How to promote your charitable giving

Let PR show you how to help your company while helping others

You have done a good job of fostering a company culture that encourages and celebrates charitable giving. Of course, you did not do this just to receive recognition, but it would be nice to get some anyway. The trick is to promote your corporate social responsibility efforts without sounding like a showoff and possibly alienating customers. With help from PR, you can reap both the internal and external benefits of your charitable giving efforts.

Create and wear company T-shirts when participating in charitable events. If media covers the event, your team will stand out. You can also give free T-shirts, hats or other materials to attendees to further extend the publicity.

Take photos or video of staff making donations or volunteering time. You can then upload them to your website, post on social media and pitch to journalists.

Develop materials specifically designed to highlight your charity and community work. These should be free of any sales pitches or product promotions. You can also ask the charitable organizations to mention your company in their materials.

Highlight your success. If your company has won awards or received recognition for its charitable work, you can make this known with banners, website graphics and slogans. Also, if you donate a percentage of sales to a cause, make sure customers know this by creating signage at your location or even a special message at the bottom of receipts.

Why charitable giving is important for your business

Communities with a high quality of life and informed, healthy citizens are good for business. When you help to better the community, you create a happier place to live, which gives you an advantage in connecting with community members throughout the sales cycle.

Charitable giving efforts can improve your reputation. Everyone is impressed by selflessness, right? When customers, prospects and candidates see that you care about more than just profits, it can boost their opinions of your company. According to a recent study, more than 60 percent of job candidates consider a company’s charitable giving when weighing offers and approximately 80 percent of employees say they would rather work for a company with a strong corporate giving focus. This can lead to less employee turnover. It demonstrates that you are a leader in your field and community. Not being afraid to show what you stand for can give a strong face to your company. You may even encourage others to join a vital cause.

Ways you can start charitable giving at your company

Create a foundation. This would be an independent and tax exempt way to support projects related to your overall mission.

Support giving and volunteering by employees. This could involve making matching contributions, allowing employees to perform volunteer work during business hours or starting an annual giving program through payroll deductions. You can also periodically offer your services free to the community, if applicable.

Donate products or services. If you have discontinued inventory, old computers or even office furniture that can be used by nonprofits, this is a way to put these items to good use.

Organize company events. You can boost morale and build company pride by getting everyone involved in a food/clothing drive, adopt-a-family or other program to raise money for a worthy cause.

Let PR guide you. Axia Public Relations can help you choose the right charities to coincide with your mission, promote your work for increased visibility and assist in making corporate social responsibility part of your overall business culture. Contact us today or download our e-book Learn Media Relations from the Media for more tools and tips to grow your business.

Lisa Goldsberry is a writer for Axia Public Relations with more than 15 years of public relations experience. She specializes in business, higher education and technology PR. Connect with Axia Public Relations on Twitter at @axiapr.

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