The Win-Win in Corporate Giving

“The charity was happy to take our money but we heard not another thing. It was like they took the money and that was it.”

“The company only wanted to give us support because it made them look good.”

Sadly, these comments are ones I hear all too often.  What it boils down to is that neither the business nor the charity is thinking about their relationship or the potential mutual benefits.

In fact, these kinds of comments illustrate that there is, in fact, no relationship between the two parties. In this post I hope to give you some solid advice on how to develop a mutually beneficial relationship, answer some frequently asked questions I get and also provide you with extra resources.

Building great relationships

Those in the charity sector will agree that effective fundraising is all about creating positive, trusting relationships between the fundraiser and the donor. A donation to a charity is an opportunity for the fundraiser and donor to talk, and this means real talking…where you pick up the phone and have a proper conversation (not an email or text exchange).

Where the impact improves for businesses and charities is where the conversation moves to one where you explore the question: “are there opportunities for us both?”

Creating added value opportunities

The opportunities can be great. To be honest, it can start simply by making the “thank you” count. As an example: If the charity gives certificates as a thank you, you (the business) can talk about whether someone from the charity can visit your office and give the certificate to members of the team. Take a photo and be creative – don’t have the “standing in a line with a cheque” photo that no one looks at. Make the photo a talking point that can go on the company intranet and the charity’s supporter gallery and on the website and newsletter.  Could the photo be used in the local paper? Use social media – to mutual benefit.

This creates an opportunity for both the charity and the business to increase their audience reach and potential supporters. What’s even better is that it is a real story with some good content.

The charity could then expand on that story and create a conversation about how the business raised the money; get some quotes from the business; and then also nominate someone from the charity to talk about how the money will be used. The story could be expanded even more, if someone who actually benefits from the charity’s work will give a quote. For most charities this opportunity gives added value to a donation.

Once you have a relationship that works, you both can explore working together further. Whether it’s promoting each other’s events, creating new supporters or enrolling people to join in with organised sponsored events, the opportunities are limitless.

I’m often asked whether a charity should get involved with a business if the amount donated is considered small. My reply – “from little acorns do mighty oaks grow”.  Relationships need to be nurtured and take time. Talking, thanking, appreciating and understanding the others’ point of view are key and can bring great networking opportunities, as long as both sides are prepared to invest time.

Six ways you can support charities

Not every company can afford to give a financial donation. There are many ways in which you can opt to support or help a charity. I have put together these six ideas for you:

1. Donate time, knowledge or experience.

You may have a skill or expertise which the charity needs to help them in the running of their business as a charity.  Here are some examples of these:

• • Legal advice (for a specific issue)
  • Development time from a web developer
  • Accountancy support to administer a charity’s monthly payroll or end-of-year financial audit
  • Support from an experienced communications consultant (set amount of time each month)
  • Helping to negotiate to have your charity of the year benefit from the same purchasing discounts you have with your suppliers
  • Training for the executive of the charity team (like in media relations for example).

2. Give access to a resource

By this I mean things like giving access to work space for meetings, or office space can be invaluable.

3. Payroll Giving Scheme

Give the charity an opportunity to approach your staff about giving regularly to the charity and then setting up a payroll giving scheme.

4. Ask an influential person to be an ambassador for your charity

This will help with increasing the charity’s online reach. The influencer could agree to like and share social media posts and perhaps introduce the charity to their contacts. Before you do so, all parties should think about the pros and cons of this relationship and undertake due diligence.

5. Donate unsold stock

We’re seeing many more food stores linking up with food banks and other charities to distribute unsold stock to really worthwhile causes. Surplus stock can also make great raffle prizes or be bundled into goody bags for the charity’s beneficiaries.

6. Encourage staff to volunteer for a charity

This can be a great opportunity to enrich an employee’s job as well as increase employee engagement.

It’s worth mentioning here that it is important that charities acknowledge pro bono support and include the business’ name in any list of supporters (with agreement). All the ideas given above about publicity are relevant here.

In the charity’s annual accounts there is also an opportunity to monetise the value of pro bono support. Charities should take this opportunity to demonstrate the value of pro bono business and show their appreciation.

Aligning values and strategy

Establishing a great corporate v charity partnership can be invaluable. Whether the reward for a charity is financial, pro bono or a combination of both – aligning with a local or well-known brand can give a charity fabulous profile exposure. For a company it can add to the company’s societal and public value.

