Feeling charitable? Your customers want you to be
Grass-roots charitable programs have been with us a long time, but they seemed to really come to the forefront this past January when Pepsi announced that it was taking the money it would normally spend on Super Bowl ads and putting it behind the Pepsi Refresh Project, where it’s literally giving away millions of dollars monthly to deserving organizations in grant form. (In its blog post “The Democratization of Corporate Philanthropy,” Forbes.com points out that the American Express Members Project actually came first.)
It’s a bit of cheer in a crummy economy: A deserving group gets cash from a corporate giant, who in turn gets great PR and the group’s undying loyalty.
How can this translate to you and your small business? One way is to team with GoodShop.com and GoodSearch.com (and no, I’m not affiliated with either). I’ll let GoodSearch’s “About us” copy do the talking here:
GoodSearch is a search engine which donates 50 percent of its sponsored search revenue to the charities and schools designated by its users. You use GoodSearch exactly as you would any other search engine. Because it’s powered by Yahoo!, you get proven search results. The money GoodSearch donates to your cause comes from its advertisers — the users and the organizations do not spend a dime!
In 2007, GoodSearch was expanded to include GoodShop, an online shopping mall of world-class merchants dedicated to helping fund worthy causes across the country. Each purchase made via the GoodShop mall results in a donation to the user’s designated charity or school – averaging approximately 3% of the sale, but going up to 20% or even more.
Still, it doesn’t have to be about giving away cash, purchasing online ads or encouraging customers and employees to click on a link. These are all great things, but look at Appalachian Baby, whose handmade gifts and knit and crochet kits are put together by Appalachian workers as a way to both express their artistry and make a living in an impoverished community. Be Sweet lives up to its mission of being a “company with a conscience,” working with job creations programs in South Africa to give a fair wage and stable environment to women who find such opportunities to be few and far between. It also donates a portion of its profits to the Shaw Park School, “a primary and secondary school in the Eastern Cape where many of the participants’ children attend,” according to Founder Nadine Curtis.
Naturally, I understand someone’s preference to give anonymously, as well, but sometimes the spirit of giving can be contagious among customers and co-workers alike. Deborah Crawford’s article Six Reasons Your Small Business Should Support a Charity sums things up nicely. David Frey, president of Marketing Best Practices Inc., focuses on choosing the right charity for your business in his article Charity Marketing: Growing Your Business Through Charitable Giving.
But let me turn the tables here: How are you supporting charities through your business? What initiatives have been a win-win for your company? I want to know! Please comment below or drop me a line at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.
Tags: Appalachian Baby, Be Sweet, charity, David Frey, Deborah Crawford, Forbes, Goodsearch, Goodshop, marketing, Marketing Best Practices, Nadine Curtis, Pepsi Refresh
