Connecting businesses to charity — without the headaches
The crux of what I do within Work for Good is to support small business owners in achieving their aim of giving back to charity and making a difference to a cause through their business practices.
A lot of the small businesses I speak to have run into problems when trying to connect with and donate to charities for various reasons, but the main obstacles that arise are the lengthy administration process, a lack of knowledge about and confidence in handling the legal aspects of charity giving and setting up a Commercial Participation Agreement (CPA), or the experience of being turned down by charities due to their business size, the length of time they’ve been operating or the perceived fundraising potential they can bring in. I spoke to one business who had been turned down by a charity because they were a start-up and needed to be incorporated for 2+ years before the charity would work with them.
Once the legal and administrative hurdles are out of the way I continue to work with businesses, offering advice and support to ensure they establish their giving in a way that’s recognised by clients and employees without putting a strain on them professionally and personally — whether this be through giving a little when they can, lining giving with projects and events, or embedded into their financial processes.
No business is too small to make an impact
The going can be especially tough for family businesses, such as BTE Automotive, who rarely have any CSR systems or staff in place to manage admin linked to charity giving. Being a small organisation shouldn’t hold you back from doing what you aspire to, professionally or charitably and BTE Automotive told us that: “Since joining Work for Good at the start of 2018, we’ve given over £1,000 to charities close to our hearts — and it couldn’t have been easier. We know that Work for Good will take care of the hard work, including showcasing the results on social media and beyond, so all we have to do is carry on with business as usual.” Giving just £1 from every MOT the complete, BTE Automotive have made a significant impact on the charities they support, showing that you don’t have to be raising thousands to make a valuable contribution.
Work for Good was established for the very purpose of helping small businesses connect with and donate to charities on a local, national or international scale. Through the process of registration, the businesses I work with are able to realise their aim of giving back without the daunting process of setting up and managing a relationship with their chosen charity — as that’s all taken care of our end.
Making charity giving work for your business
The question I’m often asked is “how will Work for Good benefit my business?”. There are countless reasons, but the main benefits I relate to businesses include:
I’m always happy to talk to prospective business partners about how we could help them give back, so I would say to any business or entrepreneur looking to make a socially invaluable contribution through their work to get in touch and start their giving journey with our help.
Get in touch today
To find out how Work for Good could help you make a real difference as a business drop me an email at anna.estop-hall@workforgood.co.uk
