How Small Businesses Can Maximize the Impact of Their Charitable Donations With Nonprofit Partners

 

When you want your business to give back, it's important to choose the right partners.

Establishing charitable giving in your business model is one step you can take toward becoming a mission-driven business. Whether that entails donating funds or products on a regular cadence or being nimble enough to relay donations in moments of crisis at home or abroad, nonprofit partners can ensure those donations have their intended impact. So how can you ascertain whether a nonprofit is the real deal--and an ideal partner for accomplishing your desired charitable endeavors? 

Three business leaders explain to Inc. how they chose the nonprofits their brands work with, and share their advice for making donations that align with your company's mission.


Lean into your brand identity 

The New York City-based leisurewear brand Lively has had charitable giving built into its business model since its launch in 2016. The company donates an assortment of products, mainly bras, to women in underserved communities, by collaborating with the nonprofit I Support the Girls, which collects and distributes bras and menstrual care items to refugee sites, domestic violence safe havens, and homeless shelters around the world. Lively's mission to inspire people to live "passionately, purposefully, and confidently" aligned with I Support the Girls's aim to "make dignity the norm," Lively CEO Kristin DiCunzolo says. "I Support The Girls is a longtime partner, and as a female-focused brand, we have always supported their mission of helping and empowering girls and women in need."

Four times a year, Lively hosts in-store bra drive campaigns with the nonprofit, during which customers bring in new or gently worn bras in exchange for a personal fitting and 10 percent off new bras. The brand has also hosted buy-one-give-one store days, during which Lively donates a bra to I Support the Girls for each one sold. 

​To date, Lively has donated over 160,000 bras, underwear, and swimsuits. The brand also often makes financial donations to aligned organizations during cultural moments--such as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, in October, and Mental Health Awareness Month, in May. 

When forging new nonprofit partnerships, DiCunzolo and her community outreach team vet organizations over the course of six or seven calls, during which they gain a thorough understanding of what the nonprofit does and ensure the potential partner shares similar values to the brand.

Determine your reach

Deciding where you want to make your impact is another factor to consider when choosing a nonprofit partner. That's why Duluth, Minnesota-based clothing boutique Maurice's works with organizations with dependable distribution outlets across the country. For instance, chief marketing officer Laura Sieger worked with I Support the Girls in January 2023 for Maurice's inaugural bra drive. Because the nonprofit has a national footprint with local connections, Sieger felt that I Support the Girls could help Maurice's optimize its impact without requiring the boutique to liaise between its 900 stores and donation centers, such as homeless shelters and domestic abuse safe-havens. After the bra drive, Maurice's stores mailed products to I Support the Girls's designated warehouses around the U.S.; the nonprofit then distributed more than 21,000 collected bras to 4,500 vetted distribution sites. 

Maurice's works with nonprofits closer to its headquarters for other donation efforts because it wants to make a positive impact on its community, Sieger says. In alignment with four national cause marketing campaigns it plans for each year, Maurices donates funds, clothes, and volunteer hours to organizations like the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance (MOCA), Safe Haven Shelter and Resource Center, and the Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault (PAVSA). The company's donations vary by year and philanthropy budget.

Keep your options open

New York City-based menstrual care company Lola's mission is to eradicate period poverty--barriers to menstrual products low-income women face--so it regularly works with various nonprofits toward that goal. CEO Amy Fisher says the brand makes an internal giving goal every year: the brand sets a percentage goal of inventory and overall profits to donations, and maintains an extra savings bucket for additional need, with which it can respond to urgent crises such as natural disasters and migrant influxes.

Working with I Support The Girls, Lola has donated more than 1 million products within the past year--6 million total since the two started working together in 2016. When fires struck Maui, Amazon's relief program approached Lola for donations, and the brand began building out a response plan. While it wasn't able to send products this time, it mapped out a strategy for disaster relief response, which Fisher says will help the brand to respond quickly to similar events in the future. 

Fisher says that partnering with organizations in advance, as well as during peak times of need, allows Lola's donation strategy to be as effective as possible. "It's our duty to make sure no woman goes to work without products," Fisher says, noting that planning for the unexpected is part of that responsibility. 

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