As a company, supporting a charity has many benefits. As well as helping the general community, supporting a charity can help define your brand identity, boost morale, and help you reach a wider demographic. But with so many vital and inspiring causes out there, how do you pick which charity to support?
1. Decide your agenda – Before looking at charities individually it is a good idea to think about how you want to help. Are you looking at creating a big impact or giving little by little? It is best to have an idea of how you want your money to be used, in areas where the amount you can give will make the most impact.
2. Research – It is important to research a charity that aligns with your company or brand identity. This not only increases your visibility to audiences, but also shows your company to be committed to helping.
3. Narrow your choices – Have a list of a few charities that you may wish to help and research them further. By speaking directly to the Trustees and finding more about their aims, you can decide if a charity is going to be the right fit for you.
Ways you can choose charities to support include:
1. Asking individual staff members to pick a charity close to their hearts. If everybody gives a suggestion, a charity could be chosen at random out of a hat.
2. If you wish to support a different charity each month, you could suggest two or three charities at random and take a company-wide vote. Alternatively, if a member of staff is doing a fundraiser, their cause could be this month’s charity to support.
3. Keep informed – Reading or watching the news is a good way to become accustomed to charities close to home. This could be a local foodbank, hospice, or shelter.
4. If you wanted to know the public response of each charity, websites such as yougov.co.uk rate charities in terms of general popularity.
5. Some retail businesses use a token system – They pick three charities each month, perhaps three from a local gazette or circular, and ask each employee to place a token in the pot of their preferred charity.
6. Websites such as The life you can save offer a list of charities you can donate to and claim that the charities suggested “save or improve the most lives” per pound. They have an ‘impact generator’ on their website, where you can put the amount you wish to donate and the charity you would wish to donate to, to see the impact of this donation.
By donating to a charity and helping to fund a vital cause, you are promoting your business as an organisation that cares about wider issues. In turn, this outlook is one that facilitates a caring relationship towards employees and customers alike.
Article by Molly Latham. Molly loves writing and likes to use words as a way of helping others. Having a chronic illness and disability means she has a unique insight, that she feels can be used to help others understand and support each other. In her spare time, she loves baking, reading and making new friends. She also loves going on walks in the countryside with her boyfriend and dog.