Charitable giving can provide important benefits to your business, both internally and externally.
There are opportunities for employee engagement and motivation through charitable giving by both the company and the employees; how can we make sure we reap the benefits whilst managing and minimising any people related risks?
External Benefits
A strategic approach to charitable giving through your business will bring positive results in several ways. There is no denying the fact that many customers make buying decisions based as much on how they feel about a company as much as about a product. Do not underestimate the power of the halo effect.
Internal Benefits
The benefits of a corporate charitable giving program are not just external; recruiting and keeping top-performing employees is a priority of all successful businesses.
• Employee Engagement: Charitable giving improves employee engagement by boosting productivity, ethical behaviour and pride in their work.
• Morale: With employees more engaged in their work and pleased with the corporate culture, their morale will be higher. This can lead to greater productivity and better retention.
• Teamwork: A generally positive attitude in the workplace can promote a feeling of effective teamwork- everyone will feel like they are working towards a common goal.
Company charitable donations can deliver some employee pride and positive engagement. Complementing this with schemes to assist and enable your employees to contribute directly can be of great value however, fostering a culture of support for employees to choose to identify and deliver programmes which make a difference.
A strategic approach will ensure consistency to support how your organisation is viewed by customers and communities and further encourage employees to get involved and feel pride in their employer.
• Payroll giving scheme: Setting-up a payroll giving (workplace giving) scheme is simple and there are many benefits for employers. It provides your employees with a flexible means to make charitable donations to their preferred causes, and as donations are deducted before tax, it is tax effective. Your employees can easily and regularly make a difference to the good causes that matter to them the most, with reduced impact on their income.
Have a clear policy on eligibility and restrictions on charitable contributions.
• Community days: Encouraging and enabling employees to take a day to actively support good causes allows them to give their time without sacrificing annual leave.
Again, provide clarity on eligibility and restrictions including use or otherwise of company equipment and vehicles for the activity.
Conclusion
Although this has been about building your business through charities, opportunities exist for you to make a difference whilst engaging and supporting your employees in the process. Clover HR is very proud to sponsor Midlands Air Ambulance and MS Society. If you want to build charitable giving into your employee incentive schemes and need further advice simply call 0121 516 0299, 01905 824051 or email info@cloverhr.co.uk.
