Wednesday, October 9, 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.

Take that one person and add hundreds or perhaps even thousands more helping out and donating to a well-designed corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, and you will see a tremendous impact. If that charitable program continues for weeks, months and years, the impact is even larger. Not only will the charity enjoy the benefits, but the company itself will experience many external and internal benefits as well.

When a company establishes a strategic CSR program, they will begin to see positive results in the commercial world almost immediately in several ways, one of which is through public relations. The company's philanthropic activity does not go unnoticed by the media. All charitable organizations and fund-raising events rely on the media to spread the word about their work, so any corporation having a large share in that work will be included in the heavy media coverage.

This positive publicity certainly encourages consumers to consider your company in a positive light. Your brand image is highly important and good publicity, and charitable endeavors certainly grab the interest of consumers, who often make purchasing decisions based on their emotional tie to a company. The better the corporate image, the better consumers feel about your company, and a good image is highly beneficial.

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.

Corporate giving inspires a new level of teamwork. This generally positive attitude in the workplace extends beyond just the rank-and-file employees. When a corporate giving program brings together people from all levels of the organization - from the C-level to the mail room - everyone feels like they are working together toward a common goal. This feeling of effective teamwork will extend beyond the CSR program to positively influence other aspects of their work.




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