Mary Gamble
Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications, Barnardos
Stephen Moffatt
National Policy Manager, Barnardos
Corporate giving is vital for charities. Helping them with financial donations or lending them your time or company resources can make a real difference in the work they do.
In today’s financially precarious world, corporate giving is more important than ever. If you’re a small, medium or large business that wants to help a cause or charity, the impact of your philanthropy can be life-changing. to the work that charitable organisations do — and, by extension, to the communities and individuals they support.
Ways to get involved with corporate giving
There are many ways you can get involved with corporate giving, explains Mary Gamble, Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications at one of Ireland’s largest children’s charity, Barnardos. It doesn’t always have to involve getting out the company chequebook.
“We have a number of strategic partnerships with well-known household brands that go over and above financial donations,” she says. “For example, we share skills and expertise. Our partners can help us with our training needs and we can offer them, say, cyber-safety workshops, so parents can keep their children safe online. They may offer us a meeting room to use for big gatherings, giving us access to a space we would otherwise be unable to afford.” Plus, a company’s employees may want to get involved with charitable fund-raising, donating or volunteering activities.
“This type of partnership works on many levels,” acknowledges Gamble. “It increases awareness of our brand. And it supports a business’s ESG strategy by demonstrating that it is authentic about charitable giving. It’s a two-way street.”
If you’re a small, medium or large business
that wants to help a cause or charity, the
impact of your philanthropy can be life-changing.
Corporate support can have far-reaching social impacts
For Barnardos, corporate support can have hugely positive and far-reaching social impacts. “In recent years, we’ve seen an increase in issues surrounding children’s mental health,” notes Stephen Moffatt, the charity’s National Policy Manager.
“Young people are having to navigate the online world and have more concerns about their future. We’ve also seen how mental health, poverty and addiction issues can affect parents. So, there’s a great demand for our services at a local level. Corporate giving allows us to better meet that need and provide essential programmes that support local communities, families and children”. Early intervention matters, it can be transformative. Barnardos sees the impact of that early support first hand – we know that childhoods last a lifetime.”
Deciding which charity to partner with
Gamble suggests choosing a charity that most aligns with your company values and getting buy-in from all areas of your business. “Once you’ve narrowed it down, do your due diligence and look at the governance of the organisation you’re thinking about partnering with,” she says. “Also, think about what you want to achieve with them — and the difference you want to make together.”
