Lucky for nonprofit organizations around the world, it is becoming more and more common for businesses to set aside funds to support local or global causes. Although it’s obvious how the nonprofits benefit, it isn’t always as apparent if businesses also benefit from these acts of kindness.
Do businesses donate simply out of the kindness of their hearts? Or, is there some sort of advantage to be received by contributing to nonprofits and charities? The truthful answer is both. Businesses donate funds towards causes they wholeheartedly believe in, while also benefiting from the notoriety of donating.
Are you a business, big or small, considering a partnership with a nonprofit or charity? If so, let us help you make that decision even easier! Here, we’ve gathered the top three reasons businesses choose to donate to charities.
Heightened Workplace Morale
As mentioned above, businesses don’t just donate to charities for the sole reason of improving their image. In fact, many businesses allow their employees or even their business partners to help them choose which nonprofits or charities receive their donations each quarter or year.
For example, here at Proudly, we donate 10 percent of our total revenue to various charities. To bring us closer to our business partners, we ask that they help us decide which nonprofit or charity receives those funds.
According to Greater Good Magazine, “When people give to charities, it activates regions of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection, and trust, creating a ‘warm glow’ effect.”
Therefore, businesses naturally lift their workplace morale by empowering their employees and business partners to decide which causes receive company donations.
Improved Community Perception
Naturally, businesses that regularly donate to charities and nonprofits will benefit from a positive community perception of their business. As such, many small businesses and even large corporations are jumping on the opportunity to serve a cause in their community.
As stated by Business News Daily, “Small companies donate an average of 6 percent of their profits to charity.”
On the other hand, Fast Company took a close look at bigger corporations and discovered the surprising fact that a majority of companies typically give about 1 percent of their pre-tax profits to charity.
Although small businesses donate more of their total profits, large corporations are more known for contributing loftier donation amounts. This is simply because they make more than small businesses, and so they don’t have to donate an impressive percentage of their total revenue to make a big impact.
Excellent Marketing Strategy
When we think about businesses that publicly partner with charities, corporations such as KFC, Coca-Cola, and even Hanes come to mind. KFC is known for contributing to breast cancer awareness, while Hanes makes regular donations to the Salvation Army.
Most notably, though, Coca-Cola has worked alongside the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for more than ten years. According to their mission, Coca-Cola partners with WWF to help ensure healthy, thriving freshwater basins around the world. This water stewardship work began in 11 freshwater basins and expanded to programs in 50 countries.
In addition to funding a good cause, these large corporations have benefited greatly from the publicity surrounding these partnerships. Even though these examples are all of the large corporations, small businesses can also benefit from publicly contributing and working alongside local nonprofits.
Ready, Set, Donate!
Whether you are a small business hoping to work with a local charity or a larger corporation seeking a partnership with a well-known charity, donating can greatly improve your workplace morale and overall public perception.
Feel free to contact our team for more advice on best practices for businesses wanting to donate to local and global causes regularly. We can also provide valuable insider information about how working with the right payment processing company can make donating even easier!