How Will Your Company Give Back This Holiday Season

What ideas does your corporation or business have for “Giving Back” this holiday season?

Sometimes the greatest need is fulfilled in the act of giving itself.

Holiday marketing is part of connecting with consumers on our shared values, and part of going beyond just the usual sales and promotions. Today’s social and digital consumers look for companies that help support local or national charities. Today’s consumers are more likely to align themselves with brands that share their values.

Connect with worthy causes, it can be done even on a small scale and can translate to part of your brand identity. If you connect to worthy causes you help build trust and a sense of community. You also help build brand loyalty by reaching out and helping with shared concerns.

There are any number of ways one can help, whether it’s with oversized checks or shoeboxes filled with gifts, there is always something that can be done for those less fortunate. Research through the internet revealed a list of 30 ideas that others have shared and used to help promote like-minded causes during the holidays.

I would love to hear some of your ideas for giving back. What have you done in the past, and what are you planning to do?

Santa’s Helpers

1. Fill stockings with toys for kids experiencing homelessness in your area.

2. Bikes for Kids The Utah website to Donate a Bicycle. Each state should have something similar. Donate a Bike.

3. Donate toward a youth shelter

4. Helping the homeless: food, clothing items, toiletries, and food, even sleeping bags. Don’t forget those bell ringers this holiday season. The Salvation Army.

5. Donate to a toy drive

6. Adopt a family for Christmas

7. Volunteer at a local soup kitchen

8. Adopt a classroom – gather up much-needed supplies for your local schools

9. Operation Christmas Child.

Operation Christmas Child invites your family to pack a shoebox full of gifts for children in need all around the world. Your children will love playing an active part in making another child’s Christmas brighter. You can even track the destination of your box! *Note that the shoebox collection week occurs in November, but you can still build a shoebox online! You can also send completed boxes year-round to their headquarters.

10. Toys for Tots.

11. Find individuals to help through local churches.

12. Because nonprofits have a very limited marketing budget, help represent them pro bono in your welcome baskets, as our community service. They provide you with the materials they need to be disseminated to the public, and you distribute them through your working channels.

13. Remember the “unsung heroes.”

14. “Provide a Thank You Note for your mailperson, garbage man, librarian, your favorite store checker…a lot of times we forget the people who are serving us every day! Do something to show that you recognize and appreciate all their hard work.

15. Bake goodies for the local police and fire departments

16. Remember our veterans.

17. Don’t forget about the veterans and families of veterans that may be alone for the holidays. A little care package would be a great way to say thank you for their service.

18. Teach your children to give.

19. Heifer International for livestock, tools and training for families in need.

20. Organize your staff to become actively involved in the community

21. Throughout the year, have a company-wide volunteer day at your favorite nonprofit events and actually pay [your employees] their wages while volunteering!

22. Hold a Contest: You can support your community while also encouraging your employees to have fun by holding a contest. Each employee chooses a local charity and instead of prizes, money goes to the charities chosen by the winners.

23. Sponsor an Event. Think about your pets as well. ASPAC The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

24. Build a House

25. Organizations like Habitat for Humanity offer businesses the opportunity to participate in construction projects that benefit disadvantaged residents.

26. Offer Your Skills.

27. Donate blood

28. Volunteer at a charity of their choice.

29. Give your money

30. Give your time

It doesn’t matter the cause, as long as it is a shared passion that you hold, and others value as well.

Humanitarian