Get Your Charity On, Vancouver

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I hope you’ll indulge a rant about corporate social responsibility. The basic idea is this: the slackers are dragging us down.

Pick a category: arts, sports, education, diseases, social issues, the list goes on. All community groups, NFPs, and charities have been hit hard by the economic hurly-burly. Many businesses write a cheque here and there; others have full-on programs and raise/donate millions of dollars. But what about the rest of you?

Many things prevent businesses from being good corporate citizens, and that high on the list is revenue, or lack thereof. I think about some of the small charities that are struggling, and what a donation of even $100 can mean. But even if that level of support is not possible right now, there are other ways to help.

Here are some other simple and inexpensive things you can do for little or no money that will make the world a better place. Pick one. Do it this week. You’ll feel great. And in some small way you’ll have made someone else feel great too.

• •    Promote a charity website on your website
• •    Include a fundraising message in a mailing or print ad
• •    Give your staff an extra day off to volunteer somewhere
• •    Donate your skills (charities need accountants, lawyers, writers, designers, etc.)
• •    Organize a fundraiser in your store or office
• •    Donate equipment you no longer use or need
• •    Donate a small percentage of sales on an ongoing basis
• •    If you buy multiple ads in the media every year, peel off one or two and give them to a charity to use for themselves
• •    Actively encourage your friends who own/run businesses to do the same

If all the tens of thousands of businesses in the Lower Mainland found a way to do something to help, we could make a huge difference.

To those of you who are already doing something, bravo, and may you receive pillows in heaven and the everlasting gratitude of the people you’ve helped. To those of you who aren’t doing anything, consider yourself spanked. After some time alone in your room, you should come back out and join the rest of us, and be prepared to play nice.

End of rant. Sorry if I pissed anyone off. But it just needed to be said.

One last thing. If you have great ideas about ways to help a group that needs some support, why not leave a comment? Sharing successful ideas with others is a great way to support the cause of supporting causes. So do it. Leave a comment. Maybe someone I’ve just spanked will read it, steal it, and call it their own.

I’ve got my fingers crossed that they do.