There are 4 reasons:
A POSITIVE IMPACT
- to bless less fortunate people and communities with part of the blessings we receive
- to motivate positive change in disadvantaged communities
- to do more than talk
- for our team to feel great about the additional positive impact our work contributes to making
- to engage them by choosing our giving projects
- to motivate positive change in our people
- to inspire other businesses and individuals to do the same and to show them a simple avenue like B1G1 through which they can do it
- to motivate positive change in other businesses
- so companies choose to do business with us because:
- they feel aligned with our giving actions or
- that they know that their decision to choose us will have an even greater impact, beyond the work we do with them
* IMPORTANT:
Now that fourth reason about marketing was the main reason why we did NOT trumpet our charitable giving. And the truth is that the giving we’re talking about here excludes any other giving we may do, personally or through our business. That’s because we are not inspired to give so that others think that we are good. It's not for external approval. Yet here we are telling people about our giving so that they are inspired in some way.
Biblically, we’re asked to give in secret, to not let the one hand know what the other is doing, because in those days the Pharisees (temple priests who taught the laws but whose motivations were often self-serving) would ring a bell in one hand so everyone in a crowded marketplace would turn and see that with their other hand they were giving to some beggar (see Matthew 6:1-4). Jesus taught us not to be like that, but to give in secret so that the motivations of our heart, our character, were to do what was right and not for external approval. So to not act like those who trumpet their giving so others think they are pious and righteous has been top of mind for a long while. This is why I was wrestling with whether to talk about this. But should sharing giving like this help make an even greater positive difference, then we should share it.
So eventually I had to come to a decision about what this giving meant to me, and I decided that it can only be called marketing, albeit marketing that makes a true positive difference to others. It’s marketing what we do, it’s marketing some of our values, it’s marketing how easy it is to give, it’s marketing an avenue and vehicle for giving, it’s marketing to encourage others to do the same, and honestly it’s marketing ourselves as a business partner of choice to our customers and potential customers. Yet by all that, should more good be done, and more people helped, and should we have participated in some small way to motivate even more positive change, then this has been a great outcome.
Scotland-based entrepreneur Alisoun Mackenzie (she's awesome) interviews Tim Wade about business and giving.
In the first 5 minutes you'll get a bit of background about Tim and how he DIDN'T start his business with giving in mind, and the subsequent evolution of his thinking. It's an awesome interview.
Below are some awesome lyrics to a song by Lincoln Brewster which really resonated with me and really connected with what we are able to do with our giving:
The Power of Your Name
Surely children weren't made for the streets,
And fathers were not made to leave.
Surely this isn't how it should be.
Let Your Kingdom come.
Surely nations were not made for war,
Or the broken meant to be ignored.
Surely this just can't be what You saw,
Let Your Kingdom come, here in my heart.
I will live, to carry Your compassion,
To love a world that's broken,
To be Your hands and feet.
I will give, with the life that I've been given
And go beyond religion
To see the world be changed,
By the power of Your name.
Surely life wasn't made to regret.
And the lost were not made to forget.
Surely faith without action is dead,
Let Your Kingdom come, Lord break this heart.
Your name: is a shelter for the hurting.
Jesus Your name: is a refuge for the weak.
Only Your name: can redeem the undeserving.
Jesus Your name: holds everything I need.
Rule 1: Gain all you can...
Rule 2: Save all you can...
Rule 3: Give all you can...
- John Wesley's rules about money,
18th century Anglican preacher whose ethos started the Methodist church.
Compassion isn’t just a feeling. It’s love in action. Go where you ordinarily don’t. And reach out to those to whom we usually won’t. These actions can lead to transformation.
- Pastor Benjamin Lee, Singapore
