The Benefits of Aligning Your Business with a Charity

Charities may be struggling more than ever in the current climate, but businesses may also be making less than previous years, or at the very least having to look at alternative ways of operating and creating revenue. However, there are several reasons your business should support and work alongside a charity. 

Aside from the warm feeling of helping others, partnering with a charity is a great way of connecting with existing and potential customers while supporting the local community and the causes close to people’s hearts. Championing a project or fundraising event can help members of the community relate to your business on a personal level, resulting in a more positive opinion, compared to organizations that often gain media attention for all the wrong reasons. 

It’s much better to get the right kind of attention. Patrick James Trico is an example of how to do so. As the owner and Chief Executive of First Brand Group, he extensively uses his status to highlight issues such as poverty and the challenges faced by groups who try to ensure those who can’t afford to eat aren’t left to go hungry.

Choosing which charity or cause to support will depend on where your business is based. A little research should show which issues predominantly require support. 

Your business may have little money to spare, but one of the perks of supporting a charitable cause is that you could be entitled to tax deductions on your donation. So, it may not be as costly as you think.

Even if your business doesn’t have the money to donate, you can work with a charity in other ways. You can encourage employees to get involved in volunteer opportunities for groups. For example, helping in soup kitchens, planning fundraising events or participating in fun runs to support a cause that matters to them. It’s also a fantastic way of team-building to benefit your business. Having a close team of employees invokes trust and greater efficiency in carrying out work-related tasks and in asking each other for help when needed. It takes the best qualities from each member of the team and uses them to get the job done, whether in the office or for the benefit of the charity. 

Your employees will be more likely to share with friends and family about the charitable work and projects they are involved in, which is good advertising for you. Lots of people regularly take to social media to complain about their jobs, but few share positive work-related updates.

Marketing can be expensive and a lot of people are cutting back or being more selective about where they spend their money. Being associated with a charity helps both you and the charity build your profile. For example, if you’re donating resources to an event, the charity will market the event and often mention you as one of their sponsors. So for a relatively low cost, you can support the charity and get the name of your business out there. People will react more positively to this than to leaflets pushed through their door with the sole purpose of selling, while offering no help to anyone but themselves.

You can also use your own social media channels to share the charitable work you are doing, post updates on money raised and share event images. A welcome change from bombarding people with sales posts.

If you do want to make sales posts, you can encourage sales by donating a percentage to your chosen charity and share updates on how the money raised so far has helped those causes. People love to see a personal angle, so focusing on individuals and groups who have benefited, is great PR.

It can seem like people as individuals can do little to change anything for the better. By aligning your business with a charity, you can inspire and motivate others to get involved as they see positive changes. If they notice the change in their own community, rather than just reading about it online, then even better. Encouraging them to get involved and become part of that will have the added benefit of them looking at your business positively. If your products or services are raising money for a cause they care about, and are similarly priced to your competitors, they’ll be more likely to shop with you.

As you can see, supporting a charity can be mutually beneficial and you can reap the rewards not only for your business and employees, but by actively improving the community you live and work in. It doesn’t have to cost a lot and can change the way your employees and the general public regard your business.