Corporate Giving: How It Benefits Everyone

By Sebastian Troup


During the holidays and special events, we talk a lot about how the joy is in the giving of gifts, not the receiving. It's a lesson we teach our children, include in greeting cards, and hold as a cultural value. Companies can live out this same principle by giving back through corporate philanthropy programs.

In the same way that giving gifts is good for our personal wellbeing, corporate giving is good for business. Companies that engage in giving programs reap a wide variety of benefits leading to greater employee engagement, improved business performance and stronger relationships with their clients and customers. Here are six ways that giving back is good for business.

Employees want to feel good about their company. When employees lack an emotional connection to their job or don't have a positive connection with management, then morale takes a hit and the quality of work declines. When the quality of work suffers, your corporate level of success can decline.

When a company engages in programs that give back, this can create a better emotional bond between the employees and the company and management. Philanthropy programs demonstrate that the company cares about more than simply making a profit, and this message makes employees feel good about their place of employment.

Another benefit of company giving programs is that it provides an excellent opportunity for employees to acquire new skills, which they can use not only to support the charitable efforts but also in their regular work. These new skills might include learning how to market and publicize the philanthropy through social media. Learning how to make new business and social connections also can be helpful and build employee confidence. Running a successful charitable program requires much organization and management of resources and people, and learning how to do this definitely will have a positive benefit on your company.

Giving back will help your company develop a sense of corporate empathy, or recognizing how others feel. Empathy is one of the three principles that Steve Jobs used to drive Apple's business success, and it can work just as effectively for your business, too. Giving and volunteering help a company see the world through the community's perspective, which strengthens the understanding of how the company fits into that community. By looking at the world through a different lens and putting yourself in someone else's shoes, you can gain valuable insight into how your products or services affect others, the issues that matter most to your customers and how you can play a role in strengthening your community.

Outside of their corporate mission, all institutions should nurture a core set of values. The values inform the mission, guide decisions and help employees and community members connect emotionally with your company. Targeted giving and corporate philanthropy programs can help a company solidify its values by giving back to organizations that match those values. Ongoing giving not only strengthens these values as your involvement grows, it can eventually become a part of your daily operations.

New skills, community engagement, and a new perspective certainly can help a business succeed, making giving back worth the effort. It is also important to remember that giving back is a lot of fun, too. Companies that volunteer or donate to the community rarely have any regrets about it, and once they start, they generally find they enjoy it and only want to give more.




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