Getting behind the Pay It Forward movement

It’s an awesome feeling when you make someone’s day. It’s even better when you bring a smile to a complete stranger’s face, and encourage them to do the same for someone else.

That’s the genesis of the Pay It Forward movement: doing a random act of kindness that inspires another and multiples into many more.

So when our marketing team came up with the idea of Xero paying it forward for small business owners (#xeropaysitforward), I thought it was an awesome way to get behind this social movement. We get to give something back to small businesses and their customers (and get them to pay it forward too, of course).

Here’s how #xeropaysitforward played out:

• We asked Xero staff in every Australian office to nominate a business (and amount) they wanted to pay it forward to.
• We visited these businesses – ranging from cafes and eateries to barbers, gyms and even Bondi Icebergs Club – and paid it forward to them.
• When customers went to pay, they were handed a card and told that “this one’s been paid for by Xero”.
• We filmed/photographed peoples’ reactions, and encouraged them to pay it forward.

 

We captured lots of great moments at all kinds of businesses. To see more from #xeropaysitforward, check out this photo album on Xero’s Flickr account and the video below:

Judging by the reactions, comments, tweets and photos we got from #xeropaysitforward, business owners and customers really embraced the concept and were only too happy to pay it forward to someone else.

Personally, I went along to see pay it forward in action at St. ALI. in South Melbourne and it was gratifying to see how a simple act of kindness – shouting a stranger a coffee – could make their day.

We took the generosity of the pay it forward concept one step further, matching the contributions made by Xero staff and donating this money to charity – Youth Off The Streets.

International Pay it Forward Day

Today is International Pay It Forward Day, the official day to do a random act of kindness for a stranger. So I encourage you to shout someone a coffee, a lunch, a haircut, a swim – whatever, really. Go ahead and pay it forward – and encourage others to do the same. It’ll make you smile and feel good. It sure did for me and all the people who took part in #xeropaysitforward.

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