Why Both Charities & Companies Can Benefit From Product Donations

After months of planning for an upcoming charity event, now comes the time where you have to reach out to multiple businesses and ask for product donations or auction items for the event.  As a resourceful problem solver, avoid becoming timid or hesitant when you make the request, feeling like you’re asking the business for a handout. Instead, it’s important to realize that a product donation actually does benefit the business!

Having an item showcased at an event is an excellent marketing opportunity for businesses, allowing both you and the company to share in a win-win situation.  Understanding that both the nonprofit and the business can win is the key to receiving a successful amount of product donations. Below are some additional tips that can help to prepare as you approach a business asking for product donations or auction items.  

Do Research Upfront

Try to first learn what your attendees would prefer to purchase and then find businesses offering those items.  This ensures a better fit for both the attendees and the donor. Also, make sure you understand the demographics (age, gender, location, etc.) of the people attending your event.  Then when speaking to the businesses, you’ll be able to confirm that the event attendees are their ideal target audience.

Promote Social Good

With the topic of social good on the horizon, many companies are beginning to realize that supporting a cause can provide the business with successful ROI.  A study by Cone Communications found that 87% of Americans will purchase a product because a company advocated for an issue they cared about.  A business is not only receiving the opportunity to support an important cause, but is also being offered the chance to promote their product or company to hundreds of people at the event, with very little effort needed on their part.

Prepare a List of Benefits

Before speaking to the business, be prepared by compiling a list of benefits you’re able to provide to the organization.  For example, the company will benefit by having a room full a attendee at the event that are their ideal target market, while being able to benefit from a low cost method of marketing.  They will also benefit by being one product among a limited amount of featured items or businesses at the event. This will help the brand in standing out as a featured product. Don’t forget to offer the opportunity to help promote the brand through social media or provide the company with a social media image or video post-event.  Companies would also appreciate receiving links to their site from the event website. Feel free to ask what the company values that you can deliver. It often doesn’t cost more to deliver an additional benefit to the company and it could compel them to increase their donation.

If you can follow these steps when approaching a business regarding product donations, then you should be able to achieve a more successful outcome with a win-win for both your nonprofit and donor businesses.

GiveBack Fundraiser FAQ

Not familiar with in-store fundraisers? Here are some basics on understanding these events, including frequently asked questions and examples of best practices when hosting an event.  In-store events can be great fundraisers for charities, as well as opportunities for companies to elevate their social good and brand visibility. Read on to learn more about in-store fundraising and how you can easily find partners to host a fundraiser event!

What is an In-Store Fundraiser?

An in-store fundraiser is an event typically held during a specified day and time where a percentage of the sales earned during that time are donated to a partnered school or charity.  These events may also be referred to as restaurant fundraising nights, spirit nights, or in-store fundraisers. Examples of these include Panera Bread’s Fundraising Nights, Chipotle’s Eat For Change, and Fundraising With Dream Dinners, which donate a set amount per participant.

In addition to restaurants, stores and boutiques can also host such events both in-store or online, such as the way Madewell celebrated Earth Day 2018 with a Madewell Mother Earth Tee to benefit Surfrider Foundation.

Other options may include a variety of shops or venues, such as how CoinUp, a mobile app, enables causes to earn a portion of everyday purchases from supporters who sign up and designate your organization.

How Do In-Store Fundraisers Work?

A charity or school can reach out to a business directly to ask if they are willing to hold an event for their organization. This can happen in person, by email, through forms on websites, or through the new GiveBack Program directory on DonationMatch.

We recommend being prepared with possible dates, an estimated number of attendees, and how you plan to promote the event.  Keep in mind that if the company you seek is a franchise, you will most likely need to reach out to the local store manager to see if their specific location is open to hosting an event.  The manager will then further coordinate event details with your organization, such as the date, time, location, marketing methods, and percent of sales being donated.

Based upon agreed upon terms, a store typically donates a percentage of sales from the customers that the organization brings into the business on the specific time period.  Stores usually donate anywhere from 10%-50% of sales from referred guests, most commonly between 15%-25%. Restaurant events are often hosted on weeknights to avoid extremely busy times during the weekends.  

