Businesses are not doing enough to support charities in the UK. That’s not coming from me, that’s according to workers in the UK, more than half of whom haven’t taken part in any fundraising activities with colleagues in the past year.
The majority of companies in the UK don’t have a named a charity to support this year either – with 40% of workers stating that their company has no official charity they’re supporting, whilst a further fifth (22%) are unsure if their company supports charity at all.
Less than half of UK workers (44%) said that they feel that their company should be doing more to help charities and the local community.
All this comes from research by Give as you Live, which surveyed over 4,000 people in employment. Give as you Live is a shopping website with a difference. Every time someone shops through Give as you Live, a percentage of their purchase value is donated to the charity of their choice. This all happens at no extra cost, as Give as you Live makes the donation on the shopper’s behalf from the commission paid by the retailer.
It’s clear to see that Businesses are missing a trick by not encouraging fundraising amongst its employees. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives go further than just increasing employee morale; being seen to give back to charity improves a company’s reputation in the face of its customers and future staff. There are so many fundraising options for businesses that needn’t put pressure on resources or people’s time.
For example, through Give as you Live, a stationary order of £100 can raise up to £8 for a company’s chosen charity. Additionally, many travel and accommodation companies – such as thetrainline.com, hotels.com and Experian – are available to shop through, meaning a business trip can raise a significant amount for charity.
For many businesses, it’s clear that the conversation about corporate charity support simply isn’t happening, despite employees feeling passionately about it. The feedback we’ve had is that the reason for this is down to many businesses not engaging the workforce in charitable efforts because of a perceived lack of resources. It’s automatically assumed that charitable fundraising will take up a lot of time, but the digital age means that charitable initiatives needn’t put pressure on people’s time and help to increase employee commitment and morale.”
So, whether you’re an SME with five full time members of staff or a multi-national organisation with over 5,000, CSR can and will make a difference and is something that is very simple to implement.