Here are some values or ideals which may influence which charity to align with:

• Employee Engagement

A strong relationship with a charity can make a real difference to a company’s employee engagement where happier, more motivated staff who are aligned with the company’s goals and values often leads to greater productivity.   This is especially so if employees are involved in the nomination, selection and fundraising of a charity.  Involving staff in choosing and developing their own fundraising activities can stimulate creativity and team working with ideas coming from the most unlikely quarters!

• Sentimental / personal stake in the charity’s cause

Sometimes a charity is chosen because it’s close to an owner’s heart or there is some sort of connection.

• Company’s mission / passion

You could look to your company values and mission and looking at lining this up with those of a charity. For example: if your company makes children’s toys it may makes sense to think of supporting a children’s charity. If a corporate value is to support local suppliers, then why not think about supporting a local charity rather than a high-profile national charity?

• Motivation for supporting a charity

Sometimes it’s the motivation behind wanting to support a charity, that helps to decide which one to support. In this case, think about what you want to achieve by supporting a charity.  Are you wanting to give a small charity a hand to become larger and increase the reach of its work?  Or, maybe you want to give grass roots support?

• Bigger picture values: society, environment, economy

Many companies now consider their responsibilities to society, the public, the environment, the economy and the impact of it’s work. This is often where businesses start to think about their Corporate Social Responsibility Policy. There’s a lot of guidance on the web about setting up a policy and it can often start from a simple identification of which type of charity a company will support to becoming a full-scale document looking at every aspect of a company’s impact on society.

A cautionary note: it’s worthwhile for both the charity and the company to carry out research on each other and do their due diligence. This should prevent unwanted surprises further down the line. (Please do reach out if you are in the middle of choosing a charity and would like some help with it).

How to decide on your ‘charity of the year’

Many companies are approached throughout the year by charities asking for their support. I understand that sometimes this can get overwhelming and put you in an awkward position.

Some businesses develop a charitable giving policy which helps them to identify those they will support (or consider). Others will decide to limit support to one or a limited number of charities.

Over the years I’ve come across various ways in which companies choose their charity of the year:

• The boss or senior management unilaterally decide
• Employees nominate charities close to their heart (then the boss or senior management decide)
• The HR team manages the charity of the year process
• Employees nominate a charity and there’s a staff vote to choose a charity of the year;
• The company has a staff charity committee which runs the full nomination and selection process as well as the management of the charity relationship

There’s no one solution that is better than the other, it really comes down to what suits you, your business and your team.

Where to go to find guidance

I’ve seen criticism of a business on the basis of a charity’s brand being used to enhance the company with little perceived benefit for the charity.  The Institute of Fundraising gives charities clear guidelines as to best practice in corporate giving.  It’s a great starting point when exploring partnership opportunities and to make sure you get it right. When a partnership works well and is open and transparent, it’s a win-win relationship.

A charity should be registered with the Fundraising Regulator, the independent regulator of charitable fundraising. Registration indicates that the charity is signed up to the Regulator’s vision of a world in which fundraising is ethical and giving is sustainable – where donors and fundraisers have mutual respect for each other and is also signed up to its mission: “to enhance and sustain public confidence in charitable fundraising.”

When your offer doesn’t match the need

Sometimes, unfortunately there are moments when the heart of a charity fundraiser heart sinks, when they realise a company’s offering isn’t viable:

“We want to offer staff the chance to volunteer their time to do gardening, painting and fixing things at your centre.”  This was offered to a charity without a centre and provided emotional support to families with an ill child all over the UK.

“We want staff to take young people on an outing in two weeks’ time.”  The issues surrounding safeguarding makes this offer potentially very challenging to deliver.

“We want to donate soft and used toys to children in a hospitable.”  Normally, neither are accepted by children’s hospitals.

Similarly, I’ve experienced the flipside – when a charity has not valued a company’s offering.  It can be as basic as not saying “thank you” to staff who are giving their time to not having a proper briefing as to what they are needed to do or are not made to feel part of the team.  This is simply not good enough.

In closing

It’s important to establish a relationship where both parties can talk openly about what each other needs.  It may be that the charity cannot accept, with regret, what a company is offering.  It’s important to remember it’s not personal, it’s a pragmatic decision for the benefit of both parties.

If you would like to talk about how to develop your corporate support, please feel free to contact me by email or by calling me on 07831 846 760. You can also find out more about the charity management consulting work I do on my Synergies website.