3 Creative Ways Small Businesses Can Give Back To Society Without Donating Money Donating money to charity is not the only way to give back to society —many other creative ways allow even the smallest brands to significantly impact society.
By Jonathan Jadali Edited by Maria Bailey
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Giving back is not a new concept for most small businesses. Data shows that 75% of small businesses donate 6% of their monthly profits to charitable causes. The data clearly shows that in 2022, small businesses are becoming more generous and socially aware. However, small business charitable donations still make up a tiny fraction of the annual donations to charity. The reason is apparent: Bigger companies have more liquidity and make more money, so it is easy to outgive these smaller businesses.
Donating money to charity is not the only way to give back to society — many other creative ways allow even the smallest brands to significantly impact society. In this article, I share a few concepts that we have utilized to great effect at my company.
Volunteer for a cause you are passionate about
Some small businesses decide to give money rather than get more actively involved because they do not know much about social causes or are not passionate about them. It's one thing to throw money at a problem, but it is another to fold your sleeves and help out. When choosing a charity to support, it is best to let your passion lead you or at least study the charities you support well enough to understand what they do.
In 2021, my agency entered into a long-term partnership with the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention (CA) to help them with their PR needs and get the word out about their amazing work. The partnership has been a success, largely because of my passion for tackling the growing menace of suicide among our youth.
I figured that the only thing we could give that was better than money was our expertise, so we offered our services pro bono and the hands-on involvement of myself and my staff. Passion has a way of making involvement more authentic, and authenticity can be seen from a mile away. Authentic contributions to society have a way of bringing more goodwill to a business.
Related: When Brands Advocate Social Causes, Authenticity Is Key
Support other small businesses with your expertise and services
At the height of Covid, only a few industries survived and even thrived. Luckily, the PR and digital marketing industries were one of the lucky ones. The realities on the ground led us to an interesting idea, born out of a strong feeling of responsibility to give back to smaller businesses struggling during the pandemic. Our initial efforts to do so metamorphosed into an effective B2B support strategy.
We set up modalities to identify small businesses and mom-and-pop shops severely hit by the pandemic, and we offered them free marketing, visibility, and PR services. Several other agencies and companies in the B2B space used this strategy and started donating their services for free to other businesses.
Companies can adopt this strategy in several ways — especially those in the B2B space. They can support local businesses by offering them periodic discounted or free services or switching to local business vendors for their supplies.
Some businesses outside the B2B space have gone as far as offering discounts to customers who show a receipt from another community organization, local business or partner.
B2B charity is not really popular in the business space. Still, it becomes a really appealing option when you consider the ripple effects it has on society, unemployment and poverty rates. Whether offering free services or liking and sharing posts from other local businesses on social media, companies can make a genuine impact by focusing their charity on other businesses.
Related: 4 Tips for Small Business Owners as They Navigate an Economic Downturn
Integrate giving back into your referral program
In the current economy, it is getting tougher for small businesses to give back. This is probably why they are toning down their corporate social responsibility efforts in 2022.
Referrals are one of the most potent ways that small businesses grow, so tying social responsibilities into your referral program may be a great way to make more profit while also giving back. For instance, small businesses can decide to put aside a percentage of the profit from every referral or sale (usually the equivalent of a referral fee) towards supporting a charity or a social cause. An example would be, "For every referral, we would give $100 to XYZ towards helping educate the at-risk youth in the community."
This strategy can multiply referrals while getting the referrers to forfeit the referral fee to the charity. This way, small businesses struggling with a shoestring budget can act as a conduit for their preferred charity without actually paying out-of-pocket.
At my agency, we have grown exponentially by relying 100% on referrals and word-of-mouth without spending a dime on ads. I strongly believe that our authentic and hands-on approach to giving back has probably contributed more than we know to a large chunk of our success.
Giving back is not just something you must do to stay relevant; it is something that businesses have to approach creatively; deciding what best works for them. There are many ways to get it done without breaking the bank.
