The Ladies Who Launch series gives members of the Ladies Who Launch Incubator a platform for sharing their stories of giving back and doing good through their business'.
We're pushed and pulled in so many different directions when it comes to our charitable giving; both as individuals and as businesses. Save Darfur or support breast cancer research? Put an AIDS orphan through school or preserve the wetlands? As your wealth grows, so do the organizations that want it. But it's those that plead poverty or lack of time who really need to hear this. Giving something doesn't have to mean giving everything, as Ladies Who Launch member Lauri Baker asserts here. It can even be good for business.
Amy Swift, Editor in Chief, www.ladieswholaunch.com
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Giving: Even a Small Business Startup Can Do It
Can't afford to give to charity or volunteer? My feeling is that if you never start, you'll never be able to afford to. Donating or volunteering doesn't have to take over your life or deplete your bank account. For example, websites like Charityguide.org show ways for busy people to volunteer. Volunteermatch.org can email you when volunteering opportunities arise matching your interests and skills. Monetary donations are always appreciated, however small. Everybody wins in giving. It's good for the people who rely on charitable organizations, and it's good for your heart and soul. And dare I say it? If you don't care about that, do it because it's good for your business.
I'll leave the financial and tax details for you to discuss with your accountant, but charitable giving doesn't have to bleed you dry. Yes, you can mismanage it. You can fall into guilt giving and get burned out or go broke. But there's nothing wrong with allowing your business to have profits and thrive. The more you thrive, the more you have to give. And what you have to give is so needed.
Government support simply can't fill the immense needs out there. Support from private companies and individuals must make up the gap. That's us. We pay our taxes, sure, but what keeps this a somewhat civil society is that many choose to give more than they have to. Once the choice to give is made, the options are endless and you get to decide for yourself who or what to donate to.
I love that part! We all have different things that stir us, inspire us, anger us, and sadden us. Taxes go where taxes go. But your choice of giving goes where you want it to. It helps you take a stand and say "this is important to me and I'm going to do something about it."
I enjoy donating my time more than I enjoy being paid for my time, which says a lot because I love my work. But if I could afford to, I'd do it for free all the time. I love the families I've donated my time to. In their times of need, they show me how to appreciate one another, how to enjoy the little things, and they help me keep my world in perspective.
Donating my time fills me up. I never think it's enough, and I always wish I could do more, but it still fills me up. As much as I appreciate my paying clients too, I don't always get the same warm cozy feeling from them. So to make my paying work mean as much to me as the work I give away, I like to blend the two a little. Clients like to know they're contributing in some way, especially if it's money they'd have to spend anyway. Setting aside a portion of your proceeds for a charity that your clients will love knowing they supported not only makes the paid work more satisfying, it motivates and satisfies your clients and it helps promote goodwill in your community.
This brings me to my last attempt to get you to consider charitable giving in your business. Simply put, it's good for business. Goodwill and name recognition are so important, especially for small businesses trying to gain market share. Promotional campaigns involving charities can help you get free press. You can promote them on your blogs, in mailings, at public events, and get noticed by other entities that can further your exposure. You gain goodwill, name recognition, and a ton of people checking out what you have to offer. The charitable giving ends up paying for itself many times over.
Maybe it sounds crass to tell you to give because giving is good for business. It doesn't matter. I know many people who started their charitable giving with only their own interests in mind. Maybe a few still feel that way, and if so, they're missing out. But their beneficiaries benefit anyway, and so do they, at least financially. Most have become hooked though, because what they see happen with their time and money pleases their hearts.
So go find an organization that melts your heart, ask them what they need, give what you can, and thrive in more ways than you planned.
Lauri Baker
Lauri Baker Photography
info@lauribakerphotography.com
St. Louis, Missouri
www.lauribakerphotography.com
www.simplynewborn.com