Small businesses take time to achieve financial success. When yours does, the first thing you probably think of doing is financing your marketing strategies. While that’s important, you should also consider budgeting for a charitable program.
Corporate philanthropy will yield many benefits for your business. It will allow you to give back to your community, and your employees can support the causes close to their hearts. Of course, the charity you’d give back to will benefit you more, but that’s exactly the goal in the first place. Philanthropy is all about helping without expecting something in return, after all.
Even with your limited funds, your small business is completely capable of giving back. Besides, there are many ways to be philanthropic without donating a huge amount of money. You can organize a volunteer program instead, in which your company visits an animal shelter, for example.
Your employees can also choose the cause they’d like to support, allowing your company to donate to multiple causes. Times may be tough today, especially for small business owners like you, but this is actually the perfect opportunity to give back. Below are the reasons you shouldn’t miss out on corporate philanthropy:
It Can Boost Your Corporate Social Responsibility
Donating is part of your corporate social responsibility. As such, it can bolster your company’s image and strengthen its brand. You can encourage more customers to purchase from you because they know that part of the sales proceeds goes straight to a cause. They may even pay a premium for goods, no matter the additional cost.
In addition, donating may help you attract talent eager to make a difference in the world. For example, if you’re a green business, you’d attract eco-conscious candidates. As a result, your company will have a common goal, increasing employee morale.
Being socially responsible will improve your company culture. You’ll develop more engaged employees and a generally positive attitude. This is especially true if most of your employees are millennials. Their generation is twice as likely to rate their workplace culture as positive if their company participates in volunteer activities.
It Can Reduce Your Taxes
Donations or funds used to sponsor charitable events are deductible expenses. While you shouldn’t donate for the financial perks alone, it’s still one of the most obvious reasons donating is beneficial. To get all the tax benefits, be sure to comply with all the rules regarding donating.
It Can Develop Your Employees’ Empathy
It’s easy for a company to get stuck in its corporate bubble. The people they interact with daily are their colleagues and vendors. Customers are the only ones they interact with outside that bubble. But let’s be honest; your employees don’t enjoy talking to them. Customer service may be vital to your success, but it’s the least favorite department in your company.
For that reason, your employees’ empathy may decrease. They’d wish your customers have empathy for them instead. While their woes are valid, it shouldn’t make them forget that they should also exercise empathy toward other people.
Volunteering can help them remember that. It can make them realize that many people don’t enjoy the privileges they have. It’ll be a humbling and meaningful experience. If you organize your volunteer program regularly, the more you’ll ingrain those life lessons in them.
Choosing the Right Cause for Your Company
A streamlined platform for corporate volunteering will help you choose causes to support. Every employee should have access to it, not just the managers. Knowing the causes your employees want to support gives you the chance to find out their individual values.
What’s good about a volunteering platform is that you don’t have to wait for a windfall before donating. You and your employees may start donating as soon as you choose a cause. Your donations will come from our own pockets. And you may incentivize generosity. For example, you can include an employee gift with their monthly paycheck. It may be a small reward, but it shows that donating gives back.
What are the Causes You Should Support?
From women’s rights to animal shelters, there are countless causes your company can support. If your employees aren’t familiar with charitable organizations, you can hold a seminar educating them on it. You can invite guest speakers from the charities themselves. When your team hears the story behind a charitable organization, it can stir their empathy and generosity, making them eager to donate with or without an incentive waiting for them.
The pandemic is the best opportunity to give back. If your business survived the lockdowns, that means you’re more than capable of extending generosity. Remember, you don’t have to donate anything grand. What’s more important is being sincere in your advocacy, whether through volunteering or donating part of your sales.