Community service is good for your business and your community. Corporate donations are commonly the ways in which businesses contribute to the community and to their favorite causes; though donations are sometimes the best way to help, they can, at times, feel impersonal and incomplete.
As a business, you have the opportunity to offer something a little more unique, personal, and meaningful. Cold, hard cash can get the job done, but it’s the heart of people that make it happen and keep momentum going.
Here are five ways your business can go beyond the standard corporate donation:
1. There’s never enough time.
Time may be a social construct, but it is a valuable and limited commodity. Volunteers are the heart of any cause. They’re the ones who give that extra bit of help a cause needs to really make a difference. So, one of the easiest and most helpful things your business can do is donate your time. Not only is it a rewarding experience for your employees (which is good for your business), but it also makes a meaningful, immediately positive impact on your cause.
2. Don’t forget your products.
You can buy pretty much anything online. Donating your products directly to cause is a way to make a corporate donation go a little further. As an ecommerce store, chances are you have a specific type of product, so you may not be able to donate your products directly to your cause. However, if what your cause needs doesn’t line up with your product offerings, all hope is not lost – you have a few options.
You can partner with an ecommerce store that does sell what your cause needs. Build a relationship with them and see if they’ll make a matching donation; for example, if your business purchases a certain amount of product for donation, they will match that amount. Straight up buying the product and donating it is always an option, but this is about taking it a step further. You can also run a promotion on a certain product or product line on your site, where, for a certain amount of time, a percentage of sales from those product(s) would go to your cause.
It’s still a corporate donation, of course, but it gets your community of customers involved as well to make it a more meaningful experience.
3. Play on your strengths.
Your business is unique, which means you have the opportunity to give something unique and related to your business. For example, ParadoxLabs is a web development company. The Wild Bill Guarnere Memorial Fund is part of our #BetterCommunities Initiative and they needed a new site, so, in addition to working with them on other things, we built them a site as a donation. To make this idea work for you, think about your business, your industry, and your special skills, then figure out how you can put those to work for a cause you love.
4. Host a benefit.
If you really want to get hands-on with your cause, aside from donating time directly to them, you can help them raise funds and awareness by hosting a benefit. As an example, we’re contributing to the 1st Annual Wild Bill Guarnere Memorial Fund Golf Outing and Dinner. When it comes to benefits, you can build them around any kind of outing that people in your community will want to come to. While at the benefit, you can raffle off prizes, hold contests, get other businesses to host a table, etc. to raise more funds.
If you’re not ready or able to take on something like a huge benefit, you can take things down to the personal level. Get involved in local community events to collect donations or sell goods to raise them. For March, ParadoxLabs is supporting a local Relay For Life event - my Relay For Life event at Lebanon Valley College.
To help fundraise, I’m participating in Lebanon’s First Friday ArtWalk on March 6th. I get the chance to participate in a local event by showcasing original art pieces and I’m able to use that as a fundraising platform, simply by opting to collect donations, sell pieces during the event, and then donate all proceeds. So, if you happen to be in Lebanon, PA on Friday, March 6th from 5-8 p.m., stop by Queen’s Natural Market and say hi. If you can’t make it, but still want to help out, you can donate online (thanks to ecommerce!).
5. Take it digital.
In addition to a donation, you can use your brand’s visibility online to help raise awareness for your cause. Add a link to your cause somewhere prominent on your site and don’t be afraid to direct people there to learn more and to help. You can promote your cause and raise awareness through a series of blog posts on your site and with promotion on social media. This not only increases awareness about a cause, but it also expands the reach to include a larger pool of potential donors.
We’re big fans of the “donations and…” approach, but that might not be right for every business. The point is to find out what you can do for your community as a business thriving in it and then find a way to contribute that is completely “you.”