We know that donating money, goods or time can help a business’s bottom line, but can it also help businesses to increase profits? Yes.
Customers tend to trust companies more that show they’re interested in things other than making money, such as giving back to the community by donating money to organizations, partnering with organizations, or creating charitable foundations. There are several businesses that have seen larger profits because of their philanthropic efforts.
This article will provide six examples of businesses that have seen more profits because of their philanthropic efforts – these companies are Dancing Deer Baking Company, Kohli Ventures, UnitedHealth Group, Nike, CSX and Goldman Sachs.
Dancing Deer Baking Company
Dancing Deer Baking Company, which is based out of Boston, Massachusetts, makes gourmet baked goods. Though this company isn’t as large as the others that will be discussed in this article, they have built their business around their philanthropic efforts.
In the beginning, they donated their baked goods to different causes, but the owner, Trish Karter, wanted to make philanthropy the core of Dancing Deer’s business model. They partnered with the organization One Family, which focuses on ending homelessness in Massachusetts.
Together they created the Sweet Home Project – Dancing Deer makes a few baked goods specifically for this project, and donates 35% of the retail price of the sales to help One Family achieve their goal of helping homeless families move out of poverty.
Their philanthropic efforts also allow employees and consumers to connect with the company beyond just talking about the goods they make – they’re creating a better brand and a better company because they’re giving people something higher to aspire to. The company’s relationship with their customers has also improved because their customers know that they stand for something more than just making a profit.
Kohli Ventures
Tej Kohli is an Indian billionaire who spends a large amount of money fighting blindness and helping those who have lost their sight.
Kohli has philanthropy at the center of his business model and has set up his own charity. The charity has done a lot of work in Costa Rica and India especially. Kohli’s charity works in the fields of rural health and providing educational opportunities, especially for those with disabilities. It funds corneal replacement operations for poor people in rural communities where the burden of caring for a blind relative is very high.
United Health Group
United Health Group’s philanthropic efforts center around helping improve America’s health. The company has donated almost $2 million to the American Heart Association to help the charity to establish safe walking paths around the country. They also started a micro-volunteering site that lets employees who don’t have time to volunteer on a regular basis perform quick tasks, such as sprucing up United Health’s website or creating press releases about the company.
Because of their philanthropic efforts and the reputation they’ve earned because of them, their profits have grown every year for the past three years – In 2015 they made 157.1 billion dollars, in 2014 they made 130.5 billion dollars, and in 2013 they made 122.5 billion dollars.
CSX
CSX gives money to Future Farmers of America, an organization for high school students that are interested in agriculture and leadership.
Though CSX isn’t involved directly with agriculture, many of the young people in the organization have skills that CSX looks for in its employees, so students can consider looking at jobs in transportation as well as agriculture.
Company revenues have fluctuated over the past few years. The company made $11.8 million dollars in 2015, but in 2014 they made $12.7 million and in 2013 they made about $12 million – but they still continue to do well because of the reputation they’ve earned through their philanthropic efforts and because of the service they provide their customers.
Nike
Nike created the Nike Foundation, which supports sport and physical activities in schools in different countries.
For example in Brazil, Nike partners with local organizations to get more kids moving by looking for new and different ways to combine physical activities with regular school subjects.
In China, Nike is partnering with the Ministry of Education to change the culture of physical activity in schools across the country. The program will reach as many as 7,000 teachers over three years, and will help 2 million kids get moving. In Shanghai, Nike works with primary schools to open the doors after school so that kids have somewhere safe and positive to participate in physical activity.
In Russia, Nike works with the Children’s Sport Foundation, a group in Russia that’s dedicated to creating and implementing programs to promote active schools and create an active generation of kids. In just the first year, more than 900 kids were part of the program.
Nike also works with the Turkish Olympics Committee’s Active Kids project to create fun experiences for kids so they can participate in sports in elementary school. Through this program, children are invited to local schools on weekends to take part in different sporting activities that are supervised by qualified instructors.
Nike’s philanthropic efforts have helped their business – in 2015 they made $14.72 billion, in 2014 they made $13.08 billion, and in 2013 they made $11.55 billion.
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs helps out in communities where their employees work and live in a few different ways.
Through the worldwide initiative 10,000 Women, they’ve helped foster economic growth by allowing female entrepreneurs around the world to get the education they need about business and management. They’ve also provided mentoring and networking opportunities through this program and provided women entrepreneurs access to the money they need to start or grow their business.
They also have another similar initiative called 10,000 Small Businesses – this initiative helps small businesses by providing owners access to education, funding and business support services. Through the program, Goldman Sachs Gives, current and retired senior employees of Goldman Sachs work together to recommend grants to qualifying non-profit organizations so they can achieve their goals.
Though Goldman Sachs’ profits have gone down over the years, they continue to have a good reputation with their customers because of their philanthropic efforts.
Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg plans to give away billions of dollars’ worth of shares. And there are many other companies that have helped out their communities by giving money, contributing time, creating philanthropic foundations, or a combination of all three. These organizations have seen their profits go up because of their philanthropic efforts because their customers trust them. These companies have seen a positive impact on their profits from their philanthropic efforts because they let the public know about them by providing information on their website, as well as through other social media channels.
If your company is involved in philanthropic endeavors and you want to see if it will have a positive impact on your profits, it’s important to let people know about the good work your company is doing on your website, through any mailings your company sends out, and through social media.