How to Support Your Community and Schools Without Giving Away Your Business

Community businesses are inundated with donation requests. From every school group or class holding a fund raiser, to community activities are often soliciting for donations for their cause. The causes are usually well deserving of a contribution, but twenty donation requests during a month can put a bite on a small business's finances.

Businesses should contribute to their communities. This builds good-will and can bring in new customers while providing you with low-cost advertisement as a sponsor for a group's benefit.

Budget for Donation Requests:
One of the best things a business can do is to set a specific amount of their advertising budget for donation requests. When the business is solicited for a donation, have a set amount in mind and a number of solicitations the business will accept. If you budget $200 per month, you can contribute in increments of $5 or $20 depending upon your desire knowing your business has already set aside that amount for the purpose.

Budget for Annual Requests:
Small public schools will often solicit for advertising in their school's annual publication. These solicitations usually occur during the beginning of the school year. If you have been approached in the past, you can expect a visit during the same time the following year. Plan for the expenditure before it arrives. Look at last year's receipt to know what size ad you placed and the approximate cost you can expect for this year. Annuals are excellent places to use some of your advertising dollars as this publication will be circulated for many years after the actual school year is over.

How to Say "No."
There may be occasions when you will have to refuse to contribute to a solicitation. The economy can be a driving force behind those reasons. If the cause is worthy, consider volunteering a few hours of your time instead of a cash contribution. If the cause is something you just cannot support for your own personal reasons, be firm yet sympathetic to the solicitor. If your donation budget is exhausted for the month, be sure to let them know that you are unable to contribute due to budget constraints. If you want, you can let the solicitor know that they can come back at a later date for your contribution.

By budgeting and planning for solicitations of donations, you can gracefully give without losing your business or the business's stature within the community.