Don’t forget to ask if the percent of sales received is limited to your specific group, or if you will receive a percentage of sales from all guests during your timeframe.  At in-person events, sometimes leaders from the organization are even invited to act as servers or hosts for the night and work behind the counter, greet guests, or hold raffles with guests who make a minimum purchase.  

Why Host an In-Store Fundraiser?

Hosting an in-store fundraiser is usually a win-win for both the charity organization and business.  The charity can potentially raise a significant amount of funds for their cause while also enjoying a social event managed mostly by the business. Businesses benefit from hosting in-store fundraisers as well, as these are a low-cost way to give back to the local community while also providing a method for the business to increase their sales and visibility. In the long run, it can be an effective way to gain new customers, repeat customers, and loyal fans.    

How Can I Ensure My Event is a Success?

Marketing is key to ensuring any event is a success. The charity must be provided with easy tools (flyers, email content, examples of social media posts) to make sure they can sufficiently advertise the event to their supporters and encourage them to attend.  Since the goal is more sales, everyone should be reminded to invite family members and friends to attend the event as well. Social media can work really well as a means of advertising the event, so make sure you have an engaged community that is paying attention before you start. This can apply to both the charity as well as the business, who may choose to promote these events to their own followers.

Peoples’ tastes vary, so charities shouldn’t limit themselves to partnering with only one company. Hosting fundraisers with a variety of stores, restaurants, and fundraising platforms will enable you to engage more supporters. If you do, make sure you aren’t overwhelming your audience. Although a business benefits from hosting as many events as they can handle, charities who promote more than one event/fundraising channel per month may risk confusing supporters or making it difficult to properly market, manage, and publicize each one to generate worthwhile sales. Keeping a calendar and/or specific fundraising page on your website allows people to see their options and easily pick the ones they want.

DonationMatch Launches GiveBack Program for In-Store Fundraising

The team here at DonationMatch is thrilled to announce that we recently launched a new online platform, The DonationMatch GiveBack Program!  This new product connects restaurants and stores with nonprofit organizations to host in-store fundraisers. The GiveBack Program will be offered as a feature on our main platform, DonationMatch.com.  

The GiveBack program was created to help any restaurant, brewery, winery, store, service, or online company looking to donate a percentage of sales to nonprofits and causes.  The platform makes companies available to causes that are seeking fundraising options, providing easier scheduling and marketing for the businesses.  

Restaurant fundraisers are popular events for charities and schools, because a percentage of the sales earned during that night are donated to a nonprofit hosting the event.  Fundraisers have also been shown to be a great marketing tactic for businesses, by providing another method for gaining new clients and sales, while giving back to the local community.

The DonationMatch GiveBack tool contains many exciting features to assist with organizing an in-restaurant fundraiser.  Some of the program features include:

• Giving local fundraising leaders direct access to eligible programs

• Easy event scheduling

• Online marketing tools

• Event tracking and reporting

• Customizable automated reminders and workflow tools

• Detailed records of event fundraising history

• Ability for companies to view event fundraising records for donation decisions

Through the easy-to-use platform, restaurants can receive fundraiser requests, be able to provide event promotional tools to charities, and view analytics post-event.

“We are very excited to launch our latest product, the DonationMatch GiveBack Program, said Renee Zau, CEO at DonationMatch.  “Current DonationMatch clients had expressed a need for a tool that efficiently manages and streamlines the process of hosting restaurant fundraisers.”  Companies who contributed to the design and creation of the GiveBack program include: Buffalo Wild Wings, Dream Dinners, Picaboo, and Henebery Whiskey.

Zau is pleased to launch the GiveBack Program to provide even more functionality to the DonationMatch platform.  Companies interested in trying out the new platform can sign up online through DonationMatch.com and may begin using the Starter option free of charge.

About DonationMatch: DonationMatch is a social enterprise that creates online cause marketing software for companies and nonprofit organizations. Since 2010, DonationMatch has facilitated in-kind gifts worth more than $34 million. Co-founded and led by CEO Renee Zau, DonationMatch was recently named to the SheEO "Top 25 Ventures" list for U.S.-based companies in 2017.

