From NBC News this morning:
“A new report finds charitable giving dropped by 11% last year because of the recession. That is said to be the worst decline in at least twenty years.”
While it’s no surprise that personal donations dropped as households tightened their belts and jobs became scarce, the reality is that another (often taken for granted) donor pipeline is over-stressed: locally owned, independent, brick and mortar businesses.
Do they want to continue helping out? Sure they do–assuming, of course, the non-profit asking for support is, in turn, supporting the merchant.
Independent business owners have long been frustrated by “handouts hutzpah”—non-profit volunteers asking for everything from cash to silent auction items in spite of the fact they don’t do business with that merchant. Faced with the awkward choice between saying “Gee, I’ve never seen you so why should I hand you $250 worth of product?” versus giving in, in hopes a potential customer will notice the business did a nice thing, most small business owners feel painted into a corner with a lose/lose proposition staring them in the eye.
Complicating things further, there’s a misconception on the part of consumers when big boxes are factored in. “Cause marketing,” a relatively new twist using non-profit donations to bolster a company’s image, has garnered major buzz in the corporate world. As a result, nearly every big box out there is donating to one non-profit or another…typically a non-profit that has a national presence. Does the additional funding do good work? Of course–for the giant charities. If, however, you’re part of a smaller organization, are a locally based non-profit, or part of one that only extends to a limited region, odds are good that you’re not on the big box radar.
Local non-profits need small business to stay in business or an inordinate amount of their funding dries up.
Local businesses need non-profit volunteers to support them or their revenue dries up…and with it goes the donations.
This is a two-way street, folks. If you’re part of a non-profit looking for merchant giving, be sure you’re sending someone through the door that the owner will recognize, if not by name, by appearance…and make sure it’s someone who’s been spending money there on a regular basis (not just the two weeks before handout time).
Otherwise, prepare to hear bad news. In today’s world, keeping a community healthy–financially, and in terms of good works–is a whole team proposition.
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Great article. Just wrote a similar article last month in our local publication about supporting local businesses. In part, it read – We ask a lot from our small business owners and most are more than willing to support our community. I think every booster organization, social club, school and church is fundraising these days and seeking support from our local businesses. We know we can count on our local businesses to give to our organizations, but please remember to give back to theam as well. Shop their stores, eat in their restaurants and make sure to refer your chiropractor, tax accountant, stylist and others to your friends and family who may be traveling our of the area for these services.
In my article, I also shared with folks the link to the 3/50 project and the statistic about spending $100 locally.
Keep up the great job!
One way local businesses can work with local charities is to do some cause marketing of their own. With some of my charities I tie my donations into the amount of business they give me. I set up a special day just for them and ask them to promote it to their base to shop with me that day. Then I donate 5% of whatever their base spends with us that day towards their charity.
This turns donations into a win/win/win. I win because I get them to promote my business to their people and I get a fixed return on my donation. They win because they get more than I would usually donate (a $20 gift certificate). Their base wins because they help the charity get money without giving their own, just changing where they might spend the money they were already planning to spend.
That kind of “hand in hand” fund raising really does work—we had an annual program quite similar to what you describe, which was wonderfully successful over the years. In the end, it has to be a two way proposition, not just a donation in hopes it might-might-might get your name noticed. There’s too much drain on everyone’s budget—small businesses and non-profits—to risk a one-way flow these days.