New Zealanders are a giving bunch; we love to help.
It’s who we are. Our nation loves to be generous by giving to those who are in need. To those who may not have as much as we do, but also to those who perhaps do have as much as we do, but are just in need of help at this very moment.
A good example of this would be the Give A Little website. This page generates a lot of funding for people who are in need of it. As of August 2016, the site has had a whopping $52 million donated since its launch in 2008! Another example is when old Campbell Live was on air. John would have a touching story about a family going through some difficult times and overnight our nation would open up their half empty wallets and give. When you see this kind of thing (and its everywhere) it humbles you and makes you really proud to be part of a nation that is spreading love to those in need.
Those are ad hoc examples and it seems they tend to do ok in generating funding. However, part way through writing this piece Give A Little announced that as of the 1st of September they will be introducing a 5% flat fee on all donations received, just to cover their costs. Some charities are having to use a little more in each dollar to help support and sustain their charity model, and that may take away funding from the good that they do in the public.
What about the more well-established charities in New Zealand? It seems it is getting a little more challenging for these charities to obtain adequate amounts of fundraising too. Particularly if you view the ad hoc examples as being in some sort of competition with these charities. I mean, in some ways they’re all trying to get the same public dollar, aren’t they? With over 27,000 registered charities in New Zealand it’s easy to see how our populations pockets are struggling to create enough wealth to give away. Not to mention that in today’s society, with costs increasing everywhere, the phrase “disposable income” barely makes it into a budget spreadsheet!
Some charities have generous levels of corporate sponsorship, which would help them meet their objectives to some degree. However, not every charity is lucky enough to secure a decent amount of on-going funding. Most have to resort to fundraising, which then becomes are larger part of what they do and the focus on their charitable deed may at times be second in line. But that’s just the way it is right now. You have to spend a dollar to get someone to give you a dollar, or hopefully two!
This is why I feel strongly that charities need to evolve. And I believe that businesses, SMEs, are going to be the ones who help make this happen. It’s the marriage of the two which creates Social Enterprise. It’s time for SMEs to start building charitable causes into their business models, where they consider how much they can give away to help people, before they consider their net profit. Give the consumer an option to sort their needs out with your business and give a donation, all in one transaction, at no extra cost to them. They need a Social Enterprise option.
You know, it’s not what we take but what we give that makes us rich. We can all help those in need, we can. It just takes a little bit of planning at the early stages of building your business. Evolve has done this and I’d be more than happy to discuss how our model works to see if it can work with your business too.