Events With Benefits® Podcast

Experts in the fundraising arena, Renee Zau, Danny Hooper, and Ian Lauth, have pooled their nonprofit expertise to create an educational podcast called Events with Benefits®. Covering topics related to nonprofits and fundraising, the podcast steps inside the world of event fundraising, seeking to provide insights to event planners, nonprofit staff, and volunteers. The episodes are designed to assist nonprofit organizations in achieving success with fundraising events and raising money.

The Events with Benefits podcast episodes are each 30 to 40 minutes in length, allowing listeners to gain quick access to new ideas for future events. Episodes feature special guests from many backgrounds within the nonprofit industry, who share their personal experiences and lessons learned. Listeners can subscribe, stream or download the podcast episodes, which are available on iTunes and at EventswithBenefits.com

One of the most popular episodes is #6: Thinking Big with Noah McMahon, Founder and CEO of Anonymous.  McMahon, who specializes in holding multi-million dollar events, explains his 3 building blocks for having a lasting relationship with donors and event sponsors, in order to multiply the impact of funds raised.  He also shares many extremely helpful event planning tips.  

Meet the Podcast Hosts:

• Renee Zau, CEO & Co-founder of DonationMatch.com, has personally worked on over 50 charity events and mentored over 100 business owners.  She personally has experienced and understands the frustrations and challenges that people face during the in-kind donation process.    

• Benefit auctioneer Danny Hooper has had an award-winning career through thousands of on-stage performances and the creation of Danny Hooper Productions.  He has also had experience as a recording artist, motivational speaker, comic emcee, and celebrity benefits auctioneer.

• Ian Lauth, VP of Marketing at Winspire, works for a company that provides unique experiences for charity auctions or fundraisers, allowing users to place exclusive travel packages into their charity auctions.  

The Engagement Issue: Rallying Your Employees to Donate

Guest Post By Tiffany Rowe

Consumers love to hear about companies with philanthropic sides, but the headline “Acme Corp. Gives $250k to Charity” rarely turns heads (or encourages clicks) in the new world of social media. Instead, businesses gain more visibility for their deeds when their entire workforce is engaged in doing good. Unfortunately, motivating workers to participate in donation drives or volunteering is easier said than done.

Employee contributions are incredibly beneficial ― not only do they add to a company’s donations but they have been shown to boost productivity and profits through brand image. Here are some strategies to help any business engage its employees in philanthropic efforts.

Make It Understandable

A significant barrier that prevents many charitable organizations from receiving the donations they deserve is a lack of information. If a potential donor doesn’t understand an organization’s aims, it’s unlikely he or she will cough up any cash. The same is true within your company: If your employees don’t fully comprehend the good they can do by donating or volunteering, they probably won’t waste their money or time.

Therefore, it behooves you to educate your workforce on your philanthropic goals. You can contact the organizations you support and request resources, like brochures, to help explain their causes and practices. Alternatively, you can schedule meetings between your teams and representatives of charities, during which your employees can become educated about donation and volunteering opportunities (and perhaps score some sweet swag).

Social media is an incredibly useful tool when it comes to encouraging charitable activity. You can promote workplace donation by urging your employees to visit the social pages of the organizations you support. There, they can learn more about recent activities hosted by the charities as well as upcoming events that might be of interest. UNICEF and the World Wildlife Fund have particularly effective social sites, though you might want to support an organization closer to home. As long as your employees understand the goals of your company and your charitable partners, you will find it easier to generate employee good will.

Make It Easy

Even when employees fully grasp the implications of their potential good works, many will not participate because it demands too much effort. For example, food and toy drives require employees to spend time shopping for specific items and bringing those items to work ― or worse, to another location where the charities make collections. Fewer employees will bother engaging with charitable goals when it requires additional time and effort.

Instead, you must make it as easy as possible for your employees to contribute. Online donation opportunities are perhaps the best option because they allow your employees to add money in any amount at any time from any place; therefore, they don’t feel any social stigma for contributing too little, and they can add more whenever they catch the benevolent bug. You might also institute payroll deductions, which automatically takes a donation from your employees’ paychecks every payday, so they can participate in doing good without thinking about it.

