How can businesses find the best charities to donate to?
When a business aligns itself with a charity, it not only generates goodwill and donations but it also fortifies a brand’s identity and public image. You’ll want to make sure that the partnership makes sense from a business and branding perspective, and patrons want the assurance that their donations will have long-term benefits and will genuinely help the cause in question. In this article, we’ll look at some UK charities you should have on your radar, as well as uncover what to look for and what to avoid when choosing a cause to support.
Finding a relevant charity to partner with
Promoting charities through your business is a great idea, but it helps if there is a link between your respective activities for two main reasons. Firstly, if a business and a charity have a shared audience then this can be capitalised on for long-term patronage. Secondly, if a certain resource or community helps your business generate profits then collaborating with a relevant charity shows you’re passionate about giving back. For example, a seaside hotel might consider supporting the Royal National Lifeboat Institution or the Ocean Conservation Trust.
A fantastic example of a partnership is McCain’s work with Family Fund. A key part of McCain’s brand identity is that they provide food all the family can enjoy. Their support has helped Family Fund offer grants for kitchen appliances for families of disabled and seriously ill children. If your focus is also on families, there are plenty of family-oriented charities your business could donate to. Action for Children is an example to bear in mind: it’s transparent about where funding goes and works towards a “safe and happy childhood” for its beneficiaries. We explore this subject in our guide on how much of your donation goes to charity.
It doesn’t have to be money
Charitable giving doesn’t have to involve money. There are many ways in which the hospitality industry can help charities without donating cash. Of course, there is the issue of food waste and the logical solution of donating the surplus to food banks. But you’re also in an excellent position to support local branches of charitable organisations. You could make conference rooms available, for example, or host events on a non-profit basis. Take it a step further, and you might even choose to offer a freebie to the Family Holiday Charity which helps disadvantaged families to enjoy a break away from home.
Apart from donating facilities and time, you could look at collecting previously loved items to donate to charity. The best charities to donate clothes to in the UK include Oxfam, the Red Cross and the RSPCA, all of which run secondhand shops around the UK. While your guests are unlikely to be in the habit of leaving their clothes behind on a large scale, there will always be those unclaimed items that one can’t keep forever. You can even set up a collection point for your favourite charity shop and encourage guests and staff to contribute.
What are the best charities to donate to?
There are various ways you can decide which charities are the best to donate to. While organisations such as the Charity Aid Foundation offer various guides and insights for corporate giving, we recommend doing proactive research to find charities that resonate with both your staff and your patrons. For example, The Arts Council of England generates millions of pounds in funding every year and could be a good match for events like art exhibitions or soirees. Save the Children is still a popular choice and ties in well with child-themed entertainments and events. The National Trust could be appropriate if you do business in an area famed for its historic buildings, and so on.
For further inspiration, we might look at some of the top CSR partnerships in the UK today. Insurance United is supporting the Alzheimer’s Society. With an ageing population, issues like dementia are increasingly affecting people in a very personal way. The Phoenix Group, on the other hand, is marking World Mental Health Day with contributions towards The Samaritans. Meanwhile, Groovy Gecko and YouTube Music support War Child UK with virtual concerts aimed at fundraising to help young people in areas affected by war and conflict.
Closer to home, Morgan Stanley has chosen The Felix Project, a charity that works to feed Londoners who struggle to put food on the table, while Cain International raises funds for XLP, a non-profit that seeks to provide better opportunities for children growing up in London’s housing estates. A similar charity, Impetus, enjoys the support of Tilney Smith and Williamson, which also offers staff opportunities for volunteer work with its CSR partner.
Evaluating potential charity partnerships
While supporting the UK’s top charities gives you the benefit of knowing they’ve already been scrutinised and approved by a great many people, smaller initiatives have a more personal feel and mean your business is more likely to stand out. The first place to look is the Charity Commission’s register of charities. It tells you whether a charity is officially recognized and provides a breakdown of how funds are used. Obviously, the best choices use the bulk of their funding for charitable works and a very small proportion on running costs. Doctors Without Borders uses 89% of its funding to benefit its cause, and the rest goes to covering fundraising costs.
Unfortunately, there have been some very high-profile scandals involving charities in the last decade. The Charities Commission investigated them and recommended appropriate action, but they have left people feeling unsure about some of the best-known and biggest charities in the UK. Choosing something smaller, closer to home, and inevitably lower-profile could well generate more engagement and support. It’s worth taking a look at local community initiatives and charities before making a final decision.
Help your customers give back
You probably have a commitment to donate some of your profits to charity already, but you can do a lot more than that. Having found a cause that you believe in enough to support, it’s time to involve your patrons. There are many ways to go about this, ranging from events or donations linked to product sales to charity collection boxes.
At GoodBox, we’re passionate about helping businesses and charities form enriching and effective partnerships. Our contactless technology can be placed on countertops or used at events for quick and easy donations. A prime example of this is the GBx Core, which has a sleek and ergonomic design (including a 5.5’’ HD touch screen) and accepts online and offline donations.
In 2021, we partnered with Costa Foundation and will soon be placing the GBx Core throughout Costa Coffee stores as part of their goal to eradicate poverty in coffee-growing communities. We hope to form even more mutually beneficial relationships with retailers across the UK.
Want to find out more? Download our pricing brochure or contact the team today.
