Purpose Business Model

 In 2018, donations to nonprofits in the United States amounted to almost $360 billion. That’s more money than spent on lottery tickets ($80 billion), pregnancies ($55 billion), and buying alcohol ($223 billion) combined—and what’s even more encouraging is the fact that new ways to positively support underserved youth are being implemented every year.

Here are some of the top ways companies have prioritized giving over receiving within the corporate environment.


Profit + Purpose Business Model

Profit & purpose business (also known as cause marketing and conscious capitalism), has revolutionized how companies operate nationwide. This is because customers uniformly prefer to support enterprises that support a good cause, whether it is of benefit to society or the environment. It is rapidly spreading to become the way a company or brand increase profitability along with bettering the communities in which they share.

This business model connects the revenue-generating facet of business with its charitable side. The Marandi Foundation suggest every company that has reason to call itself socially progressive feels they have an equal moral obligation to do good in tandem with pleasing their shareholders. They are motivated to place a higher value on the philanthropic side of business operations.


Matching Gift Programs

When a big corporation has employees who regularly contribute to legitimate nonprofits and charity organizations, they can support their employees’ causes. This is a brilliant way of funding a nonprofit organization that workers are passionate about. The most common way the company donates is via a Matching Gift Program.

This program has been implemented in numerous corporate philanthropic-centric companies such as Apple, Expedia, Google, and General Electric. All an employee has to do when they work at one of the companies that provide this program is to submit a form to their employer. It must provide proof of its donation to the nonprofit. When the company receives this request, they match the donation amount the employee made.

Volunteer Grant Programs

Another way to implement a corporate giving agenda is to initiate a volunteer grant program. A list of the nonprofits to which the employee can donate their free time can be selected by the company itself, or suggestions on which nonprofits the workers wish to benefit from can be discussed. The employees are always kept in the loop about the programs the company has chosen for the volunteer grant program.

It works very simply. Whenever an employee donates their time to the nonprofit organization, they can afterwards submit an application to their employer. The company then donates the equivalent amount in per hour remuneration to the charity. This option is a very popular way to give back to the community. The employee gives of their time, and the company provides money. It's the ultimate win/win. High profile companies that have active volunteer grant programs are Walmart, ExxonMobil, and Google.

These are the most successful ways that companies and brands can give back while still keeping the profitability machine turning. The consumer is sure to support these efforts by opening their pocketbooks as well.