If you want your employees to make donations of items as well as cash, you should be flexible regarding the type of gifts you’ll accept. Boat Angel is an excellent corporate partner as it accepts vehicles and vessels in nearly any condition and supports a wide range of charities that your employees can feel good about. You shouldn’t be restrictive of the contributions your employees make if you want them to feel engaged in your good works.

Make It Too Good to Miss

Any remaining employees who refuse to engage with your corporate giving attempts might object with the phrase, “What good does it do me?” Fortunately, you can win these holdouts over by incentivizing employee donations and volunteering in a number of ways to ensure that the activity truly does benefit everyone involved.

Plenty of charities offer gifts and rewards for donations, and you can do the same for your employees. For example, contributions of a certain size might earn workers gift certificates; you might even encourage teamwork by holding a catered lunch once donations reach a particular amount. Likely, such opportunities will ignite your employees’ sense of competition, which could earn you the donations you crave.

For the most part, people enjoy doing good. However, in a corporate setting, you must make it obvious and easy to do the right thing. Once your employees become engaged with your philanthropic goals, you won’t have to try so hard to earn donations; they will come to you ― as will the extra productivity and publicity associated with them.

About the Author: Tiffany Rowe is a marketing administrator who assists in contributing resourceful content throughout the World Wide Web. Tiffany prides herself in her strong ability to provide high quality content that readers will find valuable. She enjoys connecting with other bloggers and collaborating for exclusive content in various niches. Favorite quote: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

The New & Improved DonationMatch is Here!

By Renee Zau, CEO of DonationMatch

After a year of gathering feedback from current members, supporters, UX experts, mentors, partners, and more members, we are excited to announce that the new and improved DonationMatch platform is here! We hope you're having a great start to 2016, and this makes it better.

There were quite a few ideas which were weren't able to squeeze in (Rick and Tim especially, thanks for your invaluable input), so keep an eye out for even more bonuses to be released over the next year.

For now, here are some highlights of what's new:

A New Look

Our new design hails from switching our CMS (content management system), which meant selecting a new template, framework, and our ever-hardworking CTO Darryl rewriting the entire site from scratch.

Menus are now on the left of the dashboard. These should look familiar (companies will see "Find Events" and "My Items" in lieu of Find Donations and My Events, respectively); general workflows are the same.

The dashboard remains your starting point, with messages and other to-do's now organized into highlighted sections, and with activity stats (and *new* organization totals, too) below.

No More Usernames

Log in with just your email address and password--easy peasy! All profiles using with the same email address will be accessible with the same login information. This means you can...

Switch Between Profiles Easily

Once logged in, you'll see the dashboard of the last "organization" (nonprofit or company) you managed. If you represent more than one organization, switching between them takes just a click in the upper right corner (name/arrow) and selecting the profile you want to manage next.

Adding organizations to represent = no extra logins! (Verification process still applies.)

See All Unread Messages In One Place

Inbox too full? There's now an easier way to handle private messages. In addition to message previews on your dashboard, you can also click "See New Messages" in your To-Do area to see matches with unread messages on one easy, sortable list. Also new is that each is timestamped with date/time sent.

New showcase pages

Show Off Your Good Work

Every organization now gets a showcase page to publicly share with others. It includes links to your website, social media accounts, and the most popular information from your profile. Use this promotional page to boost awareness about your charitable activity--it's even one-click shareable!

How do you find your showcase page URL? Click on "My Profile" to see your page. Copy the "https://..." link address from the navigation bar and share it--and your praiseworthy work --with others!

(For Nonprofits) Add Referral Codes Provided by Companies

Given a DonationMatch referral code by a charitable company? You can now add codes yourself through "My Account" to ensure you reap the benefits of being their direct referral.

What's on YOUR wish list for a web-based donation system? Tell us in the comments below, and come to www.donationmatch.com (or register if you're new) to see how these our platform's new features can knock even more time off the event planning process!

