While we don't necessarily create a giving budget, we do have parameters for which we will give. Since we're a plant shop in a neighborhood plagued with decades of environmental issues, we reserve any giving to organizations or causes that support greening up our neighborhood, local parks, environmental/gardening initiatives in local schools, etc. We are also a proudly LGBTQIA+ owned business, so we do a big Pride initiative to raise money for an NYC-wide non-profit that supports the cause. When we say "no" we phrase it as such "Your cause/event/charity sounds fantastic - thank you for doing what you do! We reserve our giving for (above list), so we won't be able to donate. We are cheering for you from the sidelines though!" I find that people almost always reply back to say thank you for explaining and to thank us for giving to the causes that we do!
That being said, because I don't invest much into marketing, I often don't mind donating a gift card if it looks like an event that will get a lot of views from my customer base (example, our local library had a book sale and we donated a gift card to the raffle they were holding the same day because I know my customers use that branch.)
As for the budget piece, I definitely go with my gut. I also find that simply saying "we've already committed our given buget for the (month/quarter/year)" lets folks down easy.
We don't use a form. That simply comes from the fact that when we've tried a form in the past, folks still just email or visit in person. In the time it takes to direct them to the form, we could just read the request and respond.
