When small businesses open, local community groups, more often than not, look to them for donations. All of these non-profit organizations have worthwhile aims; but is there a way to choose which of these local community groups to provide sponsorship to?

To answer this question, if the local community provides the lot of your customers, then definitely, you should be associated with that group.

Here’s a short checklist of things to consider and questions to ask when deciding what organizations to support. The list is  going to make deciding for you much easier; and will also bring benefits to both parties.

• Is it a local group? Supporting your local non-profit organizations is usually preferred rather than issuing donations to the umbrella group that handles them.

• Will I make a difference? Remember that a two hundred dollar donation would mean more to a local women’s refuge rather than a local hospital. The donation to a local hospital would probably disappear into a million dollar profit and loss statement. On the other hand, a two hundred dollar donation to a local women’s shelter will go a long way as this can cover for food, shelter, and clothing for a person for a few days. Small amounts of time and money can make a bigger impact to smaller organizations rather than the big ones.

• Can I include it in my business profile? Unfortunately, not everyone has the same views when it comes to what type of activities are done by the local groups in the community. Some people may have some prejudices about some group’s actions and cause. One thing to consider before putting a sponsorship of a local group as part of your business profile is to ask yourself if you would be proud for people to know that you’re sponsoring a certain cause.

• Can I also give time and effort? Some organizations will benefit not from monetary donations, but from your time, skills, or products instead.

Categorise your Sponsorships

It would also be very helpful if you can split your local community sponsorship contributions into two categories: local and hyper-local.

Take a good look at your customer demographics and if a significant number of customers come from a certain geographic are, then you can consider supporting organizations within that community. You can group contributions under this as local.

Another situation is that when you have a few local futsal teams asking for your donations, then perhaps supporting the local futsal league would be the most beneficial. Contributions that fall under this category can be classified as hyper-local.

Be Practical

Another suggestion is that you put emotions aside first and treat sponsorships as business decisions. Personally, you can make any donation to your preferred organization anytime, but if your business will be involved, always make decisions based on the best interest of your business.

Be a Proud Contributor

There is no shame in letting everyone know that you’ve done the community some service. You can put up signs or include in your marketing materials that you’re a proud supporter of a certain community group. Furthermore, you can also put a link to their website on yours. And if you’re supporting an event, then make sure to get all the publicity and exposure that you can so that you can use this as leverage for your business.