When you run a small business, your main priority is, of course, taking care of your customers. But along with this, you can also make quite an impact in your community and beyond by making charitable donations a top priority. Once you do, your business can play a major role in helping many organizations not only meet their fundraising goals, but also their goals in providing much-needed services in and around the community. If you’re searching for charitable donation ideas, here are some great ones to consider.
If you own a restaurant, retail shop, or other similar business that offers products, you can choose to donate a percentage of the proceeds of your sales for one day, a week, or even a month. When using this idea, expect your customers to be especially generous once they find out their money will be used to help homeless animals, hungry kids, or others in need. When considering a percentage of proceeds, make sure that you specify the percentage that you plan on donating to decrease questions from patrons. Additionally, consider putting software in place that tracks proceeds so you can easily identify the total amount that will be donated.
While it will take careful planning, having your business sponsor an event will get you and your employees tremendous exposure within your community. This can be great fun for everyone since you can choose from such events as golf tournaments, marathons, or almost anything else you can imagine.
Events like these also often have corporate donation opportunities, which can include donating a prize or giveaway in addition to just a banner at the event. These donation opportunities can increase your exposure even more. When considering corporate donation opportunities, consider not only services and products that your business sells, but also products that the target audience of that event would benefit from.
When it comes to donations, a direct donation is probably the easiest and fastest way for small businesses. Typically, you’ll need to identify and vet different corporate donation opportunities that are available to find opportunities that line up with your business the best. After selecting the company you want to work with, you can contact them about their charity or donation packages and what they need the most to ensure you make the biggest impact possible. In addition, the process is usually more straightforward than an event or percentage of proceeds when it comes to actually make the donation and when it comes to reporting the donations on your taxes.
Along with always needing lots of money, charitable organizations also need volunteers to help them along the way. However, with most people having very busy schedules, finding enough help can be tough. To lend a helping hand, you and your employees can choose to volunteer your time and talent to an organization. Many possibilities exist for this idea, such as helping to build a home for a family, handing out bags of food at a food bank, or going to an animal shelter to walk some dogs and cuddle some kitties.
When you and your employees see a need for something in your community, starting a charity drive is an excellent way to bring positive change to the lives of many people. Whether you choose to collect school supplies that can be distributed to needy kids, ask customers to contribute canned goods or pet food on a particular day, or collect toys for children at Christmas, these and other similar ideas will let everyone know your business cares about the community and its residents.
No matter which of these options you select, people and even animals in your community will thank you for your efforts. It’s ideal that you track and publicize the amount that is being donated, no matter how small so that patrons that have donated can see what impact they made on the community. This is also something that you can submit to local newspapers for added visibility and news opportunities.
You must be logged in to post a comment.