When working with a new client, one of the questions I ask is "What range of your cash contributions apply to your giving program annually?" Most often, the business owner's reply is "Well, I don't really know. I just write checks when I'm asked or when I think it's a good cause." Once in a while, a company has a range in mind, but what they set aside to give is often depleted in six to eight months. This leaves them having to decline donation requests for the remainder of the year.
I am here to say, if your company falls into either one of these scenarios you have to plan a giving budget. A budget is critical to the success of your giving program. Actually, it is the most important part of your giving plan. Failure to properly plan and allocate a budget for giving leaves you waffling in the wind, writing checks in smaller amounts that in the long run may add to the overall bottom line for an organization, but have minimal impact on their organization and your company. You may be thinking, "well Maggie every dollar helps". True. But would run your business without a marketing budget, office expenses or travel budget? Of course not.
Your company giving program must have a budget planned for each year. There is no standard amount you should give. This depends on your business, business goals, and what you want to accomplish through your giving. How you determine the amount for giving should be discussed with your chief financial officer, accountant or advisor. You can have a $2500 giving budget and have a successful giving program that impacts your business and the causes you give to. This I know for sure. If you have a giving budget and it is depleted in eight months or less, you are not sticking to your plan and more often than not, unexpected requests came in or you gave more than you anticipated to causes. Red flag! This means that someone in-house, if not you, now has to say, "Sorry, but...". This is not pleasant to do and it could have been avoided.
If you have not developed a giving budget for your business this year begin today. If you have one, ensure it will not be depleted in eight months. You should also have a percentage allocation of all giving dollars. A giving budget contributes to the effectiveness of your program and gives your the framework from which decisions are made.
Copyright. 2006-2007. Maggie F. Keenan, Ed.D.
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