Charity Strategies

Our Goal as a Company:

To increase the amount of time, money, and goods donated by businesses to charity.

We will achieve this goal with your help. Feel free to forward this page to your associates. Set up a team leader in your business to be responsible for community programmes. Use any of the following 10 strategies to build your business and, at the same time, give something back to the community. Encourage friends and associates outside of your business to do the same; send them to this web page. Strategic alliances with certain charitable organizations can sometimes open up new markets and new business opportunities.

10 Ways to donate money to charity without affecting the bottom line:

1. Employee Christmas: Gifts Purchase your employee Christmas gifts through a charity such as World Wildlife Fund, Amnesty International, or UNICEF. A percentage of these sales go directly to charity. This way your Christmas gifts can give twice, without costing you a cent more. Christmas cards can also be purchased through these types of organizations.
2. Informal Clothes Day: Organise an informal clothes day at the office. (Theme could be pink shirt day, board shorts day, etc.) Let your staff know that they can come to work dressed in this attire on a certain day if they pay $2 - $5. Donate proceeds to a charity. How your company benefits: This change in formal attire for a day breaks the routine for your staff—a change from traditional business dress—and contributes funds to the community.
3. Sell chocolates for charity: Many charities have pre-packaged, easy to sell consumables that your company could sell for them. Select an employee to choose the charity and organize the stock. Encourage your staff to sell, and provide added bonuses to the highest seller—perhaps a day off on a Friday. How your company benefits: This is a very effective way to raise money for charity. It costs you very little but does a great job in raising the image of your company with your employees.
4. Car Wash: Get the kids involved! Ask your employees if any of their children would like to wash cars for charity. Give permission for them to wash cars on your premises. Donate the proceeds to charity.
5. Pancake Breakfast: Have volunteers obtain adequate cooking facilities. Cook up pancakes and charge a nominal fee per meal. Pancakes are inexpensive to make so there is a good profit margin payback to the charity.
6. Organize a ball: Once a year organize a staff ball/formal where employees can bring friends and family. Charge an appropriate fee to cover costs and raise money for charity. Donate remaining proceeds from the event to charity. Also consider organising an industry ball or a regional ball.
7. Sheltered Workshops: Do you have any work that can be done by sheltered workshops? These workshops are excellent organizations that can perform the tedious tasks of direct mail fulfillment, warehouse assembling, and other time-consuming manual tasks.
8. Vending machine: Install and maintain your own vending machine to dispense beverages and snacks. Set up a team of volunteers to be in charge of ordering stock, collecting money, and maintaining the machine. Donate all proceeds to charity.
9. Set up an internal competition: Give your employees a half-day to brainstorm ways your company can contribute to the community without affecting the bottom line. How your company benefits: This costs you in terms of lost hours but has a remarkable team-building affect which should more than make up for your investment in time.
10. Supplier of Christmas Gifts - Direct: If you have a good range of products, conduct broad advertising to the community informing them: A. That it is Christmas and that they are likely to buy staff presents. B. That if they buy these gifts from you, you will contribute the difference between wholesale and retail to charity. How your company benefits: Your sales will most likely increase. This gives you a major product differentiator. Employers feel the pinch at Christmas; if they feel that their money is going to a good cause then they can be influenced to purchase your product.