• Many small businesses give back to their local communities in various forms and take part in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. 
• Partnering with a charity is an amazing opportunity to grow with another organization and help each other thrive. It can also increase brand awareness and offer great networking potential. 
• In this article, we look at the benefits of partnering with charitable organisations and how you can identify and partner with the right charity for your business. 

It is better to go for partnerships in today's competitive environment when either starting a new business or collaborating for growth. Going alone may not be the best strategy, which is reflected in the famous proverb, "Two heads are better than one."

For scaling up a business, one can create internal partnerships between departments, colleagues, or externally form larger tie-ups with firms. Creating synergy is the goal when the abilities and strengths of two organizations align.

When scaling high is crucial to business growth, many businesses merge or acquire one another. Acquisitions and mergers are the primary motives of companies to drive growth once they have grown organically on their own from the very beginning of their venture. Moreover, customers nowadays look for innovations and better service delivery.

The Importance of Strategic Partnerships 

Strategic partnerships help businesses, employees, customers, and society at every level. Businesses benefit by increasing their footprints and brand relevance in the addressable market.

Employees gain by getting exposure to new expertise and perspectives. Business alignment and growth in size helps in increasing the probability and longevity. Strategic partnerships help businesses, employees, customers, and society at every level.

Businesses benefit by increasing their footprints and brand relevance in the addressable market. Employees gain by getting exposure to new expertise and perspectives. Business alignment and growth in size helps in increasing the probability and longevity.  

While it is relatively common for large organizations to collaborate purely from the profitability angle, there is a new front where collaborations occur. Large organizations are bound by the government rules to compulsorily participate in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and earmark a specific portion of their profits towards a charitable cause. 

Why Small Businesses Are Partnering with Charities 

Nowadays, small businesses are also tying up with charities in increasing numbers. It may seem slightly odd seeing small businesses partnering with charities as the initial objective is to earn profits and grow first. The first impression about charities is that they only take in and aren't looking to expand outside of that concept. And for businesses, associating with a charitable institution means giving only with no expectations of any returns whatsoever.  

For a small business, sales are critical, and revenue growth is the only way to stand up to big players in the industry. To an outsider, it may appear counterproductive to partner with a charitable organization. But looking deeper into this whole exercise, one will see many hidden benefits. 

It helps when a business supports a cause they believe in and if their customers also have the same thought process. And with more companies having a presence on social media, this also helps with new business partnerships and opportunities.

The partnering of like-minded entities helps to increase networking with new potential customers and increase marketing opportunities. It builds a better brand image with the public. 

The Benefits of Partnering with Charities 

Apart from building brand image and increasing brand awareness, collaborating with charities helps reach a new segment of customers. Some of the ways in which small businesses can benefit from partnering with charitable organizations include:

1. Increase brand awareness
2. Gain a potential marketing partner
3. Aligning with the right partner has long-term benefits
4. Unlock new opportunities 

1. Increase Brand Awareness

Small business, by its very definition, means not very well known and lacking in brand awareness. Even if they have a good and profitable business model, they are not known at a more significant level. For them, partnering with a Charity that themselves are well known because of their social activities helps them get recognition in broader and new markets.

One way to increase awareness is to update the business website mentioning the collaboration with a particular charity and mention the donations or philanthropic activities undertaken. The charities likewise can do this on their forums, websites, or advertisements recognizing the support.

2. Gain a Potential Marketing Partner

Charities, in their small way, can be a great channel partner for small businesses. When a company declares that a certain portion of the sale proceeds will go to a particular charity, it will help market the products or services in question.

Charities usually have their base of supporters, well-wishers, and volunteers in large numbers. And in the case of an organization like WE Charity, they already have an online social following of more than four million fans and followers across Facebook, IG, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

The marketing campaigns involving the charity means that the people associated with charities become customers and helps to increase sales which can be pretty substantial. If one looks at the increase in sales, it will be cost-effective or nil marketing expenses generating huge returns.

3. Aligning with the Right Partner Has Long-Term Benefits

It is more critical to partner with the right one than with a big-sized charity. If the business products do not align with a big charity mindset, then it is futile. Getting to understand the cause in which the charity operates and then seeing if the business's products can be a niche product for the charity members is worthwhile.

A survey reported that 92% of the companies feel that brand alignment with charitable organizations is more important than the size of the charity.

4. Unlock New Opportunities 

Small businesses get the opportunity to reach out to new customers when they attend charitable events and meetings. The scope for networking is enormous as these events open contacts with potential customers and potential business partners that can be beneficial for the company.

Depending on one's business type and community, networking arising from charitable events can significantly contribute to one's business revenue share. 

The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of Small Businesses

Small businesses are known to give back to their communities in various forms, such as creating employment opportunities at the local level, creating business opportunities for vendors and suppliers, etc. 

Charity is a separate vertical altogether where small business helps for the cause they believe in and do not expect any return. However, these efforts do create tangible returns to business indirectly. Charities are aware at their end, and they help give back to the small business with their infrastructure. 

How to Identify and Partner with a Charity

Small businesses should look for charities locally while also considering their options through online directories and charity lists. Businesses and brands can identify on their own or even involve their employees to suggest needy and eligible charities.

Local charities can be a better option to collaborate and partner. It helps both the entities in terms of the actual help and the awareness.

Donating at charity events can create visibility for the business. Another innovative way would be to donate a percentage of every sale and letting the customer choose from the couple of charities the business had partnered with. This way, customers can also get a sense of involvement towards the charity funded from their purchase and motivates them to be repeat customers.     

Takeaways

The opportunities in partnering with charities are not only focused on increasing awareness, sales, or donations; it's also about growing with another organization and seeing how the two groups can continually help each other year after year.

When done creatively, it connects with the community, increases networking opportunities, and increases small business brand awareness.

And with the internet and social media making us all more connected than ever before, it's quite marvellous what can be done with a bit of time, effort, and outreach.

Editor's Note:

Thanks for reading our article from Zac Johnson. We hope it's opened your eyes to some of the unexpected benefits of aligning your small business with a charity. Members at SavvySME have a few additional questions on this subject, so we've helped respond to some of these FAQs below.