Business Giving Strategy: Fundraising

Fundraising has become one of my favourite strategies for supporting charities and social causes through my business and can be a great way to grow your business – especially when you incorporate it strategically into your marketing as part of a social impact strategy. Keep reading to find out more or watch this short video:

There are many ways to raise funds for causes through your business and I share some of these in my free ebook 52 Ways To Raise Funds for Charity or Social Causes Through Your Business. 

Most strategies I share are those that involve strategically linking your fundraising to business activities so they become part of how you do business. Examples include organising fundraising events targeted at your ideal clients or partners and charitable sales promotions e.g. donating a proportion from each sale to a cause. When you incorporate fundraising into your marketing this is known as cause marketing as I define and explain in my post Cause Marketing: Legislation and Best Practices.

Fundraising events can be a great way to showcase your expertise, give people a good experience of what you offer, and raise funds for causes, all at the same time. When you come up with fundraising events your ideal clients or people in your network find highly attractive, these can help you connect with them at a deeper level.

I've found that people who share similar values perceive me more positively because of my charitable activities. I also seem to now mainly attract clients, collaborators, and business partners who also care about making a difference in the world – there is a better fit and alignment. One of my clients has also been stunned at how her charitable giving and story has helped people trust her and become customers more quickly. 

Fundraising can also help you expand the reach of other marketing strategies such as social media or PR and opens doors that would otherwise remain shut.

If offering taster events or experiences is one of your marketing strategies, offering these for donations is a good alternative to offering them for free. When offering free events it's common that people don't show up and that you'll attract a high proportion of people who will never buy from you. By contrast, my experience is that people who donate to attend fundraising events, are more likely to show up and buy from you in the future (if of course, you offer something they'd like).

Likewise, I rarely do free speaking gigs anymore. I either charge a fee to speak at events (where the organisation pays its staff or the event is one people pay to attend), or I speak at local events for charitable donations. Replacing the model of speaking for free with doing it as a fundraising activity feels like a better energy exchange. I also love helping conference organisers add fun and engaging fundraising elements to their events.

If you're curious about how you could incorporate fundraising into your business, this is one of the things I teach in my book Give-to-Profit: How to Grow Your Business by Supporting Charities and Social Causes.

Please note that incorporating fundraising into your marketing is know as 'cause marketing' and in many countries, there is legislation that applies when doing this. It's nothing to be scared of but worth checking out. You can find out more about this in my article Cause Marketing: Legislation and Best Practices. 

I’d love to hear your ideas and thoughts – please do share these below.

With gratitude,

Alisoun