End-of-Year Giving Opportunities Abound

At the end of each year, businesses spend time taking stock of their company, their community and their employees. It is also traditionally a time when companies chart a course for the company’s future, spend time on charitable giving, or focus on re-investing in company morale.

What you do at the end of the year can be put you on the right footing so that you exit the holidays and enter the new year with a renewed energy, enthusiasm and focus.

Here are five steps businesses can take this holiday season to give back to their employees and their community in a way that goes beyond cutting a donation check.

Establish a scholarship fund

Build a long-lasting relationship with your local school district or university by establishing a scholarship fund in your company’s name this holiday season.

Companies in technical fields or specialized services can use this opportunity to fund a scholarship in their field of specialty that will provide long-lasting connections with upcoming graduates interested in your company’s industry. The investment in education is a targeted way to give back to students who represent the next generation of innovators in your field.

Volunteer as a company

Co-workers often only interact within the bubble of the office world, and that can cause relationships and potential collaboration to suffer. Get out of the office and do something charitable at the same time by volunteering as a company at a local food bank, soup kitchen or youth organization.

You’ll be amazed at the positive interaction employees have once they get out of the office. And they will be energized and encouraged by an opportunity to give back to their community as a team.

Adopt a family

The personal connection of adopting a family for the holidays is something that you cannot get by simply writing a check. This is not a business exercise or team-building effort, it is giving back to your community, pure and simple.

But giving should instill empathy in the giver and that empathy is something you want from your employees. If you have a choice between cutting a check or making a personal gift to a specific family this holiday, choose the personal gift. It will make a difference to your employees, your company culture and it will connect you with a family who will deeply appreciate your giving.

Match employee donations

If you want to reward initiative and encourage your employees to become involved in the causes they believe in, consider matching your employees’ donations to charities and nonprofits or paying them for a certain number of hours volunteering each month or each year.

This giving strategy will connect your employees and your company to a wide range of causes throughout the community, and build employee morale. And the ground-up rather than top-down approach will breed a company buy-in and employee ownership of the volunteer program that will be hard to match with simple donations.

via Business 2 Community http://www.business2community.com/social-business/end-year-giving-opportunities-abound-0692935?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=end-year-giving-opportunities-abound