PHILANTRHOPIC MARKETING AND THE IMPORTANCE OF CORPORATE REPUTATION

Everyone has encountered some sort of philanthropy in their life, whether it be full-blown charity galas or just rounding up your bill at checkout.  There are hundreds of ways to give back to the community on an individual level, but what is the best way to get your business involved in the community? 

The answer? Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Corporate Social Responsibility is “ a form of international private business self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature by engaging in or supporting volunteering or ethically oriented practices” (businessdaily.com). In other words, Corporate Social Responsibility comes from combining marketing and philanthropy into a single campaign for your business. You will be giving back to your community while also sharing your core values with potential clients.

WHY GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY?

Other than the obvious answer (to better your community), there are many reasons a business should give back to their community to impact their bottom line. 

• Better Brand Recognition: When engaging in corporate social responsibility, your clientele will shift due to the new ideas and opportunities each campaign brings. CSR will increase trust with your audience and help them understand that you are more like a persona than a business. People like to buy from people – not businesses! With this increased trust comes increased brand recognition, increased word of mouth, and finally, increased sales. 
• Positive Business Reputation: Corporate social responsibility can build a reputation of a responsible business, therefore giving you competitive advantage over businesses that aren’t participating in philanthropy. For example, after I learned about the shoe brand, Toms, and their “One for One” Campaign, anytime someone mentioned the brand I automatically thought of the fact that they donate a pair of shoes for every pair sold. Now, I never think of Toms just for their comfy shoes, their campaign is always in the back of my mind, too. When you start introducing CSR into your company, customers will feel better about spending money because they know it’s associated with giving back. Anytime someone is looking to buy a pair of shoes, they realize they’re doing more for the world when buying from Toms instead of a competitor. 
• Increases Profits: Customers pay attention to the way companies react to social issues. By showing your company cares, it will ultimately increase traffic and therefore profit. According to a Harvard Business School study, “Seventy-seven percent of consumers are motivated to purchase from companies committed to making the world a better place.”
• Encouragement of professional and personal growth: By engaging in corporate social responsibility, you, as well as your employees will be exposed to the idea of philanthropy and likely be more interested and involved in the idea of giving back in the future. When you see the impact you are making on other communities, it gives you a sense of purpose. It’s the same as any business project, the more effort and preparation you put into it, the more satisfied you are in the end. The same goes for giving back. The more involved an employee is in your CSR campaign, the more they will feel when it’s complete. This will hopefully make them more inclined to implement philanthropy in their daily lives.

You’ve seen hundreds of examples of this from your favorite brands – 

• Patagonia: Patagonia may be one of the companies that is most widely known for CSR, with multiple campaigns under their belt. One of their ongoing campaigns is “1% for the Planet.” They started this campaign in 1985, giving 1% of sales to preservation and restoration of the environment because of their concern with the environmental impacts from the industry. Since the beginning of the campaign, they have raised over $140 million dollars, and this number will continue to grow. 
• Coca-Cola: Coca-Cola launched a campaign in 2018 that focuses on sustainability, their message being “a world without waste.” The company plans to collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one they sell within the next year. They understand their impact on the plastic crisis and know their duty in making the environment cleaner. They have vowed to make all of their packaging recyclable by 2025, use 50% recycled material in their packaging by 2030, and have at least 25% of their drinks sold in refillable and/or returnable packaging by 2030. 
• Netflix: Netflix focuses some of their community giving on their employees, giving parents 52 paid weeks of parental leave to birth parents and non-birth parents. Employees are able to choose how often they want to work within the 12 months following the birth or adoption of a child. Netflix created this policy to give flexibility and the ability to create a work-life balance in this new chapter of their lives. This gives families an opportunity to take care of their children without having any financial burden. By giving this option to employees, it can improve the mental health of new parents, improve the relationship between employer and employee and build trust within the company. 
• Kraft-Heinz: Kraft created a campaign called “Huddle to Fight Hunger” which involved the company donating a meal’s worth of money to local food pantries each time someone liked their Facebook post. This has since evolved into a long-standing partnership between Kraft and Rise Against Hunger through supporting individuals nationwide, holding annual food packaging events, and donating over $2.5 million to fund meals for food banks. 

If you feel the desire to get involved in CSR, let’s talk about how to start…  

HOW TO GET STARTED WITH CSR

Step One: Define Your Company Core Values & Educate Your Community 

Start by dipping your clients’ toes in the water – show them what you are about and which values you hold true to during every touch of their customer journey. Your values don’t need to directly relate to philanthropy at first, it’s just a way of showing your clients that they mean more to you than the checks you receive after each product you sell. 

At Nolia Roots, we constantly remind our audience and clients about our core values through our website, social media, and the language we use when communicating.  On our website, for example, we have our six core values right on our about page. 

When you incorporate your values in your language, marketing materials, and overall attitude, you attract other businesses and strategic partners that align with those same values – building an even more healthy professional ecosystem.

There are many other ways to show your values other than simply putting them on your social media or website. Try going a step further – this could be anything from reposting an Instagram Story of a non-profit you align with to including a fundraising link at the bottom of your email marketing campaign for an effort you support. 

Step Two: Show Social Proof 

Once you have educated your audience on what kinds of topics you are passionate about, it is time to dive a little deeper into the philanthropy world. Cause-marketing campaigns are a great way to combine your passion with business. 

Well, what is a cause-marketing campaign? 

Cause-marketing campaigns are a collaboration between a non-profit business and a for-profit business. Think of a boutique working with a place like the Salvation Army or a women’s shelter. 

For companies that aren’t selling products, like Nolia Roots, it may seem harder to find an easy way to give back to a non-profit, but there are plenty of options to choose from. 

Some easy ideas that impact the community positively: 

• A percentage of sales going back to your choice of charity.
• Volunteer time off: give your employees time off from work to volunteer (this works as a great team-building opportunity as well!)
• Cover employee donations: just as you set aside money for employee bonuses, set aside money for employees to donate to a charity of their choice. 

Once you have decided what cause-marketing campaign you want to do, scream it from the rooftops! Include your followers in it, make it a competition between co-workers, and do anything in your power to get this campaign to grow as large as it possibly can. While you may be using this as a marketing technique, you are also doing good things for the world. 

Step Three: The Rest Comes Naturally

When you start showing up for the community, they start showing up for you. Your clients and followers will notice you giving back, and that will make them want to work with you more. 

Now it’s up to you to get started! Where do you want to make an impact? Comment below!