PHILANTHROPY
Encourage good behavior SOME BUSINESSES CAN GIVE their products to causes, and those products, whether it’s paper towels or pizza, help defray overall overhead for that charity. In many cases, Culver’s supplies free food for emergency workers. Red Cross and Salvation Army during fires or other disasters are two examples. In other cases, Miller might offer to help a group do its own fundraising. For example, Culver’s might: Help a group hold a build-your-own-sundae event; Invite charity volunteers or celebrities to serve as waitstafffor-the-night (in return for a percentage of that night’s profits); or Help a group hold a world’s-longest-sundae event, (wherein eaves troughs hold soft-serve custard with all the fixings, and portions are sold). Another solution Miller has found is trading gift cards or coupons with local companies. If a company asks for Culver’s gift cards to give as employee gifts, Miller asks that business for gift cards from their business for her employees. “Win-win situation on that,” Miller said.
Be smart and do a flea-check JUST BECAUSE IT’S A NON-PROFIT organization doesn’t mean it uses its money well, the BBB’s Wollangk advised. Before your business gives its well-earned money to anyone soliciting funds for a cause, do your research. “Make sure you know who you are dealing with,” Wollangk said. “If a person wants to place collection jars on your counter for the humane society or whatever, check with that organization to see if that person is actually from that organization.” A few years ago, a charity used the words “Wisconsin” and “veterans” in its title and solicited money from donors. Posing as an Appleton business, it gave a local address – which turned out to be a mailing center downtown. The charity turned out to be an out-of-state outfit that gave 90 percent of its money to unnamed organizations. “There are really some pretty questionable things out there,” Wollangk said. “We all want to help; we all feel badly that so many veterans have been deployed for so long.” But just because it has an official-sounding name doesn’t mean it’s an official charity, she said. When you buy an ad, make sure you know who you’re buying from and when the ad will be published, Wollangk cited as another example. When the J. J. Keller Foundation Board of Directors weighsin on grant requests, it asks questions about who the money will impact. “Of course we look first at whether the request fits with our mission and service area (Fox Valley), but there are many other considerations,” Keller-Krikava said. “For example, beyond the importance of the issue being addressed in the grant request, is there a solid plan or strategy in place for accomplishing the goals? Does the proposed program hold promise to affect the root cause of poverty in our community? How does the proposed project bring about positive change?” An alumna of Ripon College, Lee Marie Reinsch is a freelance writer based in Green Bay.
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