By Todd Thomas
Just My E-pinion
In this era of tight finances, Todd Thomas suggests that a little creativity will allow you to maintain corporate charitable contributions and management training retreats on a zero-dollar budget. (You might have to buy lunch.)
Most organizations are finding they have to cut back on “non-essentials” like charitable giving and management training retreats. That’s both a bad idea and unnecessary, says Thomas, who is founder of IMPACT Consulting and Development, LLC, of Troy, Michigan.
Is Philanthropic Involvement Important?
First of all, says Thomas, businesses must ask the question, “Do corporate contributions make a difference?” The answer is “Yes,” he says. He quotes a Junior Achievement Worldwide 2009 Summary Report that says “Research shows there is a direct correlation between active community outreach programs with increased revenues and customer loyalty for businesses that engage in helping their communities.”
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So, says Thomas, philanthropic participation is not only worth it, “it’s more necessary than ever. Tough economies drive short-term decisions, which ultimately have long-term consequences,” he says. “The question here is: How do we keep up with donations without going broke?”
Meanwhile, How About Management Training?
In tough economic times, businesses are also cutting back on expenditures not directly necessary to the survival of their business, like management training seminars. But, in the long term, that’s not a good idea either. Fortunately, Thomas has an elegant solution.
Elegant Solution: Blending Management Training with Nontraditional Donations
Thomas suggests that an emerging corporate trend blends social responsibility programs with employee training seminars. This is the new, “post-recession” way to offset the costs of community support and train your employees at the same time, cutting out expensive corporate seminars, he says.
“It’s critical to a business’ bottom line to continue training their employees, and now there’s a way to do it through charitable donation programs,” Thomas says.
“By creatively combining the desire to be socially responsible with the need to develop leaders, companies can achieve both objectives at once,” he says.
Create leadership development activities that are tied to social responsibility, Thomas says, and you can provide a unique opportunity for meeting development needs and supporting the community at a fraction of the usual cost. “It’s a win-win for everyone.”
For example, Thomas explains, let’s say you usually take a leadership team to a 2-day retreat. You can still do that, except, rather than doing the traditional exercises that everyone is familiar with (role-playing, building a tower, etc.), partner with a nonprofit organization to do something “real” on their behalf. (How about Habitat for Humanity®? A local soup kitchen? A neighborhood cleanup?)
“Simulate the workshop activities through real world tasks benefitting a nonprofit in your community,” he says.
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“Tough times call for ingenuity, and this is exactly what companies are doing. Nontraditional philanthropy provides a unique opportunity to meet development needs while supporting the community at a fraction of the cost of the past,” Thomas concludes.
How about your company? Do you have any creative plans for getting by on a miniscule or nonexistent budget? Let us know and we’ll share your ideas in a future issue. Use the Share Your Comments link, or e-mail CKilbourne@blr.com.