David Hancock with Morgan James Publishing wrote a nice blog post, To Give is To Receive, on the Digitizer Group Blog encouraging businesses to think about ways to be involved with causes beyond just writing a check.  Here is the link.

Nonprofits always are seeking cash donations and if you have dollars to give, they of course appreciate that.  However, if you are looking to offer your company and employees a deeper, richer experience with the community…chances are giving cash alone will not do it.  There are so many other ways to offer much needed support to causes.  I have a menu of 65 ways that I use with my clients to help them figure out what combination of giving approaches works best for their specific situation.  Think of your giving as a portfolio.  Cash may be one thing you offer…but what other resources do you have or have access to?

I had the opportunity to interview David Eisner, the former CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, in October about his sense of current trends in business giving.  During our time, he mentioned that one thing that gets in the way of businesses thinking beyond checkbook philanthropy is in fact nonprofits themselves.  Many of them are still firmly rooted in the “tin cup” mentality of charitable donations and do not think partnership with benefits for both organizations.  Hence, when you are approached, you may be asked for a donation.  I encourage you to engage in a different conversation with the nonprofit rep about what else you could do to support their efforts.  You may be surprised what can develop!

My forthcoming book on business giving strategies outlines the range of ways to make a real difference in the community through contributions of dollars, time, and other resources as well as commerce-based promotions and relationships.

I just got an email from T-Mobile with the December 2008 T-Mobile Scoop newsletter.  In it, they gave  information about happenings for each month from January to November 2008.  The email said, “check out this year’s Top 10 highlights below. Then vote for your favorite. Or just take a fresh look at why they made the Top 10 list.” I was pleased to see that at least two of the Top 10 were about T-Mobile’s community involvement activites.

March: “T-Mobile helped plant over 500,000 trees.
Starting in March, T-Mobile and the Arbor Day Foundation offered to plant a tree
for every customer who signed up for Paperless Billing. To date, over 500,000 trees
are slated to be planted in storm-damaged regions like New Orleans. Go green.”

July:T-Mobile helped kids across the U.S. through Huddle Up(SM).
Over 2,700 T-Mobile employees rolled up their sleeves to improve community centers and schools in 18 cities. And T-Mobile’s Handset Recycling Program also donated $10,000 to each center and school. Way to go!”

On the T-Mobile Top 10 Poll Page, they showed a timeline with their 10 selections.  The graphic and text for March is to the left.  They included links so you can vote and get more information about that item.  Great idea! It is a fun way to remind customers about new products and services offered by T-Mobile AND let them know about their giving actions, as well.

So I voted for the tree planting project.  When I was done I was taken to a results page which gives a up to the moment graph showing how each of the Top 10 were doing in votes cast as a percentage.  That is a great idea!!

The New York Times published an article by Stephanie Strom on November 28, “A Company Gives the Gift of Cleanliness.”  In her article, Stephanie gives great examples of how companies are offering pro bono services for the public good drawing on their particular expertise.  I love seeing examples where companies make this kind of a strategic link for their philanthropy.

The article states, “Anyone who thinks the Space Needle in Seattle looks cleaner these days is right, thanks to the scrubbing it got over the summer from a German cleaning company, Alfred Kärcher.

The landmark is just one beneficiary of Kärcher’s corporate giving program, which has cleaned many of the world’s most famous structures, including the Christ the Redeemer sculpture overlooking Rio de Janeiro and the presidents’ faces on Mount Rushmore.

Kärcher’s program is an example of how companies are increasingly using their equipment and expertise in corporate philanthropy. Federal Express, for example, lends a fleet of trucks to nonprofits, and Pfizer sends employees to put their skills to use with nonprofit groups around the world for several months at a time.”

What are your company’s core strengths?  Products or services?  How can you offer these to support community organizations?  Especially if cash is tight, using a pro bono approach to staying involved in the community can make a big difference (for both the nonprofit and your company) - maybe even more so than just making a straight cash donation!

I ran across an article today by Kathy Plomin in Business Lexington, GIVING BACK: Corporate Philanthropy:Giving back offers benefits to the giver, too.

In addition to quoting the usual stats from the Cone/Roper Research Reports to help make the case for business philanthropy, the article states, “If you own a family business or are an officer of a corporation, there are at least four options for you to consider for your company’s charitable giving: a corporate giving program, a corporate foundation, a corporate donor advised fund, and employee matching and non-cash giving.”

The article gives the following advice: “Many corporations operate an annual giving program to make charitable grants part of their annual budgets. Small business owners can blend their family business with family philanthropy by channeling their charitable support through their company. This is usually directed by the senior management and/or ownership of the company.

A company may also wish to create a corporate foundation as an independent, tax-exempt private foundation. A corporate foundation is usually started with a single gift that can become the endowment, to which the company can add future contributions. The foundation’s officers are usually the company’s owners and key executives. At some companies, employee committees make giving recommendations about projects they believe are worthy of support. Just be sure you do your homework –– the corporate foundation is subject to the same rules and regulations applicable to other private foundations.

In addition to awarding cash grants to charity, companies often offer to match their employees’ gifts of cash and volunteer time to nonprofit organizations. Many companies assist and encourage their employees to give by organizing workplace giving programs and by facilitating payroll deductions for employees’ charitable gifts. Companies sometimes match gifts that their employees make through workplace giving programs.”

Plomin has done a nice job giving an overview of business giving.  In my experience though, too many smaller businesses (family owned or not) make the mistake of thinking the best way to give back and make a difference is by setting up their own foundation or starting a nonprofit themselves.  Somehow people don’t realize that either of these options is ALOT of work and the burden on top of running a profitable business, especially in tough economic times may counteract the value of the effort.  My advice would be to do a little research about what nonprofits already exist that are working in the same general area as the cause you want the business to support.  Even if they are not doing exactly what you think best and you have ideas for a new innovative program, consider partnering with them.  Use their structure and networks to help do your good works.  You don’t need to recreate the wheel. 

Same with starting a foundation.  For most companies until you reach annual revenues in the multimillions, it may be far better to run your grant program as a donor-assisted fund at a community foundation than to start your own foundation.  Again, a community foundation has the experience and the existing infrastructure to manage your program for a small administrative fee - leaving you to do good AND have the time you need to run your own business.

Be strategic and think things through BEFORE you leap in over your head!!

The Mark Victor Hansen MEGASpeaking event I attended in Los Angeles recently was held at a Marriott Hotel.  His next event is MEGABook Marketing University 2009.  Marriott now has a catalog called Shop Marriott that features items you might want to buy from the company…like their bedding.  On the back cover, they offer the Marriott Bear. 

“Show you care…With every purchase, Marriott will donate a portion of proceeds to America’s Second Harvest – the Nation’s Food Bank Network to support its mis­sion to create a hunger-free America. America’s Second Harvest is the nation’s largest charitable hunger-relief organization, a network of more than 200 regional member food banks and food-rescue programs serving all 50 states, the Dis­trict of Columbia and Puerto Rico. ”

(more…)

Today I got a mailer from AVEDA, one of the companies I interviewed for my forthcoming book, Strategic Business Philanthropy, announcing their holiday promotions.  The cover caught my eye as it said, “Give Gifts That Make a Difference.”   

On the inside, AVEDA showed a stack of handmade paper boxes on one panel and information on “Extraordinary Gifts” and “Extraordinary Purpose” on the facing panel.  The Gifts paragraph stated, “From the inside-out, Aveda gift sets make a difference - for hair, skin and body, the giver and the receiver, indigenous communities and the Earth.”  The Purpose section stated, “the handcarfted paper on the outsiode of our special boxed gift sets serves an even greater purpose - it helps employ 1,282 Nepali women and men, preserve 90,000 acres of Himalayan forest and send the children of 500 families to school.  Give Aveda gift sets to touch hearts and change lives.”

I went to the website (as usual) to see what else I could learn.  The website also gives educational environmental information about Nepal:

• “Although Nepal possesses only 0.1% of the world’s total landmass, it accounts for over 2% of its flowering plants, 8% of its birds and over 4% of its mammals.*
• After extensive foresting, only 29% of Nepali forest-cover remains**—significantly less than the 40% recommended by ecologists for a healthy environment. ***
• Seeking alternatives to conventional forest practices helps ensure that biodiversity is preserved and resources are available for the people of Nepal.

Paper on our special boxed gift sets was sustainably sourced from the bark of the lokta shrub, harvested without destroying the plant stock.”  They also state, “paper handcrafted by men and women in Malika and Dalika—two regions high in the Himalayas—help them improve their lives and reverse deforestation.” Aveda began partnering with these communities in 2002 and continues to strengthen the relationship.  On another page about the partnership, the Aveda website states that, “When our partnership with Nepali forest product enterprises began in 2002, our focus was simple: create economic opportunities in impoverished communities dedicated to biodiversity conservation.” This page also tells the story of one of the participating families to give it the human touch.

I am a big Aveda fan anyway and even more so since I interviewed Mary T’Kach for my book.  I like this flyer - they tell exactly how many people are benefitting from this promotion.  Do you give similar information about any special promotions you run to support causes either through commerce (they bought the paper from the artisans) as in this Aveda example or through your contributions?  You should…consumers like to know about real impact and how their purchase makes a difference.

While at Mark Vistor Hansen’s Mega Speaking Empire Event in Los Angeles last weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting Rick Frishman with Morgan James Publishing at a VIP luncheon.  After I explained that I work with businesses to make their giving more impactful, when he handed me his business card he made a point of showing me the logo in the lower left corner indicating their partnership with Habitat for Humanity Peninsula as a Building Partner.  How great!  Such a good idea!

Today I went to their website to see what else I could find out about their partnership.  I was very pleased to see they had a link on their home page labeled Habitat for Humanity.  Clicking that link to get to the Habitat page, Morgan James was very clear about their support for the organization.  They list three main ways they support Habitat:

1. “Financial support – Morgan James Publishing is donating a percentage of all book sales on a monthly basis from our Global (US/UK/CA) efforts under the Habitat for Humanity Peninsula Building Partner Program for the life of each book.
2. Public awareness – Morgan James Publishing is raising awareness by promoting Habitat for Humanity with every book we release, both inside and outside (with authors consent of course). Creating press opportunities to promote Habitat for Humanity and prominently on our Morgan James Publishing, LLC website(s), literature, radio spots, seminars, etc. 
3. Mobilizing volunteers – Morgan James Publishing rolls up our sleeves and does whatever it takes to encourage and mobilize globally volunteers with an emphasis on Habitat for Humanity, including getting our own hands dirty!”

The website also said “We place the Habitat for Humanity logo on the back and inside of our books, with a statement that a percentage of the revenues from the book are donated to the organization.  We also have a large, Mercedes Sprinter cargo van with the Habitat & Morgan James logos that features our imprints and authors; we drive it to as many Habitat home dedications as we can around the country to raise awareness for Habitat and our authors.  From the van, we also give a small library of books to the new homeowners.  So at the same time when we are generating funds for them, we are also raising awareness for the organization’s life-changing work, helping low-income families build decent homes they can afford to buy.  Our efficient business model, enabled by our partnership with Ingram Publisher Services, makes it possible for us to participate with Habitat for Humanity in this way.” - David L. Hancock

On the Habitat site, on the Building Partners Page, they list Morgan James Publishing with a link back to the Morgan James Habitat page.  No blurb about the company or a logo but at least it was listed.  An upgrade would be for Habitat to add those for all significant business partners.

I really like that Morgan James Publishing is so clear how they support and promote their partner, Habitat for Humanity Peninsula.  They also give alot of basic data about Habitat and the work they do in the community, as well.  Definitely a best practice!  How can you upgrade your own website to do something similar?

This morning I attended a breakfast sponsored by the Two Percent Club at the Denver Country Club.  The Two Percent Club is an organization actively promoting business involvement in the community.  Their website states: “The member companies of the 2% Club consist of a wide range of industry representation and include every size of business, from sole proprietors to the largest employers. They have supported hundreds of Denver nonprofits with donations, employee volunteers, in-kind support and pro bono services. These leaders encourage and demonstrate business involvement in the community through their support of philanthropic efforts within their own companies, through their own personal commitment and through their leadership and encouragement of others.  We encourage you to get involved—-it’s just good business.”

While we ate our breakfast, each of the six round tables discussed 11 questions concerning community involvement.  They were great questions - I suggest you take a minute and think about the answers to them from your own perspective.

1. Have you arm twisted your vendors or suppliers to get them involved in the community?  How did that work for you?
2. Are government projects and iniatives appropriately steering resources to causes or are they taking funds away from other community groups and causes?
3. Has your company tied your community efforts back to business goals?  If so, how?  Any cause related marketing projects?
4. How do you find time for community efforts - for yourself or your company/employees?
5. What impact is the economic situation having on your giving now or in the future?  What about the overall impact on the nonprofits and the community?
6. Is it OK to self-promote your community efforts, or is that being disingenuous?
7. Do you measure your community efforts?  If so, how?
8. Are your employees involved?  What impact does that have on morale/productivity?
9. Is it good to have a narrow communtiy focus or more of a broad-based focus?
10. Is it appropriate for nonprofits to be invovled in political issues?
11. Black-tie dinners-enough?  Or bring ‘em on?  Alternatives?

The keynote speaker for the event was Peter Coors.  Peter currently is Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Molson Coors Brewing Company.  He previously served as Chairman of the Board of Adolph Coors Company since 2002, and was Chief Executive Officer from May 2000 to July 2002. Peter talked about the unique philosophy we have in the United States concerning citizen (and business) involvement in philanthropy as compared to many other countries where the government is expected to provide all needed servcies in communities.  He talked about business philanthropy being not an obligation for companies as no one is making us do it - rather he feels it is the right thing to do and makes good business sense.  People want to do business with people they think care.

