Friday, October 4, 2013

Why Charitable Giving Is Important To Businesses

By Sebastian Troup


While giving $100 to your favorite charity or volunteering an afternoon to help at a homeless shelter will make you feel great and provides an excellent example to others in your community, there is a practical limit to the long-term benefits and the social impact we can all personally have on our community through giving.

But when hundreds or thousands of people get together and coordinate their giving, as occurs during a well-executed corporate giving campaign, tremendous and lasting good can be done for the community. This effect is further enhanced as the CSR program continues over months or years. Beyond the profit to the community, however, charitable giving provides important benefits to the business itself as well, both internally and externally.

One of the most immediate types of positive feedback that a company will see after establishing a program of corporate social responsibility is a boost in public relations. Media coverage of the event sponsored or supported by your company will definitely have a positive benefit, and this is exactly the type of publicity you want for your company. Your efforts will not go unnoticed because charities definitely publicize their efforts with various media outlets, and your company's efforts will be included in press releases, posters and other promotional materials.

While it is less tangible than PR or social media coverage, there is also no denying the fact that many consumers make buying decisions based as much on how they feel about a company as on how they feel about a product. All of the above leads eventually to greater profit as positive public perception and social media sentiment influences branding, and eventually, purchasing.

Not only do CSR programs help those in need to help make improvements to a community and provide some fantastic P.R., they also improve your company internally. These types of programs boost the morale of employees and increase engagement and productivity. They also have been shown to increase ethical behavior and certainly encourage workers to take more pride in their daily work.

When a CSR program involves employees at every level, from the mail room workers to the highest level executives, this inspires people, and you generally see a huge improvement in teamwork. Because everyone feels important and involved, they work together on a higher level and work together to accomplish something of great importance. When you all take part in a charitable endeavor, the good feelings that arise from this activity will spread to all other areas of your business, so while you help others, you also help yourself.




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