These days there is a lot of talk about giving back to the community, and most of us do this by buying from local shops, employing local people: anything that keeps or increases money circulating in our community. But the term is also used to describe philanthropy: supporting local causes and organisations with money, volunteer hours, or in-kind product donations. Here’s a simple guide to how you can increase your philanthropic activities, either as an individual or as the owner of a company:
1. Work out what you can give. Create a budget for your philanthropy, be it in terms of money or your personal time and commit to it. Whatever you choose, make sure it’s sustainable.
2. Choose a few focus areas. Think about the issues, groups and regions that are important to you, and if you run a business also consider what is important to your employees and customers. While some businesses give to a wide range of efforts, developing a narrower focus for your support will make it easier to communicate your impact and rally others around your efforts.
3. Set aside some funds/time so you can be reactive if needed. Set aside a certain amount of money or time to contribute reactively. If an unexpected crisis crops up that’s related to your giving priorities, you’ll want to have the capacity to provide support in a timely fashion without needing to work out whether you can give beyond your allocated budget.
4. Outline your criteria for support. Even with your defined focus areas, there will still be numerous organisations you could partner with, so it’s important to clearly outline how you’ll choose among initiatives and distribute funds. Will you make many smaller grants or fewer larger ones? Will you allow non-profits to apply for support, employees to suggest them or proactively select partners? Will you kick off long-standing partnerships or provide support through one-off donations? Will individuals or religious groups be eligible for your support or only registered non-profits and charities?
5. Put a process in place. Decide how you’ll provide support and put people and systems in place to make sure your community investment happens. For example, if you let employees organize their own volunteer opportunities, how will you encourage them to do so? If you plan to have company-wide volunteer days, when will these happen and who will coordinate them? The same goes for monetary support and product donations – know when and how organisations will be given them.
6. Track your impact. You can do this by counting volunteer hours; the value of product or services donated; number of organizations supported; amount of money contributed; number of people. This is all key information that you’ll want to share with your team (and maybe your customers).
