What Good Can Come from Businesses Giving Back to Their Communities? Are you a business owner? If so, you may well be looking for new ways to increase both your popularity and prosperity. As a bottom line kind of person, you’re probably not too bothered by the idea of having to pay taxes at the end of the year. But when people come to your door asking for charitable donations, how do you respond? In many ways, this is the true test of character.
Can you balance the urgings of your social conscience against the demands of your operating budget? This is a trick that may take quite a bit of practice to get right, but it makes for a satisfying feeling. It is Possible to Balance Business Initiative with a Charitable Spirit Many leading business owners, such as Neill Sullivan among others, have found a way to reconcile their bottom line with the demands of a vibrant and sometimes needy community.
Their charitable actions have helped to improve the lives of millions of people all around the world. At the same time as their philanthropic efforts have improved lives, they have also led to great financial rewards in the form of long time customer loyalty. For this reason, a properly publicized charitable act could be the perfect “loss leader” that will give your business invaluable publicity. It’s the perfect meeting of two sometimes conflicting worlds: Self interest and community spirit. There are Many Long Term Financial Rewards Associated with Giving Charity It should go without saying that there are many financial rewards that can be had from associating with charitable efforts and foundations.
For example, many business owners that choose to associate with longstanding charitable organizations, such as the March of Dimes among others, will receive lucrative tax breaks that will enable them to pocket a great deal of money that would otherwise have been lost with the move to a higher bracket. You may also notice a considerable uptick in likes, shares, and clicks that are associated with your posts concerning your charitable efforts. While these posts are, in the short term, reflective of your promotion of charitable activities, you should also realize that they are giving you excellent long term promotional legs. In short, the more you promote charitable activities, the more you promote your own business. Promoting Charitable Activity
Satisfies a Number of Needs at Once As noted above, your astute promotion of charitable activities will serve to satisfy a number of needs at once. Giving to the charity of your choice may give you a great deal of satisfaction when it comes to your feelings concerning certain social or political causes or trends. If you have a friend or loved one who suffers from cancer, giving to a cancer charity is a great way to accomplish some good. At the same time that your social conscience is satisfied, you can also put in a good word for yourself. Giving to a well chosen cause is sometimes an act of timely self promotion as well as a recognition of the greater needs of your community. Even a cause or trend that you don’t personally feel very strongly about may be an occasion for some timely back door strategizing. If You
Feel You’ve Got to Give, Give Big If you feel very strongly about a certain cause, you may as well show it in a big way. There’s no point in giving a few dollars on an anonymous basis. As a business owner, you will find yourself in the spotlight with every move that you make. Since you are going to be judged on the size of your contribution, you may as well make a large one. If you want the maximum promotion for your charitable activity, you’ll have to work for it. Sometimes the price of living large is giving big to your favorite charitable cause.