Corporate giving: Ways your business can give back

Earlier this year, as we were considering content for our annual Philanthropy section, we sat down with representatives of about 12 nonprofits and asked them how the Business Report might further extend our message on the importance of the business community connecting to the nonprofit sector.

We had a few of our own ideas, and we came away with some very good suggestions from the nonprofits.

First, we heard that it would make sense to rename our section Corporate Giving Guide.
Corporate Giving Guide, we were told, conveys exactly what we are trying to say better than Philanthropy, which possibly conjures up the image of a benevolent, wealthy individual contributing to a cause. Individual donor contributions, of course, are important and much sought after. But the opportunities for businesses ? large and small ? to support nonprofits are much greater than only writing a check.

Companies that give employees time to volunteer for certain causes, as well as those that provide pro-bono services and goods to nonprofits are obvious examples.

We heard some ideas about how we could continue to report on the nonprofit community, as well as funding issues confronting them.

For our part, we approached nonprofits and businesses with two new marketing ideas you?ll read in the following pages.

? Community Investment Guide: Here we asked different nonprofit organizations specifically to say ?how you can help? ? sort of a ?wish list? of what they need. Their message intentionally is kept simple. It?s an easy way for your business or your employees to read about how to support a particular cause.

? Nonprofit Partnerships: These profiles allow businesses either to showcase their own programs where they are helping nonprofits (an example for others to follow) or to showcase a particular nonprofit that a company supports.

Our newly renamed Corporate Giving Guide will be overprinted and distributed by the Business Report at business trade shows and events we attend throughout the year. We want to ?give some legs? and extend the guide?s editorial, sponsor and advertiser messages beyond just this issue.

We?ll also still keep writing our ?Running a Nonprofit Profitably? profiles because we recognize that nonprofits must think and perform much like for-profit businesses. How they go about achieving their bottom line may be different, but they must hit their budget numbers just like any business.
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?d like to thank Roche Colorado and The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County for their sponsorship of our annual section, as well as all of the nonprofits and businesses that participated this year.

Now it?s up to you.

How can your business give back to the community that supports its success? Nonprofits purchase our products and services and employ numerous local workers. They are essential spokes in the local economy?s wheels. Our support to nonprofits keeps our economy sustainable and on track.

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