Business philanthropy is an excellent way to encourage social involvement among your employees, support the local community, and invite future associates. There are several causes that you can volunteer to help in almost all societies. The fact that you can incorporate your communal activities with your company’s obligation makes it even better. Cane Bay Company is an excellent example of the impact you can bring with your vision. If you’re thinking of starting one of these charitable foundations, here are some tips for setting you on the pace.
Define Your Mission
The first and vital step to starting philanthropy in business is determining where you want to focus your efforts. For instance, you may begin by asking yourself what problems the community around you is facing and how you can offer solutions or impact the lives of the people.
Similarly, are there any essential cases with a personal connection you would want to volunteer to? You can formulate as many cases as possible, then settle on what’s more appealing. However, don’t forget to involve your employees in coming up with ideas. Brainstorm possible causes together, and start formulating potential solutions as a corporation.
Encourage Employee Involvement in Decision-Making
You’re starting the foundation as a corporation, and your employees are essential functions of your business. After collecting a handful of potential causes, you can focus on, give your employees a chance to help you reach the final decision.
Fully involving your employees in the process increases their sense of ownership towards the whole idea and motivates them to go all into your foundation. As a result, you may consider presenting the thoughts to them and let them choose which cause is worth your company’s support. You may also consider educating them on causes that may not be clear, and tell them how you’ll get involved, to help make the right choice.
Broaden Your Group of Volunteers
There is no better way to enjoy supporting a charity cause than doing it alongside people who are also excited to offer their time and efforts. First, take on reasons that encourage teamwork, and let your employees provide their support as groups.
Again, you may want to involve other people who are directly or indirectly part of your company. These can be your family and friends, clients, and other community volunteers willing to join you. You may settle on a weekend or a weekday afternoon, spread the word to relevant people, and carry out the activities together, especially for projects like school improvement.
Encourage Materialistic Donations
Financial support is typically the most common form of charity donation due to its versatility. While you want to encourage your team to pull hands together financially, also accept donations in the form of goods. They are easier to get and set more employees to support the cause than a monetary donation.
For instance, you should encourage your employees and other well-wishers to bring the clothes and electronics they no longer use for charity. That’s way better than disposing of the properties when they can still be useful to someone.
Establish Your Why
Starting a foundation is a challenging task. Add that to running your business, and you’ll most probably wake up some days asking yourself why you started the whole thing in the first place.
For that reason, you need to establish a why—the passion behind the idea—and understand the importance of the whole activity. It could be your vision and where you want the organization to be in the future. Your why is your first weapon for fighting failure. Whenever obstacles weigh you and push you away from your focus, the why will pull you close and help you to stay determined on the cause.
Philanthropy brings several advantages to your business. First, it helps you have delighted, engaged, and energized employees, thus helping you retain talent. It also builds trust and shows your sense of goodwill to the local community.
