What Can Charities Do for Businesses?
by Heiko Plange | Youth Focus and WA Leaders Advisory Board
As many of you know, my passion is working with charities to assist them with developing their funding business. My mantra for charities is that the mission and the money are the same thing.
There is no doubt that charities have become efficient and effective askers when it comes to businesses, AND the results demonstrate that business are more generous than ever, when it comes to responding to a crisis.
But I want to challenge you – that while responding to an emotional appeal may give you a warm and fuzzy feeling, there is a much bigger opportunity for you and your business when it comes to supporting charities.
Supporting a charity can be so much more than responding to a crisis.
It is an investment opportunity with real returns.
- The charity delivers real impact to its beneficiaries.
- But what about for us as businesses?
The question we should be asking yourself is what can charities do for our businesses?
From my observation, the answer lies across four broad themes:
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Cause Related Marketing
- Employee Engagement - Walking your values.
- Philanthropy
All charities are in the business of story telling and when it comes to working with a charity there is an important difference between sponsorship and a "partnership".
Sponsorship: You want the charity to tell your
story/promote your product/service to its audience
Partnership: You want stories from the charity to promote to your stakeholders/audience
Conclusion
Many of you will already be involved with worthy causes.
If not, please consider whether investing in a NFP partnership is right for your business - the returns will be rewarding.
For further information about the contents of this article please contact Heiko at heiko@hpksolutions.com.au
