It has been small charity week this week. The idea was to raise more awareness of small charities, as they are missing out on donations because we simply just don’t know that they exist.
The Foundation for Social Improvement has organised a number of events throughout the week to give small charities the opportunity to shout about why they love their charity and why you should be supporting them. This includes big advice, policy, fundraising and volunteering days to get involved in.
Back in April NCVO found that during 2013/2014, whilst income of large charities grew, the income of small and medium-sized charities actually decreased in real terms. It is clearly a worry that the gap between the larger and smaller charities is growing, demonstrating the need for small charities to raise their profile. In fact, a survey by ComRes found that more than half of the 301 charities that they interviewed with incomes of less than £200,000 felt that other than funding, greater awareness of their charity would be the biggest help.
Unfortunately, small charities do not have the resources that the large charities do, but have you thought of teaming up with a local business to have your voice heard?
Collaborative-marketing for Small Charities
Many businesses have a Corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme, which could be for personal reasons, their public image, recruiting/retaining staff, reducing their tax bill and so on. However, some businesses still do not have a CSR programme and do not work closely with charities. As a small charity you should be seeking out those companies and propositioning them. The relationship doesn’t have to cost you or the business money, just your time.
Although British businesses tend to be extremely generous when it comes to charity, it would be good to initially proposition them with something that won’t cost them much, if anything. Allowing you to utilise their business network with collaborative-marketing is a great way to do this. The business could include you in any direct mail via newsletters, leaflets, email marketing or even just their email footer. Including you on their website, social media and allowing you to guest blog is also a great low-cost/free form of collaborative-marketing.
Joint events can be costly, but including you in any events that the business already hold throughout the year isn’t. This could be having you as a guest speaker and handing out your marketing material or having a donation box at the event.
To help resolve small charity resource issues, businesses can temporarily transfer their employees to you whilst deducting their costs and business expenses as usual. This could in return help the business with motivating staff.
If the business is feeling generous, you could work out a collaborative-giving scheme. An example of this is the Argos toy exchange, where they gave their customers a £5 voucher to be spent at Argos for every pre-loved toy they donated to Barnardo’s. Similarly, H&M give their customers a £5 voucher for every bag of clothes they donate as part of their sustainability policy. You could try this or the business could give a percentage of their profits on a product to your charity, which has proven popular in the past.
Whichever way you do it; you could find benefit in the relationship for both parties.
Getting the attention local business
Now you are probably thinking how will I find a business willing to do it aren’t you? CSR programmes/charity efforts are usually advertised on the website of the business or in the local papers, so do a bit of research and enquire. You may have more success when contacting a business that compliments your charity i.e. a global warming charity contacting an engineering firm with concerns about their global footprint. You could also advertise your need for a business to partner with on social media, which is often very welcoming of charities.
Alternatively, may we suggest contacting your local chamber to see what they offer charities? We are members of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce and they offer charities membership at a discounted rate. Other chambers may offer free membership. In addition to this they often allow charities to exhibit at events for free, for example our chamber held a free CSR event for charities to get themselves in front of businesses. Therefore, if you need the support from local businesses this is definitely an avenue you should be considering.
Thankfully, the UK is becoming a ‘share economy’ and this is something that small charities should be taking advantage of to start competing with the large charities, as we certainly need them!
