Here are some quick tips and pro advice for helping your business choose the right charities to support.
First Steps
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Clarify your business’ values: A great place to start is your mission statement. Most companies use their mission statement as the philosophy that guides their daily operations. Clarifying your mission will help you see the natural connection between your organization and a potential charity partner. You will be able to help identify other goals more readily in other areas of your business.
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Find out where your stakeholders are donating: Survey your customers to identify which causes and non-profits they support. Demographic and psychographic profiles may provide you with more insight about the cares and concerns of your customers. Identify what is important to them and any specific causes they may support on their own. Choosing a cause which resonates with your customer shows you are in tune with the matters that are important to them.
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Don’t forget your employees: As the heart and soul of a business, employees' concerns should be taken into consideration as well. Identify if there is a need coming from within your company. Choosing a cause that your employees care about will get everyone excited and yield better campaign participation.
Picking a Charity
Now that you’ve done your research, it’s time to actually pick a charity.
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Determine the criteria for the potential charity: You should consider certain factors such as the size of the charity, the age of the organization and whether the charity will do its work locally,