Why it Pays for Businesses to be Generous
Success in business is usually measured by that bottom line, but there’s so much more to thriving and doing well than being able to reel off a good-looking list of numbers. Where’s the humanity in that? To really do well, businesses need to do good.
Giving something back is important
Ultimately, businesses are satisfying a need or taking care of some kind of concern. The customer is satisfied and the business’ profits grow. Job’s a good ‘un.
However, there’s so much more to life than money and many companies find that reaching out to their communities is incredibly rewarding – not just emotionally, but financially as well.
Generous companies can be a driver for change in their environment, whether it’s helping to rebuild a school, paying for fresh flowers in hospital wards or having a huge splurge of a giveaway competition. This makes the place better and it fosters positive relationships with past, present and future customers.
The feel-good factor
We all know that enterprises strive to make money, but when we see that a company has decided to give up a fraction of its profit to help someone, it makes us feel good and makes us like the company more. There’s no better PR, quite frankly.
Happy employees
Workers will enjoy working for, and feel more loyal towards, a company that is charitable. They will feel – and see – that their boss isn’t all about the profit and this makes for a more engaged, helpful workforce with a significantly lower turnover.
Great networking opportunities
By attending charity events, or holding them, your company comes into contact with people from all walks of life and this is the very soul of networking. It’s also good for publicity.
So, how can you give something back?
Hook up with a charity
This is a win-win situation because you pledge some of your annual profits to the charity and then let nature take its course! You don’t have to lead any initiatives or rattle any tins, you simply give the money over and let the charity do its thing.
Eventually, your brand and the charity will become entwined – your name will be associated with the charity and its causes and you’ll both get some PR and extra money out of the deal.
Sponsor local schools, teams or events
This is a good way to get into the community at grass roots level and it needn’t cost a fortune. You might supply the football team with its new kit every year, or pay to update some of the playground equipment at the school. As long as you’re visible – and helpful – you can’t lose.
Offer your skills to the needy
It’s possible that you don’t have the cash flow to commit to a new footie strip every year, but you probably have some intellectual capital that you can pass on. If you’re in IT, why not offer some training classes for senior people? Or some advanced classes for schoolchildren, especially if they’re from a less-affluent area? They’ll appreciate the help and you’ll appreciate the new relationships.