Focus, Extend and Articulate Your Community Giving Program
Invitations to “Tupperware” fundraising breakfasts. Direct mail requests. Give to the Max Day pleas. I’m already inundated with year-end giving appeals. I bet I’m not alone.
I often see companies scatter their financial contributions and volunteer efforts broadly, I believe, however, a planned and focused approach has greater benefits for companies and nonprofits alike. Companies gain through greater visibility and loyalty among employees and customers, as well as an enhanced reputation and goodwill. Nonprofits gain by having strategic partners to carry their message and advance their cause.
But first, let me say, your primary motive for giving should be to support deserving organizations and their mission. If it’s not, your giving will be contrived and your relationship with nonprofits transactional and short lived. There. I said it. Now, moving on…
Focus
Focusing your community giving around a single nonprofit or cause will generally bring you the most benefit and visibility. Consider the Starkey Hearing Foundation of Starkey Laboratories. It doesn’t spread its donations among every possible cause. Its mission is focused: “to change the social consciousness of hearing through education and research while providing the gift of hearing to those in need.” And it generates landslide amounts of visibility and goodwill through its contributions to that end. Its whole-hearted support of one cause has a greater impact than small contributions to 20 different ones.
Starkey also aligns with a cause related to its core business. Is your business insurance? Support MADD or the Minnesota Safety Council. Are you an entrepreneur? Support Junior Achievement. As a communications professional, I may give to the Minnesota Literacy Council or CaringBridge, both of which foster communications.
Extend
Remember, contributions go beyond money. Extend your company’s community giving creatively: profile your nonprofit partner in company communications, host an event for customers and vendors with proceeds benefitting the nonprofit you support, give employees paid time off to volunteer, commit pro-bono hours to the organization, join the board of directors or another committee. These efforts extend your impact within that organization in very visible ways, helping enlist others to support the cause. Commit fully to the organizations you support so that your entire team, customers and vendors become vested along with you.
Articulate
Also consider writing and publishing your community giving guidelines. This removes subjectivity around donations and informs others of your priorities. Guidelines will help you avoid favoritism and willy-nilly giving.
Question: How does your company choose the organizations it supports?
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Comments
Support
Thanks for this great article. My company selects an organization once a year to support. Our selection process involves our employees. We support an organization that one or more people within our office are passionate about and then those people take the lead for that year. Sometimes our involvement doesn't involve raising money but simply volunteering our time, which sometimes is more precious.
Engagement
It sounds like you've found a process that truly engages the employees and results in a longer-term commitment to an organization. Both are important for achieving meaningful team-building and volunteer opportunities. I like your approach!