4 Ways Your Small Business Can Give Back to Local Nonprofits

As an entrepreneur, investing in your local community is a direct investment in your own success. When your small business gives back, it establishes a positive cycle of neighborhood growth, brand loyalty, and shared prosperity. 

One of the best ways for your business to make an impact is to partner with local nonprofits. Because these organizations already have the expertise and established programs to carry out mission-driven work, joining them makes your own efforts go further. In this article, we’ll explore five ideas for how your business can help local nonprofits. 

1. Sell cause-themed merchandise

Design custom merch, which could be t-shirts, tote bags, or tumblers, that features a partner nonprofit or cause you’re passionate about. You can stock the items at checkout or feature them on social media if you don’t have a brick-and-mortar location. 

Bonfire’s guide to custom merch highlights four key benefits for your business and your nonprofit partner:

• Additional revenue stream. Donate the profits from merch sales to your partner nonprofit, providing them with additional revenue for their annual fund. This direct support means the nonprofit’s team can invest more time and energy into their mission.

• Better brand awareness. Not only do you expose your nonprofit partner to your customer base (who may not have encountered the organization before), but you also spread the word with every item you sell.

• Stronger supporter connections. Wearing a nonprofit’s logo builds recognition and affinity for the cause, and you’re giving your customers an opportunity to support their community. 

• Cost-effective marketing. Your small business can offer financial support to the nonprofit and give them a leg up on marketing without spending anything extra!

As you explore this opportunity with your partner nonprofit, determine what type of branding best supports your efforts. You can sell merch that’s only branded to the nonprofit, agnostically branded to an overall cause, or a co-promotional item that includes your business’s brand. 

2. Launch a co-promotional campaign

While your business may not be able to make a financial donation to a cause this season, your brand itself is an asset you can use for good. Working with a nonprofit to share positive messaging that furthers their mission lets you share audiences and cross-pollinate your marketing efforts.

A few co-promotional campaign ideas include: 

• Affinity month recognition: To honor special months like Black History Month in February or Women’s History Month in March, consider sending out a newsletter about a  relevant local charity.

• Special events: Host a special event honoring the work your partner is doing. For example, a bookstore might hold a signing for a book relevant to a partner nonprofit’s work, where the nonprofit's executive director interviews the author. To make event volunteers easily recognizable, outfit everyone with co-branded t-shirts. 

The co-promotional campaign should strike a middle ground between your two brands, so the messaging feels cohesive for both audiences.

3. Host a donation drive

Structured drives are highly effective for collecting urgently needed items, food, or funds for a specific cause. Here are a few ideas for boosting the energy around your donation drive:

• Offer discounts on your business’s goods or services when customers bring in an item for the drive

• Start a (friendly) competition with another local business to see which can collect the most items

• Give donors one raffle ticket per item for the chance to win a special prize

To capitalize on the energy you build, reduce potential friction in the donation process by placing collection bins next to your checkout registers. 

4. Start a corporate giving program

Your business’s philanthropic efforts don’t have to be only outward-facing. Invite your employees to participate in giving back by offering generous corporate giving programs. 

Consider implementing these supportive workplace policies:

• Volunteer Time Off (VTO) is a form of time off reserved specifically for volunteering and allows staff members to actively contribute to causes they care about during regular work hours.

• Dollars for doers or volunteer grants, which Uncommon Giving explains is when businesses encourage “employee volunteerism by matching the hours they contribute to nonprofits with financial donations.”

• Matching gift programs increase an individual employee’s gift donation, because the company matches with its own gift to the organization.  

Encourage employees to participate in these programs and lead by example by blocking off your calendar to go volunteer with a local animal shelter. 

Any level of community support makes a difference, whether you start small with an in-store donation collection bin, launch a dedicated fundraiser, or establish a long-running partnership. No matter what you choose, the most important thing is to listen to your nonprofit partner and be prepared with the creative solutions only you can bring to the table.