Maggie F. Keenan, Ed.D.

How to G.E.T. Your Company Giving on Track

Many companies don’t have a clear cut vision for their giving and haven't clearly defined what they want to get from it. They are simply giving to the same thing year after year and doing it the same old way. They are reading donation requests, answering calls about giving, sending out Sorry-But letters, upper management makes all decisions, cut checks, and never follow through. They aren't focused on accomplishing clear-cut results.

So, the ‘same’ is just fine.Why is it so critical to create a clear giving plan and to determine a focus? Because if you don't know what you want your giving program to do, the odds are that you will spend a lot of unnecessary time and resources and there is a very strong chance that you will not even make the impact you desire.

Focus and plans give you important information about how to use your time, money, and resources for your giving program.

Here are a few strategies you can use to G.E.T. your giving on track:

• Goals: have goals and know what you want to achieve
• Effort:  reduce your effort with a plan
• Team: engaging employees through teams

Goal

To achieve success, you must have goals. I’ve said this before. Without goals in any area of your business, you flounder not having a sense of direction, not knowing if what you are doing is effective, not knowing if you are making a difference. Without goals, you never know if you are really successful. For example if one goal is to increase the purchase dollar volume per customer by 10%, then everyone needs to know that target and you would discuss what you are going to do to get there. Same goes for a giving program.  Determine what you want your program to do for you so that you have a focus.  For example, are you trying to impact a specific issue? Gain positive PR and visibility? Attract or retain employees? Also, you need to decide your allocation to each area of giving and track it.

The key to a successful giving program is knowing what you want to support, why and how much you will give.

Effort

Nothing in a company is more wasteful than not using your time and resources  effectively. Certainly, as business owners you have plans for your business. You have a marketing plan, a budget and a plan, a development plan, a sales plan, and a strategic plan. Plans for your business steer progress and keep you on track. Essentially, plans help you to reduce your effort.

Your business should also have a giving plan. Why? You put your time, money and resources into giving. You have to plan your giving program. It will help you streamline your effort and resources and effectively use your charitable dollars wisely. Part of your plan is deciding where to give; what to give; and how to give. A plan assures your giving is proactive and not reactive! 

By having a plan you can:

• Reduce time and effort spent deciding which organizations to support
• Respond easily to solicitations
• Give time, product or services wisely
• Limit the number of unwanted requests
• Control employee volunteer time

Team

Many business owners find that one of the greatest benefits of their business giving is the satisfaction and enthusiasm it generates among employees. Employees feel valued when they are asked to give ideas and input. Unless your company has one employee, involve your employees in your giving program. It one of the easiest and best ways to communicate to them that you value their input and they are a part of your company, beyond the bottom-line. Create giving teams. They foster a spirit of participation and add value to your program. If just a few in upper management are making all the giving decisions, I challenge you to re-think the way your giving program is structured. I am an advocate of employee participation in company giving. 

Simple techniques you can consider for engaging employees are:

• Invite employees to be a part of the decision making and rotate terms
• Offer matching contributions
• Create a company wide volunteer effort
• Use employee technical skills and talents when giving services

Putting It All Together

Giving matters most when it is planned, focused and effective. If you don’t have a focus, a plan or involve employees, GET your give program on track. Even if you just do one of these things, it will make a difference. I promise.

Copyright. 2006. Maggie F. Keenan, Ed.D.

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