Charity | Mass Markets

Charity and Fundraising Opportunities

Business is all about profit. But karma suggests that the more you make, the more it behooves you to give back to the community. Giving to charities isn’t simply about writing a check. Time and your business expertise are priceless gifts that only you can give.

It is often your specific business acumen that can exponentially increase your charitable gift. It is often those in the private sector that enable charities to gain advantages beyond what they could normally accomplish.

Fundraising for charities is often left to volunteers who may have the time, but not the experience in raising money. By involving your business in fundraising, you can bring a holistic approach and treat the effort in the same way you’d treat any project. You can provide a new a level of research, planning and ultimately a significant return on investment.

Instead of purchasing a generic “fundraiser in a box” and hoping for the best, a business expert can look for the best method to meet the set fundraising goal. Historically casino type gaming fundraisers have been top money makers at charity events. By doing basic research it is easy to find a gaming site that offers a casino bonus and give more opportunities for charities and fundraiser attendees to play and win for a smaller initial investment. More play equals more fun. Happy fundraising attendees give more today and are more likely to support the charity in the future.

By offering expertise in addition to money, you can increase your charitable contributions. Build valuable networks, and add to your karma bank.

Filed Under: Charity

How Your Business Can Support Charities

In today’s economy, you may not think your business can afford to give back to the community. However, it’s companies who support charity that achieve the right kind of lasting impression on customers. Marketing for a cause can be beneficial to you, as well as your charity of choice. Try a mail campaign that not only raises funds for a charity, but also puts your business in the minds of customers in a positive way.

Create a campaign where you mail postcards to your company’s mailing list. On the front of the card, announce that you’re asking your customers to help you raise money for an area charity. On the back of the postcard, place a web address that directs the customer to a donation site. Ask the customer to go to that site and make a donation. If possible, make sure that destination site is part of your company website. As the customer is making the donation, they’ll be connecting it with your business’s good name.

Another way to reach out is to simply host a benefit. How about an open house at your office where you serve refreshments? Ask customers to come by and make a donation to a specified charity. Again, postcards make a great way to advertise the event. If the front is the invitation, include information on the back on how to make an online donation for those who can’t attend the open house. Businesses that are active in this way tend to build a very loyal customer base. With minimal expense, you can turn your goodwill into good business.

Filed Under: Business, Charity Tagged With: Business, Charitable organization, Donation

What Does Charity Really Mean?

Image via Wikipedia

There are a lot of different opinions about what a charity really is in our society. For some people, it is nothing more than a hand out that some people give others, often for no other reason than guilt. For others, a charity is a passion, and a chance to give other people a better chance than their forebears had in life. The opinion you have about what charity really means says a lot about you.

For many people, charity seems to accomplish very little. To them, the entire idea of giving money to a company designed not to make a profit sounds as absurd as throwing that same money into a well and making a wish. For them, charities are a waste of time, and do little more good than providing jobs for people who might not be able to make it in any other line of work. Needless to say, these types of people tend to be very bitter, both about giving to their fellow human beings and about life itself.

By contrast, the people who tend to be the most generous toward charities are the types who tend to be the happiest. There is even proof that giving makes people happier. The act of giving to someone else, whether that person is a family member, a friend or even a stranger who is in need, actually triggers chemicals to activate in one’s brain that cause a feeling of happiness in the person doing the giving. This is one possible explanation for the old idea of karma, and how giving to others tends to result in the greatest happiness.

Filed Under: Charity Tagged With: Charitable organization, Charity, Donation

Business and Charity

Owning a successful business can be difficult in today’s society, but it is possible. For those of us who run a successful business, we know that simply running it is not what makes it successful, it is what our client base thinks of us. When you own a small or large business, everything about the business is made available for public viewing. There is no better way to increase our credibility and profits is to sponsor or donate to, charitable organizations.

