Josh Pierce serves as External Relations Director at Lexington Habitat for Humanity. Pierce helps to guide resource development strategies, ReStore operations, marketing/communications, volunteer initiatives and external partnerships. Here he shares ideas on identifying and acting upon philanthropic giving opportunities.
Mark Reynolds
Josh Pierce
Lexington is extremely fortunate to have a variety and quality of impactful nonprofit organizations that serve the community. Having a purposeful philanthropy strategy can also demonstrate a company’s commitment to the larger community. Identifying causes that resonate with customers is just the beginning. Acting on your support with intention can compound your impact, as well as your return on investment. Here are some considerations when identifying and activating your company’s support of worthwhile causes.
Understand the mission
Research what they do, who they serve, and how they do it. Look at the organization’s history and the tangible impact of their outcomes. Do their goals and objectives align with your organizational values? At Lexington Habitat for Humanity, for example, we believe that everyone deserves a decent place to live. We build homes, communities and hope. Translation: We collaborate with families, sponsors and community partners to build and repair homes in Lexington. Throughout our 30-plus year history, more than 465 low income families have achieved home ownership. Since 2013, our Love Your Neighborhood program has allowed more than 100 disadvantaged, elderly and/or disabled individuals to remain in their homes, thanks to much-needed critical home repairs they could not otherwise afford.
Start with a donation
Make no mistake about it, tax-deductible financial contributions are mission critical and essential to organizational operations. Cutting the check is step one. Then what?
Make your commitment known
Understand and act upon opportunities to co-brand with your nonprofit partners. Consistently communicate with your customers, making them aware that when they do business with you, they are also supporting a worthwhile community organization. Everyone is in the business of cause marketing. Be sure to understand specific parameters with the nonprofit organization—most will give you the opportunity to broadcast your support of their mission in some way. If not, it’s time to seek other collaborative opportunities.
Engage your employees
The all-important bottom line never stops. Customer satisfaction and loyalty remain paramount. But don’t forget about the other customers: your employees! A healthy organizational culture means higher productivity and a stronger employer brand. Consider creating opportunities for your employees to volunteer and engage with your nonprofit partners. Not only will you give them a chance to have a change of scenery, but they will also get to develop an experiential understanding of the programs your company supports. Consider allowing them to volunteer on company time. These are team building and trust building opportunities for your employees, helping them to feel even better about the company for which they work.
When a company sponsors a new construction homebuyer project with Habitat, for example, there are numerous volunteer opportunities to work side by side with co-workers and the family who will eventually make the house a home. Future homeowners are required to complete 250 to 500 hours of sweat equity. Working alongside these folks is an empowering experience for all. Additionally, every day we host volunteers in our two ReStore locations. Volunteers assist with receiving and processing donations of furniture, appliances, latex paint, household items, books and more. Proceeds from ReStore sales also support our mission of building homes.
Get creative
Bring new ideas to your nonprofit partners to leverage your company’s engagement to an event, contribution or sponsorship. Part of our job is to listen, then work to make it happen.