Small Business Donation Requests

[GFC25th]

Fellow small business owners - ‘tis the season!!
How do you handle all of the donation requests you receive from community members?!? We get soooo mannnny. Especially this time of year….  ✨We are all about giving back to our community but I need a better system!✨

🟢Do you follow a quarterly giving budget?

🟢Have donation request forms to fill out? 
<< I saw someone on Instagram suggest adding a question “when was the last time you made a purchase with us?” to a donation request. LOVED that. 
🟢Are there specific groups/benefits that you will or won’t donate to?

I would love to hear how others have this set up!

[TheRealChipA]

Hey there @GFC25th. These are definitely questions that all business owners need to think about.  We are entering our thirteenth year in business and have some informal guidelines.

• No budget here, really.  If we want to give and are able to give, we give.  If not, we don't.
• Also, we have no donation forms, nor do we have "prerequisites."  For us, it is less about whether or not someone patronizes our business and more about whether or not giving to them benefits our image and standing in the community. 
• We do not donate to anything that is political, no matter what politics they are.  That being said, we have in the past donated space and discounts to groups that were registering folks to vote, as long as they were non-partisan groups.
• Our biggest donation every year is to sponsor the local LGBTQ film festival.  It's an event near and dear to our hearts.
• Otherwise we don't really have rules or litmus tests.  If we have any doubts about what the donation might be used for, we politely decline.  If it is a cause/group we support, we do our best to donate something.

We prefer to donate gift cards in most cases.  Most of what we are asked to donate to are raffles, or thank-you gifts for group volunteers, etc.  In those cases, a $50 gift certificate only costs us the cost of whatever is purchased, and we still get the entire face value of the gift certificate as a deduction.  Our film festival donation is an exception as that is a cash donation.  We try to limit ourselves to one other full cash donation a year, if at all possible.

[CurlyDoodle]

Great question! We get lots of requests in the mail, or from folks dropping by asking about their particular org. We already provide free grooming for shelter dogs through a friends group. During the holidays we have a desktop tree and donation box for this group so customers may donate if they wish. I don't pressure them. 

I give gift cards for raffles and bingo. I have yet to have someone cash one in. 

[sacredheart926]

Love this post! We keep track and my accountant lets me know when we are at our limit for the year! It's hard to turn someone asking for a donation down. I do love the "When was the last time you made a purchase with us?"!