We hear it every day in the world of the internet – how are you creating value online? Are you participating in conversations on Twitter? Are you engaging with the internet community by commenting on other blogs? Are you participating?
Participation is important, but you shouldn’t stop there. If you are actively trying to run a business, any business, you should have a “giveback”; basically something that helps out other people, for no other reason than just to help. Mine is a blog on freelance writing jobs that pays me the princely sum of $100.00 every few months through Google ads, and will likely never pay more than that. Yes, I am toiling at it for about $1.00 an hour, but it helps people. And it makes me a solid, trusted member of writing communities that I will never sell my services to.
I could go on about karma and all of that hippie stuff, but in the end it comes down to this – the more you put out, the more you get back. Doesn’t matter what it is – if you are donating even a fraction of your profits to organizations like kiva.org, or volunteering at a local senior’s home or food bank, you’re giving back. If you have employees, take an afternoon off once a month and volunteer together as a team for a team-building exercise that beats the pants off of paintball.
If I am donating money as a private individual, I ask for it to be done anonymously. There are two reasons for this – one, I don’t want to end up on any donor lists. My VOIP phone number is happily not present on any phone directories that telemarketers can get their paws on – yet – I’m sure the day will come. Secondly, I don’t want to be named. True charity has no name.
However, if you are donating time and/or money on behalf of a business, certainly make a note of it in your marketing. People like me who recognize the community value of givebacks will give you props and have more trust in your business as a result. The era of faceless corporations is done, and everything is just a little more personal now in the world of business.
How can you get started? One, pick a charity or local community effort. Political parties are great to support as a private individual, but as a business you risk turning off half of your customers. Secondly, commit to an amount that you know you can manage. If 1% of profits is all you can definitively promise, that is fine. Anything is better than nothing. Thirdly, make sure that you are tastefully mentioning your efforts rather than full-on advertising them. If you are going too far with advertising charity donations it looks disingenuous.
Start slowly, and you may find that your cause becomes your passion, and your business and team become better for it.
