This month we talk about partnering with a charity and why you might want to consider doing so. There are no shortages of charitable organizations that you can work with and this partnership benefits not only them but can work to your advantage as well.
The obvious benefit to working with and partnering with a charity is that it allows you to help others. Charity means the voluntary giving of help to those in need.
When you partner with your charity it gives you that opportunity to reach more people in need. There are intrinsic benefits to one's self that comes from helping others in need. That may sound like a selfish reason to help someone, but once you start to give, you get back more in return. Small businesses are already givers in their community because of the services, products, job opportunities, and tax contributions they provide. Partnering with a charity is a way to exponentially expand the opportunity to contribute and potentially reach more customers.
Helping a charity is going to help your internal business operations because it helps create a culture within your business. It can and will increase the positive energy of the store when the employees really get behind it. That positivity rubs off, not just on other staff members but the customers as well. Culture is not something that is easily duplicated by competitors. Culture is also a great attraction when recruiting talent. if you have a great, fun, supportive, and charitable culture at your store, you'll recruit top talent and draw-in extra customers to boot.
Pick the right charity that fits you and the customer. Ninety-two percent of companies find that brand alignment with their charity partners is more important than anything else. "Momentum 2020 Corporate Partners Survey". So picking the right charity to partner with will be important because you'll have to wear their badge, so to speak. You'll be helping and representing them.
How do you pick the right charity to partner with? Pick something that is near and dear to your heart. Something that you are passionate about, something that your employees can support and get behind as well. The best charities to partner with aren't necessarily the big ones with national exposure. You might get more bang for your buck if you partner with a local charity that is a big deal in your community or has a profound effect on your customers. It's not a decision to jump right into. You may need to do a little research to see which will have the most community impact as well as fuel a passion from you as well. 
Charity can build your brand awareness. Once you're partnered with a charity, make sure the community, customers, and everyone else knows about it. Publicize it, advertise it, put it on your marketing materials and menus. Put it on your website - and make sure they put you on their website. This partnership can be used as a marketing tool. They can help boost your marketing by targeting their members who are not your customers but align well with you because of your charitable interests. This is a great way to use an existing company infrastructure to amplify your own marketing. These extra people can be worth hundreds even thousands of dollars.
