March 16 2018
Why your company should embrace Giving Back
Why your company should embrace Giving Back
You may have heard the term Corporate Social Responsibility before: Traditionally this term means a company or corporate taking responsibility for their actions and implementing socially responsible policies.
This means everything from the suppliers they chose to the businesses they invest in. It may mean making sustainable choices. It also means giving back to the community.
Social responsibility benefits businesses of all sizes
Giving Back
• helps attract new customers
• helps attract new employees by making you an employer of choice
• introduces networking opportunities.
• supercharges your marketing by building your brand’s recognition and reputation.
Studies have found that 85 percent of consumers will switch from one brand to another associated with a cause they favour,* with 91 percent of millennials willing to switch. Two-thirds of millennials and 53 percent of the general population use social media to engage around corporate social responsibility.
Here’s the problem when you’re a small business owner. You’re on a tight budget and may not have the funds to be as philanthropic as you would like.
Thankfully, there are ways that you give back without breaking the bank, such as these 10 ways.
* http://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/38312-New-Cone-Communications-Research-Confirms-Millennials-as-America-s-Most-Ardent-CSR-Supporters-But-Marked-Differences-Revealed-Among-this-Diverse-Generation
1. Make a plan
As with every other aspect of your business, it’s almost impossible to achieve a goal if you don’t plan for it. Every quarter, take the time to sit down with yourself or your team and discuss the various ways that your business can make the world a better place and then make a plan.
For example, a team member may suggest switching from a paper-based invoicing system to a digital system. Not only is it better for the environment, it can save your business a ton of money since it’s eliminating the cost of paper and ink. That extra cash could be contributed to a charity.
Take the time to research and choose your favourite charities as they align with your personal and business goals.
2. Encourage your team to volunteer.
Here’s an idea that you can borrow from some of the biggest companies in the world; encourage volunteerism by offering paid time off for volunteering for a charity of their choice.
Giving employees a specific amount of time each month, quarter, or year for volunteer work will improve morale. It will also increase your business's community involvement.
You can also volunteer as a team for organisations like St Kilda Mums This action increases team building within your organisation.
Encouraging employees to volunteer for causes they care about, enhances employee happiness. It helps in recruiting and retaining talent.
3. Use a platform to make it easy
You use MYOB or Xero for your accounts, you use Hubspot or Salesforce for your CRM. Use a platform like mycause.com.au and implement a GIVING HUB with all the tools to help your company improve it’s giving.
4. Share your skills and experience.
As a business owner in your community, you possess a wealth of valuable talent, expertise and knowledge. Put those skills to good use by teaching classes or a specialized skill. Help local residents by volunteering for a nonprofit.
5. Dollar Match
Using a platform you can encourage staff to donate to their chosen charities. Remembering that people will always prefer to donate to their causes, not your causes. However, as an organisation, you will have set some ground rules for the charities you support. For example, you may be a food business so you support FareShare. You may be a fitness business so you support Diabetes Australia.
We recommend that you allow employees choice but you incentivise them by dollar matching only YOUR chosen causes. That's a win-win.
6. Gold Coin Days
Gold coin days such as
• Jeans for Jeans
• Red Nose
• Daggy Jumper
• Footy Colors day
• Greatest Morning Tea
• White Shirt Day
Traditionally these days were throw a gold coin in the tin. Today these days are an opportunity for online fundraising. The method is that the company creates an online page with the charity as the beneficiary. Staff donate at work. Sometime staff may attend a morning tea or similar for their donation. the donation is immediately receipted and the third party platform take care of passing the funds to the charity
The charity benefits because more is donated, the company sees the amount raised added to their tally. The company benefits by no hassle with cash collection and a transparent method of collection.
A mycause GIVING HUB provides the tools to fundraise and donate, the reporting to measure your impact and the customised website to display your good work.
7. Signature events
Some companies go the extra mile to raise money for a charity by staging their own event. Just like Harcourts Foundations Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event for White Ribbon. An event like this is great for the charity generating over $100K but is also amazing cause-related marketing for the brand. Harcourts received millions of dollars worth of media coverage for this event.
8. Peer to Peer fundraising
Give staff an opportunity to do their own fundraising for charity.
If they choose a charity associated with the company the company may also choose to dollar match
Staff can run, ride, swim, jump, climb and get sponsored with all donations going directly to the charity. Again the amount raised is tallied in the total for the company on their customised GIVING HUB.
9. Help a staff member
Sometimes your staff are impacted by unforeseen events
When Nethra was hit by a car in the Bourke Street rampage after returning from feeding he baby her company stepped in and created an online fundraising campaign to raise money for her care raising over $150,000
9. Consistently give a little.
You don’t have to make a massive million dollar donation to a charity to make a difference. Donating a small percentage of your profits or fees to a charity that’s important to you will add-up over time. It will definitely make a difference.
10. Be a show-off
It's important to let everyone know what you are doing at work regarding giving.
It is this promotion that buys you enhanced reputation and cause-related marketing opportunities for staff, future staff, clients and other stakeholders. Using a platform allows will easily display your total dollars raised along with any target you implement.
Every dollar from a fun run, a head shave, a morning tea, a direct donation, dollar match etc will be displayed.
This allows you to track and market your impact.
https://products.mycause.com.au/corporate/?