HOW BAFFIN AND PROTECT OUR WINTERS CANADA ARE EMPOWERING CUSTOMERS TO CREATE IMPACT AT CHECKOUT

What if every outdoor purchase could help protect the places we love?
We’re stoked to spotlight Baffin and the creative ways they’re helping turn everyday actions into climate action.

For many brands, supporting a nonprofit means making an annual donation or sponsoring a campaign. Baffin chose to go one step further.

By integrating Beam Impact into its online checkout experience, Baffin has created a simple yet powerful way for customers to support Protect Our Winters Canada (POW Canada) every time they shop. The initiative transforms everyday purchases into opportunities for collective climate action while reinforcing Baffin's commitment to protecting the outdoor places its customers depend on.

This case study explores how the partnership came to life, why Baffin chose this approach, and what other brands can learn from their experience.

Aligning Purpose with Business

Baffin and Protect Our Winters Canada share a common belief that protecting the outdoors requires more than words, it requires action.

Rather than limiting its support to an annual corporate contribution, Baffin wanted to create a way for its entire community to participate. The Beam Impact platform made that possible by seamlessly integrating charitable giving into the customer journey, creating an ongoing source of support for POW Canada's advocacy, education and community initiatives.

The result is a partnership that extends beyond fundraising. It strengthens customer engagement, reinforces Baffin's sustainability values, and demonstrates how businesses can create measurable impact while delivering a seamless shopping experience.

Partner Q&A

1. What inspired Baffin to integrate a checkout donation program into your website, and why was it important for you to support organizations like Protect Our Winters Canada through this initiative?

At Baffin, our products are built for people who live, work and explore outdoors year-round. Because of that, we recognize the importance of supporting organizations that help protect the environments our customers depend on and enjoy.

While Baffin has supported environmental and community-focused initiatives for many years, we wanted to create an additional way to involve our customers directly in that impact. Integrating a checkout donation program through Beam Impact allowed us to extend support for Protect Our Winters Canada beyond a traditional annual donation and create an opportunity for customers to contribute in a simple and accessible way during their purchase journey.

Protect Our Winters Canada's focus on climate advocacy, education and outdoor community engagement aligned naturally with our brand values and our customer base.

2. How does the Beam Impact platform work within your e-commerce experience, and how easy is it for customers to support POW Canada during checkout?

Beam Impact is seamlessly integrated into the Baffin.com checkout experience. During checkout, customers are presented with the option to add a small donation in support of Protect Our Winters Canada directly within their purchase flow.

The experience is designed to be simple, transparent and optional. Customers can contribute with just a few clicks without interrupting the shopping experience. The integration allows customers to participate in a meaningful initiative while completing a purchase they were already making.

From a user experience perspective, it was important that the donation process felt intuitive, easy to understand and aligned with the overall Baffin.com customer journey.

3. Can you walk us through the internal process at Baffin to launch this initiative? Which teams were involved in making it happen?

Launching the program was a collaborative initiative across multiple teams within Baffin.

Our Marketing and eCommerce teams worked closely together to evaluate the customer experience, implementation process and brand alignment. We also collaborated with our web development partners to ensure the Beam integration functioned seamlessly within our Shopify environment.

Additionally, our leadership team supported the initiative from both a brand values and long-term partnership perspective, helping ensure the program aligned with Baffin’s broader business and sustainability objectives.

The process was highly collaborative and focused on creating a customer experience that felt authentic to the brand.

4. From idea to launch, how long did it take to implement the checkout donation platform on your website?

From initial discussions to launch, the implementation process was relatively efficient and took only a few weeks to complete.

Because Beam Impact’s platform integrates smoothly within Shopify, much of the process focused on internal alignment, customer experience planning, creative development and testing rather than complex technical development.

The streamlined implementation made it possible for Baffin to activate the program quickly while ensuring the experience met our brand and operational standards.

5. What has the response been from customers since introducing the option to support POW Canada during their purchase?

The response has been positive. Customers increasingly want to support brands that align with their values, particularly within the outdoor industry where environmental stewardship is closely connected to the customer lifestyle.

We’ve seen strong engagement with the program, and customers appreciate having the opportunity to contribute to a meaningful cause directly through their purchase experience in a simple and accessible way.

The initiative has also helped reinforce the connection between Baffin’s outdoor community and broader conversations around climate and environmental responsibility.

6. What kind of impact has the program generated so far for POW Canada through customer donations?

The checkout donation program has created an ongoing stream of customer-supported fundraising for Protect Our Winters Canada throughout the year.

