Well, to be honest, I think ORB is already a Small Business Star, as are all our wonderful members. But #SmallBusinessStar is a new, time-limited match-funded campaign launched by the fabulous Work for Good Team for donations paid into the funding account in December. We are going to get involved and I hope you will, too – even if you are not already an #ORBMember! So, let me tell you how the campaign works and how we are getting involved and how you could too.

THE PRINCIPLES OF CAUSE MARKETING

Firstly, it is important to remember that if you are doing any cause marketing whereby you are raising funds for a specific charity and promoting that in your marketing, you need to have a Commercial Participation Agreement in Place (CPA). But this can be complicated and costly, and many charities will not consider CPAs with small businesses. But, as explained in a previous blog, a much easier route is to become a member of Work for Good, a fundraising platform that helps small businesses donate to charity through their sales and publicise their giving. There is no charge to join.

Be a #smallbusinessstar by supporting local charities

OUR CHARITY REFERRAL CAMPAIGN

In October, we launched a Charity Referral Month via the Work for Good platform, with 25% of new member’s first year membership fees being donated to national food distribution charity FareShare. We are now extending the campaign for another month in order to participate in #smallbusinessstar

WORK FOR GOOD LAUNCHES #SmallBusinessStar

From 1st-31st December 2020 Work for Good will be doubling donations raised by their members from the sales of products and services and paid to charities via their platform (up to £500 per business, whilst funds remain.)

For ORB, this means:

25% of the first year’s annual membership fee for all new members joining in November will be paid into our Work for Good account as a donation to FareShare. The money will be paid into the account in early December in order to receive match funding, bringing the value of the donation up to 50% of those annual membership fees.

HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED?

  • Refer suitable companies to apply for membership of ORB. Just direct them to our home page or send an introduction email to me via jill@orbuk.org.

Do please stress that by joining in November, a donation worth half of their annual membership will be donated to FareShare (subject to Work for Good  match funding)

  • Register with Work for Good, set up your CPA online – it is all very easy to do – and run your own campaign with a charity of your choice.

You can choose to donate a specific amount or a percentage, and that could be for every sale, or just relating to specific products and/or services.

You can pick a charity of your choice, there are hundreds listed, but if your preferred charity is not already included you could encourage them to register. It does not cost charities anything to do so, but 5% of donations is deducted by Work for Good to support their work.

So, please, is you are already a member of ORB, do signpost appropriate companies to apply for membership.

If you are not already a member, now is the perfect time to consider joining.

And whether you are a member or not, if you have not already done so, please register to join Word for Good and set up your first fundraising campaign.

Don’t forget, as we always say:

 

DOING GOOD IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS!