How giving can give your business the edge over competitors

Christmas and the New Year are important times of self-reflection and of setating goals and intentions for next year. This season I would love you to set your intention to be a small business ‘giver’, writes Kate Christie.

I might not be Melinda Gates or MacKenzie Scott when it comes to my business empire, and I am certainly not within a cat’s whisker of them when it comes to corporate philanthropy, but here’s the thing – it is not about the size of the slice of pie you are able to contribute, it’s about contributing full stop.

As a small business owner (or perhaps a ‘miniscule business owner’ would be a better description for my business when compared to the accrued wealth of Gates and Scott!), I think that it is really important to give back to the communities we work in and to the charities that support people a lot less fortunate than us. And I think you should too.

For mine, I give because I think it is the right thing to do. It makes me feel proud, and it makes me feel like I am working for something that is more than just about helping my clients, growing my business, or paying my bills.

To this end, I recently developed a ‘Contribution Policy’ for my little business to ensure I contribute to and share my knowledge and resources with others in the most effective and impactful way possible. While I have always been a giver, I wanted to do so in a more deliberate rather than an ad hoc way. I wanted to determine exactly how and where I will donate my time, knowledge and money. But more on that later.

Benefits of giving as a small business

If you are not quite convinced that you have the time or resources or knowledge to be a small business ‘giver’, here are four additional benefits to think about:

Increased employee engagement

If you have a team, then get them involved in your giving. Discuss what charities and causes you want to contribute to; how your employees can get involved in the giving; whether there are opportunities for your employees to engage directly with the communities you support, and so on.

These discussions will help your employees become invested in the program. It will give them a sense of belonging to something that is bigger than just themselves and bigger than just your bottom line. Employee engagement will increase, and increased employee engagement will lead to improved employee productivity (the research is clear that these go hand in hand). Win: Win.

Improved brand awareness

You can choose to give anonymously, or you can choose to partner with the causes and communities you give to. Share the details of your ‘giving’ with your customers – pop it on your website, enlist your customer support, explain why it is a passion project for you.

Your giving will raise your brand awareness in the communities you work, it will make your employees proud to work for you, and it will make your customers proud to continue to support you. Win: Win: Win.

Increased brand attraction

Your giving won’t go unnoticed. Happy employees are easier to retain. Engaged customers are easier to retain. Top talent is easier to attract. Win: Win: Win.

Tax deductions

Chat to your accountant about how this works.

Setting up a Contribution Policy

If you are thinking of setting up your own Contribution Policy, here are the steps I took:

Ask yourself: What do I value most – why do I want to do this?

You need to start with your WHY and work from there. It will provide you with focus not only for why giving is important to you, but it will also provide focus on the ways you want to give (for example: time, money, knowledge, manpower, resources).

For mine, I most value:

1. Helping others and making a genuine difference in people’s personal and business lives.
2. Being organised and systematic in how I approach things.
3. Charities and causes that involve the education and health of girls and women.

What is your goal?

Having a goal that is written in the present tense and which includes measures, targets and deadlines will help keep you accountable for implementation.

Here is the goal I set: 

I have developed a new Contribution Policy that articulates exactly how and where I share my knowledge, resources, experience and my most valuable resource — my time — to causes that matter to me. I will focus on: 

• charities and organisations that actively work to improve the health and education of girls and women;
• advising start-ups to ensure they thrive and succeed;
• mentoring other business owners;
• giving back to my community. 

Break your goal down

Break your goal down into smaller, actionable steps and lock each step into your calendar as a deadline (and make sure you turn up!).

My steps included:

1. List all of the organisations/people where I currently donate my time, knowledge and money.
2. Reach out to them to formalise relationships and to ascertain exactly what they most need from me — how can I help them most?
3. Draft my Contribution Policy.

Merry Christmas, happy new year, and be a small business giver.

This article was first published on Flying Solo, read the original here.

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