Where to Start Your Opening Bids in an Auction

By Renee Zau, CEO of DonationMatch

Every year, Benefit Auctioneer Sherry Truhlar is asked by a few auction chairs, “Sherry, let’s review the opening bids on these live auction items.  Where shall we start them?”

In this video and the post that follows it, she addresses why you shouldn’t care about opening bids. The science behind it is just as important for increasing your results from your silent auctions, too.

[Thanks for being so generous about sharing your insider knowledge, Sherry!]

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Benefit auctioneer Sherry Truhlar publishes "Benefit Auction Ideas," a bi-monthly e-zine for auction chairs seeking to improve the financial results of their charity auctions. Get your own copy - and a complementary procurement gift - at www.RedAppleAuctions.com.

Engaging Millennials: Don't Give Up on Your Email Marketing!

By Juliet Davenport, Nonprofit Ambassador at DonationMatch

Do you remember being awed by the answering machine? (Does anyone still own one of those?) Or what about the cordless phone? Now it's all about smartphones and iPads. Millennials (those born between 1981 and 2000) are all about digital, and it can be challenging to keep them engaged with your cause or brand. As Cynthia Hamlin of B2C explains in her blog, "[d]espite Millennials' increased internet usage, when surveyed by Pew Research Center for MILLENNIALS A Portrait of Generation Next, there were no significant differences among Millennials, GenXers and Boomers when asked about the amount of email sent and received in the 24 hours prior to the survey. Millennials were more likely to have Tweeted, updated their online profile or sent a text message in that time period."  Millennials are still using email, but in conjunction with social media and text.  Here are some interesting numbers pointed out in her blog that are just as relevant now as they were then:

• 90% of Millennial use the internet or send and receive email at least occasionally
• Millennials are more likely than all other age groups to have a cell phone: 94% have one
• 88% of Millennials use their cell phones to send and/or receive text
• One-in-five Millennials (20%) have posted video of themselves online
• Three-fourths (75%) of Millennials have created a social networking profile
• Among Millennials, 65% say television and 59% cite the internet as their main source for news

As the numbers show, incorporating social media into your email marketing is a smart way to keep Millennials engaged. Ms. Hamlin's blog shares tips on how to accomplish this. How have you incorporated social media into your email marketing?

Top 3 Things Donating Can Do for You and Your Business

How can donating help you in your business?

Large or small, businesses want give back to their communities. They want to find a way to get involved. Should they? Absolutely! Nonprofits are always looking for more donations to help them attain their charitable goals. Giving to these organizations can really benefit your business, too. You know that your company’s success isn’t related to just one thing. It includes a myriad of ideas and network of professional relationships. It also includes loyal customers who wear many hats and could easily be a part of local nonprofits and charities.

So, what are these Top 3 reasons?

Customer Loyalty

Giving back to your community will help you connect with your customers. It will help you gain traction and trust. A study done in 2014 revealed that 85 percent of consumers had a more positive outlook on businesses that gave back to a charity that they cared about. This means that giving to more than one charity is the most beneficial way to go. Participating in programs and giving back to more than one organization shows your customers that you really do care about your local community. After all, actions do speak louder than words.

Tax Deductions

We all know that you can claim volunteer hours and contributions on your income taxes. By itemizing your deductions you can write off any time your business spent volunteering and you can add monetary value to any donations given as well and claim them, too. The types of donations that are tax-deductible are cash donations, donations of inventory or services, volunteering, sponsorships of charities, and events. You will of course need to ensure that you are working with an organization that is approved by the IRS.

Earned Promotion and Publicity

Sponsoring one or more different nonprofits or volunteering your time is a great way to raise awareness about something you care about but it is also a fantastic way to promote your business! You can get the word out about the event by posting it on your social media platforms and on your website. Often, the nonprofit or charity you are working with will also be doing the same. Now, you have two media outlets and twice the attention, all because you care about giving back to your local community.

However, picking a charity or charities isn’t as easy as it seems. You need to set aside time to research them, make sure they fit your company’s culture and values. Then, you have to think about your customers and who they might support. Finally, you have to take time to think about your frequency of donation and how you will get your donation to the charity in a timely fashion. To that we say, “Don’t get discouraged!”