Peter highlighted eight things for companies to remember when engaged in community involvement.

1. Keep your corporate hat on when working with nonprofits - bring business thinking to addressing community issues.
2. Encourage nonprofits to measure their results and business can help with that.
3. Help nonprofits measure their effectiveness using both quantitative approaches while also focusing on the harder to measure feel good factor.
4. Offer in-kind resources
5. Encourage employees and their families to get involved in community projects.  Encourage them to have the same giving philosophy as the business’ leaders.
6. Effectively use your business leverage to make things happen.
7. Be creative, shake up the status quo and look at things differently especially during tough economic times when dollars available have diminished - right now by 40%!!
8. Never doubt the Power of One!  Adopt one school, mentor one child, help one neighborhood.  One person or one business - can make a difference.

It great to have been invited to participate in this event and meet leading local business people who are so committed to supporting their local communities.  The Two Percent Club has a new website and is now actively looking to engage even more businesses as part of its membership.  I am glad to be a member!

I was watching TV last night and at the end of a typical Pizza Hut commercial featuring cheese in their crust, there was a different ending that caught my attention.  Pizza Hut is supporting the movement to end world hunger by supporting the World Food Program through their Friends organization. 

Going to the Pizza Hut website today, on their home page, there was a link to the World Hunger 2008 effort with the tag that $1 feeds 4 children.  The WFP Friends site states, “World Hunger Relief gives a voice to the silent crisis of hunger by generating awareness among millions of people across the globe. Join Yum! Brands and its 35,000 restaurants worldwide in the movement to end world hunger. By donating to Friends of the World Food Program, you provide a basic necessity for life and hope to the world’s hungry. Give today.”  The site offers the option of making a one-time donation or donations over time. 

The Friends site gives a lot of data about world hunger and describes the various programs offered by the organization.  Check it out!

I continue to ponder the effects of this Wall Street mess on business philanthropy as I watch friends of mine whose hard earned investments are evaporating seemingly over night!  What is true is that at times like this there is a tendancy for everyone to tighten the belt - one way many companies choose to do that is by reducing their charitable giving.  But what a Catch 22!  Giving is down right at the time that the need for assistance skyrockets!  While on one hand such a reaction is understandable, staying “in the game” is also important.  Not only can your company truly “do good” at times like this but your reputational capital in the community and among customers and employees can be truly strengthened by continuing to give back, even if in smaller ways than previously.

Dollars are down for social service programs from all sources - federal grants, foundations, individuals, businesses…  There was an article in yesterday’s New York Times that I found interesting - Economy Expected to Take a Toll on Charitable Giving by GERALDINE FABRIKANT.  In the article, Fabrikant states, “Foundations are required by law to give away at least 5 percent of their assets a year. But when their assets shrink, their donations tend to shrink as well. Gathering enough money to return to their previous level is often hard.  At the same time, individual and corporate gifts to foundations and other charities generally slow during hard times. According to research prepared by Giving USA, donations did not keep pace with inflation for three consecutive years around two economic slumps, in 1973 and 2001.”

So maybe you don’t have dollars to give right now but stay calm - your company has other resources it can share with worthy nonprofits - many of which you probably take for granted.  Maybe you know how to prepare press releases, collect customer satisfaction data, set up bookkeeping systems, develop and manage databases, have a conference room or parking lot you could loan out…the list of possibilities is long if you think out of the box about your assets.

One problem is that as nonprofits feel the pinch, there is a tendency for them to default to begging for cash which you may not have available.  The dialogue of how you could partner to benefit both organizations and share some other resource you have can be cut short prematurely unintentionally.  If you are approached for a cash donation, if you don’t have cash, you can’t give.  But if it is a cause or organization you want to support, take the time to explore other possibilities and needs they may have.  Get beyond the knee jerk reaction of saying times are tough, how can they ask for money when we are sucking air here and your guilt at having to say no - to seeing what IS possible.

Your company can’t support all the worthy groups out there.  One pack of hotdog buns to every nonprofit that asks doesn’t really make much of a difference.  During times like these, it is essential that your company be very strategic and creative about how you give back.  Being strategic does not mean taking advantage or being crass and inauthentic.  It is certainly more than OK to develop giving criteria and say no to the masses.  Focusing your efforts on a small number of nonprofits that you have some mission connection with can allow you to make a greater difference - both in the community and show that you are one of the “good companies” that didn’t cut and run when times got tough.

Rethink your business giving but please, don’t cut it off completely!  Be part of the solution in whatever ways you can!!