How a business can choose a charity partner
Companies often give because a customer asked, a holiday campaign is coming, or employees want a shared cause. Those are fine reasons to start. They are weak reasons to stop. A partnership lasts longer when the charity’s work is real, the costs are clear, and people inside the company can explain why this group was chosen.
Start with the work, not the logo
Write down what the company wants the gift to do. Relief after a disaster, support for patients, youth mentoring, animal rescue, and local housing are different jobs. A charity that is excellent at one of them may be the wrong partner for another. Our notes on charity types are a simple map of those differences.
Then apply the same tests a household donor should use. Look at the share of spending that reaches the program. Read whether the mission is specific. Ask for the current goal and the latest progress against it. If the charity cannot describe those things to a busy manager, employees will not be able to describe them either.
Make the gift repeatable
- Choose one or two partners instead of a new name every quarter.
- Tell employees how the charity uses money and time, and invite them to volunteer if the charity actually needs volunteers.
- Ask for a short yearly update you can share: what was funded, what changed, and what the next goal is.
- Skip any arrangement that hides fees or makes the company look like the charity.
Giving Hands is not a charity and does not accept donations. The point of the research is to help you send support to groups that do the work. If you want a second opinion on a partner you are considering, use the contact form and tell us what you are trying to accomplish.