Company support for charity | 7 reasons why its a good thing

Why should your business support local charity?

Perhaps you think your company support for charity is there, you do ‘red nose day’ and ‘children in need’ and get great telethon coverage, that’s enough isn’t it?

The simple answer is no, you could do more with your company support for charity and create hope, help and growth in the charity sector in your community. There is an opportunity here, that Zetetick housing can help you with, to engage with your community or communities at a deeper and more meaningful level. This engagement will shine a positive light on your company and its support for charity and give a badly needed boost to a local charity.

The 2016 TSB survey of more than 1,000 UK adults found:

• Fifty (50) percent of people polled said they would donate money to their local charity if they knew about them: that
• Small charities represent 97 per cent of Britain’s charity sector
• The majority operate in local communities;
• Only 10 per cent of respondents are already helping their local community by fundraising for local causes.

A previous 2013 survey by Forresters (forrester.com) found:

There is a sum here and I am not sure company support for charity is making it. Of course, there is red nose day and children in need and all that big advert stuff that is easy for large companies to attach themselves to. However, the evidence suggests people are saying is they prefer companies who are working at a local level with local charities that affect their community.

Local charities would do better if they were recognised and large companies could help with that recognition and profile building. It’s a win-win situation. That no one is engaging with wholeheartedly. Waitrose and Tesco have their customers put a plastic coin in the slot and then they give a small monthly much-appreciated sum to 2 or 3 charities. This however is not real engagement. It’s a very low key way of trying to capitalise on a finding without putting in the work.

So heres 7 reasons for you to do more:

You will define your values to your customers

Everyone knows the importance of brand,  company support for charity can be a brand cornerstone offering ethics and trust to a population fast losing trust in everyone and everything.

It’s good PR

Don’t shy away from it and most charities understand this. Social media will allow you to share a narrative about company support for charity that doesn’t just tell the public you are the people to trust, it tells your employees they made a good choice working with you. If you really want to go the whole hog, check the business awards systems and note that it’s not just sustainability that given a high profile but charitable causes of companies are also being examined.

It’s Good for the people you employ 

Wholehearted company support for charity can have such a positive effect on your staff. Lots of people want to do it, but don’t get time in their lives, giving them work time to help others makes a difference to them and their view of your organisation and for your senior managers, it can really get them out of the office and into an environment and with people they may not often face. We all have busy lives, we all want to help. Your organisation, your company support for charity will enable this through work.

Employee retention

Your Company support for charity that involves hands-on support for employees, in their own communities, especially if they live and work locally, brings pride in themselves and their organisation. This increased awareness of the companies values and behaviours leads to increased loyalty and better workforce retention.

Unity: 

When going to work with a charity on-site, or raising money together, employees are able to partner across divisions and work in team environments outside of their direct workgroups. This shared mission and goal created one important thing many companies are looking for …Unity.

Networks: 

Partnering with charities and highlighting your company support for charity will bring many opportunities, the likelihood is that you will meet other organisations that may benefit your company by placing you in the community network and giving even better PR.  It is also through company support for charity as individuals you will meet those who can help your organisation in other ways. If, as I always encourage, you ask your team to think about volunteering as a trustee at a local charity like Zetetick housing then this will give you more rounded staff and managers who will also be networking and enhancing your business as they meet with other trustees.

Virtuous Circle

So there’s the why. If you want to help Zetetick housing, right now we are looking for companies that might want to adopt one of our gardens lets talk about creating company support for charity from which everyone can benefit.

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