How do you begin?

www.donationmatch.com  We can handle it all. You tell us who, when, and what you want to donate and we do the rest. We even confirm applicants belong to a real nonprofit organization and get you all of the information you will need to get any deductions you deserve.

All you have to do is click, “Approve.” What is easier than that? Try it today! It’s FREE to sign up and start donating and building relationships!

Market Research Results: Comparing Community Involvement of Large and Small Companies

Guest post by Shabnam Eghbali, Student at Wharton School of Business

Recently, I conducted some market research on the community involvement programs of large and small businesses. Prior to this research, I had never known that large and small businesses alike do their part to serve the community. This is surprising considering that 70% of my fellow Millennials have purchased a product that supports a cause. Just log onto any company’s website and you'll find the “Community” tab that we often overlook. Speaking to marketing and community outreach representatives from these companies highlighted for me the different approaches companies take to serve their communities. Some view community involvement as their duty and part of their mission, while others participate to improve their image and business.

I asked three questions:

(1) Could you please describe your community involvement program?

(2) What are some challenges you have faced with your community involvement program?

(3) What do you and your company hope to gain from the community involvement program?

I spoke to businesses of all types—restaurants, theme parks, museums, etc.—via telephone and email. Their responses demonstrated that, when it comes to community involvement, large and small companies are more alike than different.

Many community involvement programs revolved around product donations to nonprofits and having employees volunteer at fundraisers. Some, like The Cheesecake Factory, told me they gave on a first-come, first-serve basis while others, like Barona Casino, had strict guidelines as to which nonprofits would receive their donations.

Regarding challenges they face, 50% of respondents stated that having enough resources (time or inventory) and dealing with demand was their biggest challenge. Still 33% stated that good communication with nonprofits is their biggest challenge because of the difficulty in making expectations clear and in having proper information submitted in a timely fashion.

On the flip side, the goal companies said they most wanted (83%) was to serve the community that has been supportive of them. The gap between desire and ability and was clearly a source of pain.

What this tells me is that companies need greater support in serving their community. The intentions are there, but there are clear challenges in executing those plans. Research uncovered online platforms such as DonationMatch, Versaic, DonationX, and AIRS (Bidding for Good) that can help with managing donation requests and ensuring that their donations are going to groups that champion causes they truly care about.

As a potential customer, I feel that at the end of the day, businesses--small or large--should be answering this question: "How have I helped someone today?" Service to society, whether it is for profit or not, should be a top priority for businesses because Millennials—our ultimate consumers—are deeply passionate about social and/or environmental causes and 79% of them are more likely to purchase from companies that support such causes. Even if it means spending a little money, companies should know that there are now easy solutions to mitigate the challenges they face and make their community activity more streamlined and known. To me and my generation, this is a worthwhile investment.

Infographic - Where Are We Now?

If you saw our original infographic on Pinterest, you'll notice it was released in 2012, when DonationMatch was just over a year old. Apparently the statistics and data are still appealing, as it continues to be our most popular pin, but the numbers are frankly a bit outdated. So, it's with great pleasure that we share updated results. Congratulations to the schools, charities, businesses, and brands who made these win-win connections!  

Many thanks to Bella Vidaña for contributing to this infographic's creation.

'the Sustainable Brands Innovation Open' shortlist

Dear members and fans, DonationMatch made it to the Sustainable Brands Innovation Open shortlist!

What does this mean? The Sustainable Brands Conference, happening June 2-5, 2014 in San Diego, educates business leaders about how they can contribute to a more sustainable brand. It also promotes business solutions that can help companies play a more positive role in the lives of their stakeholders. We need the chance to share with their over 1000 attendees, including executives of many of the largest brands in the U.S., how our win-win platform streamlines putting product samples into the hands of event attendees, and that YOUR school and nonprofit events are the most effective targets for them, both socially and demographically.

We need your vote at sbio.co/vote before Friday, March 28th, 5 PM PST. Please help us continue to grow DonationMatch and attracting brands to your valuable audiences. Thank you SO much for your support!