‘Tis the season: Is your company ready for the flood of charitable solicitations and requests for donations?

Corporate philanthropy guest column by Katherine Kish and Susan Caruso Green

   What started as a trickle has become a flood.
   Your company used to receive requests for contributions from just Toys for Tots, the Little League or the Scouts. Now, those groups are still asking but they are joined by so many more. It’s now the many ills that need curing: local and national groups doing great work with children, the addicted, the homeless, the poor. Then it’s the natural disasters: floods and tornados and hurricanes and tsunamis. More and more need. More and more requests. More and more contributions adding up, especially at this time of year.
   How do you decide to whom to give? And to whom to say no? And how to say “no” in a way that does not make your company seem like Ebenezer Scrooge?
   Here are seven tips to guide your company through this holiday season of giving and throughout the new year:
    Examine your giving over the past year.
   Get a handle on where these contributions are going. Ferret out the themes or trends and put them in writing. Now you can say “yes” or “no” to new requests based upon those themes.
   If there are no themes or priorities in your giving, take this opportunity to develop a giving program that is in alignment with your company’s mission and values.
    Look into whether or not your giving is making your employees and your customers feel good about the company.
   Poll your employees for their interests and attitudes on giving. Then develop a giving strategy that takes those interests into consideration.
    Examine whether or not your giving is raising your company’s positive image in the community.
   Then, develop a policy for giving that reinforces your company’s mission. Align your giving to your public face in the community and the marketplace.
   Avoid scams.
   There are standard legal documents that qualified tax exempt nonprofit organizations should be able to provide for your review, such as their letter from the IRS verifying that they are a tax exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and financial statements.
   Consult an experienced philanthropy advisor about the documents you should require.
    Avoid reactive giving and stick to your giving policy.
   There are so many good causes and so many good customers who will want you to contribute to support their organizations. You will have no basis to say yes or no if you do not stick to your policy.
    Let the public know what kinds of programs you are interested in supporting.
   Just as important, let the public know what kinds of programs you will not consider supporting.
    Develop written criteria you will use to review all requests and share this information with local community organizations.
   Develop procedures and application due dates to make your contributions process go smoothly.
   Your corporate giving creates yet another part of your company’s reputation in your community, your region or around the world. The pride that your employees feel in their employer, the strength of your brand in the minds of customers, and the value of your stock are all influenced by what kind of corporate citizen you are known to be.
    Susan Caruso Green and Katherine Kish, along with Jeffrey Faue, are the principals at Design for Giving, based in Cranbury, a firm which helps businesses shape their strategies for giving to increase impact and cost-effectiveness. Please direct questions to Katherine Kish at [email protected] or (609) 799-8898. Visit our website at www.npocentral.net/DesignForGiving.