February 6, 2025

Tricia Oak

Business & Finance Excellency

Reasons To Engage in Corporate Philanthropy

Reasons To Engage in Corporate Philanthropy

Every household name brand engages in corporate philanthropy, and there are many good reasons why this is. Engaging in corporate philanthropy can obviously help to address the many pressing issues that are happening domestically and around the world, but it can also bring a wide range of benefits to the business. Therefore, all business owners should be engaging in corporate philanthropy, especially during a time when consumers are aware and selective of the brands that they use. With this in mind, this post will look at a few of the main reasons why it is so important for brands to engage in corporate philanthropy.

Make a Difference

First and foremost, you should engage in corporate philanthropy to make a positive difference. There are many issues around the globe, so a business should use its resources and platform to affect positive change. It is important to tackle issues that are close to your heart and issues that your target market will be passionate about, such as fighting poverty. A good example is fighting Honduras poverty with the founder of 1800accountant Michael Savage. Savage is a Fortune 500 CEO who has set up a foundation to tackle the serious levels of poverty in Honduras – the home country of his wife, Sandra. This keeps Savage inspired by the positive work that the foundation does and ensures that he feels passionate about philanthropy.

Inspire Social Change

Following this, when your brand engages in corporate philanthropy and raises awareness about important issues, it could inspire social change. You might find that your actions and using social media to raise awareness help to inspire business owners and individuals to take their own action. When everyone starts engaging in these activities, this is when you see positive results.

Improve Brand Image

Corporate philanthropy is primarily about making a positive difference, but there are also major benefits for businesses. One of these is that it is a highly effective way to improve your brand image. When you use your platform and resources to effect positive change, it will improve how you are seen by your target market and the wider world. This could give you a competitive edge and help you to appeal to today’s compassionate consumers.

Lift The Community

In order for a business to excel, it needs to operate in a thriving community. Corporate philanthropy gives you the opportunity to lift your local community and stimulate the local economy. You should look to support local businesses, engage with local schools, donate to local charities, and partake in local initiatives to lift your local community. This can also help you to raise your profile in the area, which could help to improve your reputation and attract new customers.

Improve Employee Engagement

An often overlooked benefit of corporate philanthropy is that it can help to increase employee engagement. Employees will be a lot happier and more engaged at work if they know that the company they work for is doing good in the world. You can also increase engagement by encouraging volunteer work (during their working hours). This can help employees feel like they are making a direct positive impact and that they have a purpose beyond their role. People are becoming a lot more aware of the issues all around the world and passionate about making change, so corporate philanthropy can make a huge impact on your internal workforce.

Attract New Employees

Leading on from this, corporate philanthropy can be a highly effective way to attract new talent to your business. As established, people are aware of the issues around the world and want to make a difference. When a company engages in corporate philanthropy and allows employees to make a difference in their role, it will make the job a lot more appealing. In particular, this can be an effective way to attract younger generations to your company (younger generations tend to be more active when it comes to philanthropy). Every business needs to attract talent, especially young talent, but this is not always easy, and it can be hard to compete with companies that offer larger salaries.

Grow Your Network

Another reason why businesses should be engaging in corporate philanthropy is that it gives you the chance to grow your network. As a business leader, you should always be looking for ways to grow your professional network and make as many people aware of your brand as possible. Through philanthropic activities, you will have the opportunity to meet with other powerful and influential individuals that you might otherwise have never met. Growing your network can be useful for increasing brand awareness, improving your reputation, and discovering new opportunities to take advantage of. Just make sure that you maintain these relationships over time and are willing to do favors for those in your network – you never know when you will need someone to return the favor!

Innovation

An interesting benefit of corporate philanthropy is that it often stimulates innovation and creativity. When a business focuses entirely on its market and internal operation, it is easy to have an extremely narrow view. While this narrow view can be helpful, it could also be limiting and hold your business back from high levels of success. By engaging in different areas, developing new skills, and solving new problems, you might find that it helps you to improve the running of your business.

Tax Perks

Finally, there may be tax benefits to engaging in corporate philanthropy. Many governments provide incentives for philanthropic activities, including cost savings and tax deductions. Obviously, this should not be the primary reason why you engage in these activities, but improving your bottom line will be an added bonus.

These are a few of the main reasons why every brand should be engaging in corporate philanthropy in 2023. With so many pressing issues at home and around the world, businesses should be using their resources and platforms to affect positive change. In addition to the ethical reasons, you will find that there are numerous benefits to engaging in these activities. Therefore, it is a mutually beneficial exercise that could help your business reach new levels of success while making a positive difference in the world.