TUKOLE COMMUNITY INVESTMENT GUIDELINES
The Tukole Business Network is full of compassionate individuals and business owners that have made it their mission to grow their communities. Looking at it from a high level, community investment can mean from hiring local to buying from local suppliers and supporting local initiatives: anything that keeps (or increases) money circulating within the community. This is also used to describe focused giving and philanthropy, supporting local causes and organizations with money, volunteer hours, or in-kind product donations.
Giving something back to the communities that are relevant to us is always a worthwhile pursuit – and it is achievable, no matter the size of our operation.
Here is how to do it to make the most of our impact.
Why it is important?
The Tukole Community Investment Fund (TCIF), which is all about the idea of positively impacting the communities we are in and lean on – ideally in ways that make the best use of our product, people, or platform. Meaningful efforts in this area resonate with both consumers and employees. Research by America’s Charities found that 71% of employees surveyed say it is especially important to work at a company where culture is supportive of giving and volunteering; PR company Cone Communications, meanwhile, found that 73% of Americans prioritize companies that give back to important causes.
Money is not the only thing we can donate. When we think of corporate giving, financial donations might be the first thing that comes to mind. But consider all the resources we have got – our employees’ time and expertise can be used to do good, as can our product (whether it is a physical one or a service). Think broadly about what we can offer.
It is essential to focus. There are many important causes and thousands of organizations doing meaningful work that are worth supporting, but we will not be able to back them all. That is why it is important to choose a few key focus areas for our community investment, ideally ones that align closely with our initiatives. Declaring a focus does not mean we do not care about issues that fall outside of our scope, it simply means we are committing to depth rather than breadth when it comes to impact.
How we decide on the community investment strategy
1. We focus on working out what we can give.
We create a budget for the philanthropy the same way we would for any other business expense. A particular amount is carved out each year that we can afford to donate each quarter or year, or think in terms of percentages (ie, X% of revenue or X% of profits). Whatever we choose, we make sure it is an amount we will be able to sustain.
2. We set aside some funds so we can be reactive if needed.
Once we know what we can contribute as a business, we set aside a certain amount that will not be allocated in advance and will instead be used to contribute reactively. If an unexpected crisis crops up that is related to our giving priorities, we will want to have the capacity to provide support in a timely fashion without needing to work out whether we can give beyond our allocated budget.
3. We choose a few focus areas and communities.
The issues that are most relevant to our business and matter most to our donors, employees and customers are narrowed down so we can find a central focus. While some businesses do give to a wide range of efforts, developing a narrower focus for our support will make it easier to communicate our impact and rally others around our efforts.
4. We outline our criteria for support.
Even with our defined focus areas, there will still be numerous organizations we could partner with, so it is important to clearly outline how we will choose among initiatives and distribute funds. Will we make many smaller grants or fewer larger ones? Will we allow non-profits to apply for support, employees to suggest them or proactively select partners? Will we kick off long-standing partnerships or provide support through one-off donations? Will individuals or religious groups be eligible for our support or only registered non-profits and charities?
5. We Identify a few key partners.
Whether we are going to select our partners or do an open call, we think it is a good idea to do some research and identify examples of a few projects or organizations that meet all our criteria and provide good examples of the kind of work we want to support. That way we work with professionals that help give the expected results and more.
6. We put a process in place.
It is important to decide how we will provide support and put people and systems in place to make sure our community investment happens. For example, if we let employees organize their own volunteer opportunities, how will we encourage them to do so? If we plan to have company-wide volunteer days, when will these happen and who will coordinate them? The same goes for monetary support and product donations – know when and how organizations will be given these.
7. We track our impact.
The number of volunteer hours; value of product or services donated; number of organizations supported; amount of money contributed; number of people impacted – we note it all down. This is all key information that we will want to share with our team (and maybe our donors). It will also help we receive any tax benefits we are entitled to because of our giving.