Our image as business owners is an imperative application to success. If we have the money, donating to a charity can essentially lift our public image and the amount of public trust. This in turn creates more business, which in turn creates more profits. Another way donating to a charity can help with the bottom line is the tax write off we receive at the end of the year.

Donating to a charity is not only morally satisfying, but also can help increase profits, credibility and business in general. You can make your charitable contributions available on your website and even write press releases to send to the media. This may seem like you are exploiting the opportunity, but there is nothing wrong with that. You can still donate to a charity and publicize it, without losing out on your feelings of morality, or your expected return on the bottom line. So if you own a successful business and want a boost, donating to a charity can increase your profits by helping to gain public appreciation.

Filed Under: Business, Charity Tagged With: Business, Charitable organization, Donation

Representing Charitable Organizations: Personal Morality and Credibility

Working for a charitable organization is an excellent way to boost your resume as well as make you feel good as a person. There are many ways to donate to a charitable organization. You can donate money, goods and time. Time is one form of donation that is personally rewarding. When deciding to represent a charitable organization, there are many things to consider.

First you must decide which charity to represent. This should be a charity tha you are passionate about. This ensures that you will represent this organization with a certain amount of passion.
Take a look at your personal and professional background. If you are someone who has been in legal trouble in the past, this could lead to discrediting of the charitable organization later down the line. For example, if you are representing an organization that helps children find forever homes, and you were once in trouble for child abuse of any sort, the charities reputation could be on the line if anyone questions the history of those representing it.
Representing a charity requires dedication and time. If you fail to perform your tasks properly, again the reputation of the charity can be in question.

We do not want to discredit a charitable organization. They work towards the bettering of the world and if we discredit them in any way, intentionally or not, this reflects on you and the human race. So when choosing to represent a charitable organization, make sure you are a good fit for the organization and make sure that you have the time to dedicate to the organization.

Filed Under: Charity Tagged With: Charitable organization, Child abuse, Donation

Make Charitable Donations

As a business, you may find that you want to write off some things on your taxes. One great way to get some tax write offs is to donate to charities. These contributions are tax deductible, so you will be able to write them off at the end of the year. There are a few things to keep in mind, though.

1) Make sure the charity has tax deduction status. There are many charities out there, but they are not all registered with the IRS to have a tax-deductible status. If you donate a car to Kars for Kids, you will be able to write off the car as a tax deduction. Just make sure you check into the charity beforehand.

2) Keep records! If you are claiming more than $250, you will have to have a receipt. If you have donated less than this, you can use a bank statement or a check stub.

3) Remember that if you are donating a service or your time, this is not tax deductible. Only money or goods can be deducted.

4) Consult with a tax professional. This is the best way to make sure that you have claimed everything correctly, and that you won’t run into issues with the IRS in the future. Claiming charitable donation for a

Filed Under: Charity Tagged With: Charitable organization

Advertising on Buses

In the wake of all the budget cuts facing local municipalities and schools today some districts here in Central Jersey have come up with an excellent new source for revenue: allowing advertising on the sides of school buses. For a small fee your business can advertise itself on a rolling billboard that constantly moves about town. This is an excellent idea, especially if your business targets kids or people who have kids. Additionally, it is much less expensive than print or radio advertising

This is such a good idea that I think that school districts should work to expand it. Advertising should also be allowed on athletic fields and on the walls of the school gymnasium and cafeteria. The only restriction should be that the product being advertised is appropriate for school. The money raised by this advertising can be used to defer the cost of paying for books, utilities and even employee salaries. If it can save just a few people from getting laid off then it is certainly worth it.

School functions and fundraisers can also be advertised in this manner as well. Many parents automatically throw away half the fliers their kids bring home. This would be just one more way of reaching them. By advertising on a school bus you can reach out to the community as a whole. This would be a way of upping attendance and participation at school bake sales, clothing drives and even sporting events. And you know all the candidates will be using the buses to advertise come board election time.

