#GivingTuesday: A Great Day for Business to do Good!

#GivingTuesday 2013 might over, but no it’s not!

Technically, it’s not December 3^rd anymore, so the day itself has passed for the year.  But, in my mind, #GivingTuesday is so much more than a day.  It’s a spirit that’s all about doing good whether you’re an individual, a company, a city, a business, whatever.

My company celebrated #GivingTuesday this year by launching a cool site called Business Doing Good.  It’s free advice about how to build a give-back program into small business.  Although we launched it on December 3^rd, we’re just getting started.  Know of a small business that’s interested in giving back?  Share the site and encourage them to get engaged.

You probably figured out that I’m pretty passionate about small business and the “doing good” thing.  I am.  How can you not be excited about the huge potential there is for business to make positive change?  That’s why I think it’s so great that the following businesses decided to celebrate #GivingTuesday.  They’re great examples of smaller guys doing big things.

• In Niagara, NY, Community Missions collaborated with Lauren Rose Miller and Rellim Hair & Makeup Design Studio to offer free haircuts to those staying at the Emergency Housing Shelter.  Guests received haircuts while employees from a local Target store painted and updated the Shelter’s three-room common area.
• White Butterfly Gift Shop in NJ – donated the proceeds of t-shirt sales to support a mother of 5 who cannot afford her cancer treatment.  The Gift Shop also adopted the family for Christmas, asking community members to donate toys for the children.
• In Chico, California, the Downtown Chico Business Association (DCBA) partnered with the Skyway House and Community Action Agency to complete a variety of Downtown Chico clean-up projects.  Local business owners worked with people recovering from substance abuse on local recycling and beautification projects.
• In Baltimore, The Charmery local ice cream shop created a custom flavor for #GivingTuesday and donated all proceeds to supporting the City’s BMoreGivesMore campaign.
• Limitless Good launched a “Share a Smile, We’ll Share a Meal” campaign to donate to Feeding America.  People were asked to post photos of their smiles on the Limitless Good “Share a Smile” Facebook page and the company provided a $1 donation for each smile shared on #GivingTuesday.  The company was able to fund over 3,500 meals through Feeding America.

Thanks to the #GivingTuesday team at the 92nd Street Y for sharing these fabulous examples of small business doign good!  Do I sense a trend here?  let’s hope!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rachel Hutchisson

Rachel Hutchisson is the vice president of corporate citizenship and philanthropy at Blackbaud, headquartered in Charleston, SC.  She is responsible for the company’s global corporate citizenship efforts, a role that allows her to leverage her 20+ years of experience of working with nonprofit partners.  She is a member of the board of directors for the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) International, the Giving Institute (producers of Giving USA), and the Coastal Community Foundation.  She is also a Past President of the AFP SC Lowcountry chapter. Rachel is a graduate of Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, and received a master’s degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.  A member of Phi Beta Kappa, she is a Renaissance Weekend participant and was the recipient of the Charleston Regional Business Journal’s Influential Women in Business Rising Star Award.  Rachel is an avid soccer fan and spends far too much time driving to remote parts of the state to watch her children play.  Connect with Rachel on Twitter at @RachelHutchssn or on LinkedIn.