"Good Giving . . . As Good Business"

by Charles B. Maclean, PhD

Founder and Chief Committed Listener of PhilanthropyNow

Portions of this article appeared in the Portland Business Journal, January/February 1999.

Provocative Community Give-Back Strategies

Before Giving

1. Create an employer/employee "Give Back Team" to determine your giving mission, strategies, goals and plans that align with your yacht brokerage business mission, values, and employee passions. One of the best predictors of joyful, habitual, high-impact giving is having a written giving mission statement.
2. Produce triple impact and gain triple benefit by partnering with your employees, vendors, clients, and other stakeholders to make your giving mission happen.
3. Determine what percentage of pre-tax profits you and your partners and employees want to make as direct charitable contributions to your favorite nonprofits. Then decide what percentage of your marketing/advertising budget you want to invest in Cause-Related Marketing (see point 5 below) in partnership with a carefully selected nonprofit. Then budget those dollars like any other cost of doing business.
4. Develop and use a report card for rating requests to give that makes your job easier and gives meaning to both your "YES's" and "NO's". You do due-diligence in business. Why not in your giving.
5. Investigate the branding of your giving like Nike, Ben & Jerry’s, McDonald’s, Paul Newman Food Products, and Working Assets Long Distance are doing. Search out and cultivate a long-term relationship with a not-for-profit whose cause and customers parallel those of your business. 65% of Americans surveyed in 1998 say will switch brands and 61% say they will switch retailers to one associated with a good cause 76% said they believe it is acceptable for companies to engage in cause-related marketing. 59% said that business should address problems in their own back yards. 83% of Americans surveyed say they have a more positive image of companies that support a cause they care about. 87% of employees surveyed in 1998 at companies with cause programs feel a strong sense of loyalty to their employer, versus 67% of those who do not have such a program (Cone/Roper Reports, Boston, 1999).

1. Identify employee job-related competencies like leadership, team building, project management, and fund raising that can be honed by volunteering. Put them to work and reward them back on the job. When you encourage volunteering it can be a cost-effective and mutually beneficial training strategy.
2. Match one-hour per week of employee volunteering with "time-off-with-pay" to encourage volunteering. Publicize this benefit to attract and keep good employees, especially in this tight labor market.
3. Investigate how Sea Scouts, Associated Marine Institute programs, troubled youth, and others might benefit from mentoring by your employees and in the process encourage careers in the marine industry.
4. Bring in outside financial advisors to educate your business owners, employees and clients in ways to best exercise stock options, charitable remainder trusts, and other vehicles that minimize taxes and optimize giving.
5. When hiring new employees, give them the option of identifying passions, skills, and talents that they would like to contribute on a volunteer basis to the community. Then invite employees to write into their job description their "community give-back" job component. Finally, help employees make a good match with community agencies needing their competencies. Local experience shows that those who care enough to volunteer are more likely to care more about your clients.

1. Encourage the yacht brokerage industry to establish a “Best In Class” award and recognition program linked to community give-back, cause-related marketing/banded giving. A 1% Club (1% of profits for community give-back) is worth exploring for the industry. Special “We Give 1%” logo and promotional material will tell others of your commitment.
2. Monitor the impact of your giving against benchmarks that you and the non-profit have chosen to track.
3. Issue an "Annual Report On Company Giving" that proclaims to shareholders, employees, clients, and vendors the impact of employer/employee joint give-back to the community.
4. Celebrate your giving impacts with shareholders, employees, clients and recipients.

The Bottom-Line?

If your business is active in community give-back, will your profits and investors suffer? Oregon Business magazine (July, 1996, 36.) reported a Columbia University study that concluded,

" . . . companies with strong civic involvement's are more profitable, earning better returns of assets and investments because their employees are more productive. One management journal found that 'Investors consider less socially responsible firms riskier' because they see management skills at the firm as low.'"

Savvy business leaders recognize that strong, healthy communities, schools and social service agencies contribute to their company's bottom line.

In summary, your "ROI - Return On Investment from community give-back" holds the promise of greater client loyalty, easier recruitment, better employees, higher morale, lower turnover, better reputation . . . often more profits. Why wouldn’t you do it?

The Bottom-Bottom Line?

The ultimate Return On Investment, ROI, in my opinion, is building a sustainable community, creating a workplace where a monetary and psychic living wage is fairly earned and paid, giving to discover who you are, and . . . making more profits in order to be able to give-back more . . . more to owners, shareholders, employees, and the community.
The mix of time, dollars, expertise, product, and hope that business owner's give-back will shift over time as the business matures. What's important is freezing the give-back habit early and making it just the way you do business. Make the stretch for the community and the community will likely stretch for you. And it will send a strong socially responsible business message to your employees, investors, and clients that will set you apart from the rest.
“Giving where you get” . . . keeps you in the flow and inspires others to do the same.

A Preferred Future Scenario

Imagine this scenario (conceived in part by PhilanthropyNow study co-author Jana Greenberger) where the valuation and reputation of a business for investment, client loyalty, and employee recruitment purposes is based on:

• The measurable impact of that business's goods and services on sustainable quality of living
• Trustworthiness reflected in standing behind products and services
• Quality of products and services

The quality and quantity of community give-back that is leveraged and treated as a social investment . . . and Traditional ROI measures.

It's coming.  Be part of it!