One of the most meaningful aspects of the initiative is that it allows impact to scale collectively through many individual customer contributions over time. In addition to Baffin’s direct support, the platform enables our community to actively participate in supporting POW Canada’s work through everyday purchases.

The program demonstrates how small customer actions, when aggregated at scale, can contribute meaningful support toward environmental advocacy and education initiatives.

7. Beyond fundraising, how does this initiative support Baffin’s broader sustainability and brand values?

For Baffin, this initiative is about more than fundraising alone. It reflects our broader commitment to supporting the outdoor environments and communities connected to our brand.

As an outdoor footwear company, we recognize the importance of long-term environmental responsibility and believe partnerships like this help create opportunities for awareness, education and collective action within the outdoor industry.

The program also supports Baffin’s focus on building purposeful partnerships that extend beyond transactional marketing initiatives and contribute to broader community impact.

8. From a business perspective, what benefits does Baffin see from offering customers the opportunity to support environmental causes at checkout?

From a business perspective, the initiative helps strengthen customer engagement and reinforces trust and credibility with values-driven consumers.

Today’s customers increasingly expect brands to demonstrate authentic action and transparency around the causes they support. By embedding charitable giving directly into the customer experience, Baffin is able to create an additional layer of purpose and community engagement within the shopping journey.

The program also helps differentiate the brand within the outdoor marketplace while supporting stronger emotional connection and long-term customer loyalty.

9. What were some key learnings from implementing this program that other outdoor brands could benefit from?

One of the key learnings was the importance of ensuring the initiative feels authentic to both the brand and the customer experience.

Customers respond best when charitable partnerships are aligned naturally with a company’s mission, products and audience rather than feeling disconnected or overly promotional.

We also learned that simplicity matters. Making the donation experience frictionless and easy to understand significantly supports participation.

Finally, collaboration across internal teams — including marketing, eCommerce, development and leadership — was critical to ensuring the program launched successfully and aligned operationally and strategically.

10. What would you say to other brands considering integrating a checkout donation model to support climate and environmental organizations?

We would encourage brands to approach these partnerships with authenticity, long-term commitment and a focus on customer accessibility.

Checkout donation programs provide an opportunity to create meaningful collective impact while empowering customers to participate directly in causes they care about.

For outdoor brands in particular, supporting environmental organizations can be a natural extension of the communities and environments their products are built around.

Programs like this demonstrate that climate action and business objectives do not need to exist separately — they can work together to create measurable impact, stronger customer engagement and meaningful industry partnerships.

Key Outcomes

• Demonstrates how checkout giving can create year-round support for climate action.
• Shows how purpose can be embedded directly into the customer journey.
• Highlights the value of authentic, long-term nonprofit partnerships.
• Inspires other outdoor brands to activate their communities through simple, scalable fundraising.
• Reinforces Baffin's leadership as a purpose-driven brand committed to protecting the outdoors beyond its products.

Business Impact

Baffin's partnership with Protect Our Winters Canada demonstrates how businesses can integrate purpose into the customer journey in a way that creates lasting value for all stakeholders. By embedding optional giving into its e-commerce experience, Baffin has expanded its impact beyond a traditional corporate donation, empowering customers to take part in climate action while strengthening the company's commitment to protecting the outdoor places that inspire its brand.

Creating Impact for Protect Our Winters Canada

The checkout donation program provides POW Canada with an ongoing source of community-supported funding that complements Baffin's annual corporate contribution. Every customer donation helps advance POW Canada's work in climate advocacy, education and community engagement, while expanding awareness of the organization's mission among outdoor enthusiasts across Canada.

Engaging Customers Through Purpose

The partnership makes climate action simple and accessible. Rather than asking customers to make a separate donation, the Beam Impact platform offers an intuitive opportunity to contribute during a purchase they are already making. This seamless experience empowers customers to participate in a cause that aligns with their values and the outdoor experiences they care about.

Strengthening Baffin's Brand

For Baffin, the initiative reinforces its commitment to environmental stewardship in a tangible way. By embedding charitable giving directly into the customer experience, Baffin demonstrates that its sustainability commitments extend beyond corporate messaging. The program strengthens customer trust, deepens engagement with values-driven consumers, and positions Baffin as a leader in purpose-driven business within the outdoor industry.

A Model for the Outdoor Industry

This partnership illustrates how brands can move beyond transactional philanthropy toward long-term, collaborative impact. By combining corporate support with customer participation, Baffin has created a scalable model that benefits the business, its customers and the nonprofit partner—demonstrating that commercial success and climate action can work hand in hand.