Magazine highlights iContact's social policies

The April issue of Entrepreneur Magazine features Ryan Allis and Aaron Houghton, the co-founders of iContact, discussing how they run a successful business that also helps others.

The article highlights the Durham-based e-mail marketing company's "4-1s" policy, where iContact donates 1 percent of its payroll, employee time, product and equity to help nonprofit groups.

With $26.4 million in revenue last year, 190 employees and a 2009 payroll of $10.9 million, iContact donated $109,000 in cash last year. The company also donated free usage of iContact to nearly 700 nonprofits and gave each iContact employee two-and-a-half paid days off to perform volunteer work -- effectively generating 475 days of volunteer work among 63 organizations, the article says.

Allis expects the company to continue expanding and in turn increase the amount it contributes to the less fortunate. "Therein lies the power of social entrepreneurship," he says.

iContact expects to add 40 more employees this year. The private company raised $4.5 million in financing from its existing investors in November and is seeking bigger offices by this fall.

Allis, now 25, was a freshman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when he met Aaron Houghton, a senior computer science major, through the Carolina Entrepreneurship Club in 2002. They joined forces to form iContact, with Allis handling marketing and Houghton handling development.

Read the full Entrepreneur article online here.