community to community, but we work with our clients to make sure they are awesome.

GPB: I KNOW CHANGE IS SOMETIMES TOUGHER AT THE COMPANY EXECUTIVE LEVEL. (THAT’S WHY I LEFT MINE AND STARTED MY OWN!) HOW CAN EMPLOYEES GET THEIR BOSSES TO PARTICIPATE WITH MILKCRATE FOR COMMUNITIES?

Morgan Berman: Tell your boss that this matters to you. You can request a demo or get your boss to request one by going to our website and filling out the form. We can come in during lunch and present to your whole team or set up a private meeting with just a few folks.