We are smack dab in the middle of the season of giving, and a time when companies who give back gladly offer their assistance to their favorite charities and nonprofits. At JJR Marketing, generosity is in our DNA, so we support and encourage our clients to make giving back a part of their overall marketing strategy. We firmly believe that companies who give back receive more than they sacrifice in terms of corporate goodwill employee appreciation, and community respect.
According to Giving Tuesday Statistics, corporate donations decreased this year, after the country experienced a record high in charitable giving in 2020. Part of this is due to some extraordinary reasons to give that arose in 2020–the pandemic as well as the attention given to several emerging social justice issues that year. However, thoughtful businesses who seek a meaningful corporate giving experience do more than simply write a check. For them, it’s doing something that the entire company can get behind–a shared mission and vision. And when you can achieve that across the company, you will be giving one hundred-fold, if not monetarily, but with the goodwill that comes from business who shows support and generosity to others.
There are many ways to do this. However today we wanted to share five specific ways we have seen donations done (between us and our clients). Perhaps one of them is right for your company to do now, in this holiday season, or in 2022 as part of your corporate giving program. Either way, you’ll win the minds and hearts of employees!
1. Donate Personally
When clients donate, we encourage them to make it personal.
Recently one of our clients, an engineering firm, was given the opportunity to have a donation made in their name to the charity of their choice. Since they did not have a specific charity they regularly patronized, they gave some thought as to what would be most meaningful to their people. They decided to give the donation to a cause that had deeply affected the relatives of their employees – breast cancer—so they made their donation to the Breast Cancer Foundation. In this way, they honored their employees and gave back in a way that was meaningful for management too.
2. Donate as a Gift
In the midst of a pandemic year, JJR Marketing was turning 15 years old. But with everyone in the grip of COVID-19, we sadly needed to scrap our plans for a festive, in-person celebration. Our task was then to come up with an idea that would show appreciation for our clients but also be something meaningful for us. Keeping in line with our core values of giving back to the community, we came up with a great idea. We would donate $500 to the favorite charities of a select list of our clients. The clients thought the gesture was tremendously thoughtful, and we even received a personal call from one of the charities, thanking our client for the donation.
Our “donations as a gift” strategy accomplished many goals in one fell swoop. We celebrated our anniversary by doing something impactful, we contributed to many great charities, and we came to better understand what was important to our clients. And getting to know your clients better on a personal level is always a valuable thing to do!
3. Donate Randomly
There is something spontaneously wonderful about random acts of kindness. If you’ve ever had a stranger in front of you pay for your order at a drive thru, you know what we mean. While we can’t thank the stranger, we can thank a company who provides a random act of kindness.
During the pandemic, one of our clients wanted to do something to cheer the world. They collaborated with a nearby coffee shop to randomly offer hundreds of dollars’ worth of coffee to customers at an unexpected time. Instead of a receipt, patrons received a business card from the company with a message that said,”We are All in This Together.” As you can imagine, their donation brought smiles to scores of faces and helped establish them as a company who gives back generously and is also a good neighbor and a community participant.
4. Donate by Majority
Another way we encourage clients to make donations is to find out what is important to their employees and let the majority rule! Businesses can encourage their employees to “nominate” a cause to receive their corporate donation and have the employees vote on the one that would be most meaningful to them. This corporate giving idea encourages employees to bring forth their most valued causes and allows the management to make a donation that is truly important to the majority of their people. Employees feel fairly heard and the company can feel good about their decision-making.
5. Donate Continuously
Many companies who give back do so in little ways throughout the year. Instead of making large, impressive donations to national causes, they may do smaller things like sponsor baseball teams, support local school events, or make donations to capital improvements in their community. They contribute when asked and routinely respond to occasional requests like disaster relief efforts and fundraising drives for projects in their community. Donating often, in smaller amounts, is another corporate giving strategy that allows a company to reach many different causes and also win them a reputation for generosity. These companies may cumulatively donate smaller amounts than the Fortune 500 companies, but their impact may be felt even more keenly by those in their communities.
No matter how you donate to the causes dear to your heart, for companies who give back, their reward will be great in terms of community and employee goodwill. Everyone loves a giver, and companies who give back through donations are always doing the right thing—no matter how they do it!