Filed Under: Charity, Marketing Tagged With: Bus, Central Jersey, School bus

The School Fundraiser

Let’s face it. We all want to help our kids. We all want to help your kids too. Who amongst us would ever even admit for not being all for education. Schools are in constant need of new books, musical supplies and field trips. Nobody wants to say no to these things for our children, except when it comes to participating in the latest school fundraiser.

I don’t know what your neighborhood is like, but in my neighborhood we are bombarded from September to June by constant requests to dig deeper and give more. There are bake sales, holiday boutiques and clothing drives just to name a few. At my sons middle school the school dances correspond to canned food drives. You must bring in a certain number of cans to get tickets to play any of the games. There’s a Pennies for Patients drive too where everybody is supposed to bring in their spare change to donate to cancer research. The homeroom that brings in the largest amount of money gets a pizza party.

The kids are usually very motivated to bring in the money but it’s usually us adults that end up doing all the work. Frankly, I’m finding it not only financially depleting but also downright exhausting. Many a PTA member has hung in the towel due to just too much, or too aggressive, fundraising. Half of the time, I’m not even sure that all of these fundraisers are even legit. As a parent, I ask you, is there any way to just cut it down at least a little bit?

Filed Under: Charity Tagged With: Fundraiser, Middle school, Parent-Teacher Association

Ways Businesses get Employees Interested in Charities

One thing that charities need more than anything are volunteers and supporters. Representatives from charitable organizations scour near and far to recruit people to help join their cause. But getting the necessary number of volunteers, or any at all, is a tall task for any charity.

On the flip side, one thing that businesses tend to have plenty of is people, and some of those businesses are looking for ways to project a community-conscious image. The mutual interests of charities and businesses have led to creative ways in which businesses get their employees engaged in humanitarian causes.

Support One of Their Own

People are more likely to support a cause if it affects someone close to them. When one of their employees falls victim to tragic circumstances, businesses and their employees rally to provide support. By working with a charity in that cause, employees spread their empathy to others.

Collect Donations

A simple way for businesses to support a cause is to collect non-perishable donations right in the workplace, no matter if it’s an office or factory. Just by placing a box for employees to drop things like canned goods or winter clothing adds up to a considerable donation. Businesses can even turn it into a competition between branches to see who can collect the most.

Reward Volunteering

Businesses are in great position to spur employees to volunteer in the community by offering rewards. They can range from paid days off to gift cards or even prime parking outside the office.

Community Service Field Trips

A more direct approach for businesses to introduce community volunteering to their employees is to take them on a field trip to work hands-on with a charity. This exposes employees to a good cause, which could turn into a life-long effort for some.

Businesses and charities have plenty to offer each other.

Filed Under: Business, Charity Tagged With: Charitable organization, Donation

Preparing for A Community Auction for a Non-Profit Organization

A popular way to raise money for non-profit organizations or community events is to hold a community auction. With the right amount of planning and aided by the right donations, community auctions can raise a lot of money for the non-profit organizations. The best part is that since you are seeking donations you don’t have to pay for the gifts that you are auctioning off and can increase the money you raise for the non-profit organization.

The key to having and hosting a successful community auction for a non-profit organization is to make sure that you get the best donations that you can. You want to have a wide range of items from small to large. You will also want to cover all the bases, or as many as you can, by offering a wide range of products and items to bid on. This will allow you to maximize your profits because you are appealing to the widest possible audience.

Some great examples of donations include smaller items like gift cards, gift baskets, tickets to sporting event and even small products. The larger items can include cars, trips, getaways, autographed items, custom poker tables and even tours of local facilities.

A great way to get donations is to ask around at local stores and companies. Many local companies will offer their products and services for local charity events. It is a great way to get publicity and it looks good for the company too!

While donations are a great way to bring in money as the people attending the event are eager to bid on the items, another great way to get money for your non-profit organization is by selling refreshments. Many auctions will sell baked goods or food at a decent price. All the profits go directly to the non-profit organization.

Filed Under: Business, Charity Tagged With: Auction, Donation, Non-profit organization