Questions Every Mid-Sized Company Should Ask About Community Giving

As a mid-market leader, your connection to the communities you serve positions you well to reap the corporate and societal benefits of community involvement, but it’s important to ask these critical questions to get the most bang for your buck.

1. What are your primary goals?

Examples:

· Nurturing client/customer relationships by supporting their causes

· Improving your company’s brand recognition/reputation

· Tax benefits

· Supporting causes tied to your product, service, or values

· Supporting causes important to the company’s leaders

· Involving and motivating employees through community involvement

There are likely multiple goals that apply but creating a formal priority list will help you sift through the sea of charitable requests to find the investments that are right for you.

2. What resources will you devote to this effort?

· Is there a dollar amount you have in mind to invest in community support?

· Will this money come out of your budget/profits, or will you create a fundraiser or

point of sale initiative to raise the funds?

· How do you want to divide investments between reactive giving (requests from

nonprofits/stakeholders) vs. proactive giving (investing in company-led ideas)?

· How will you allocate funds over time – monthly, quarterly, or annually?

· How do you want to set up your funding – direct donations, a company managed

foundation/charitable fund, an externally managed charitable fund?

· How much employee volunteering/community involvement do you want to support?

· Will you initiate company-wide volunteer experiences that promote team

building?

· Will you offer employees a certain amount of paid time to volunteer?

· Are you interested in providing other incentives to employees related to

community involvement?

· Who will create and manage your community giving strategies?

· Do you have the resources to hire a community relations/CSR manager?

· Do you want an internal team member to add this to their plate? If so, who has the

bandwidth and experience to do it most effectively?

· Are you interested in hiring a consultant to help you develop/manage your efforts

(either on a project-basis or ongoing)?

Community giving can be extremely rewarding for your company. Connecting for Good can help. Click here to schedule a FREE consultation.