Should giving to charity be this hard?

[caroline]

Hi everyone
We are getting ready to sell a new baby product on the market soon. As its baby related we would like to give a percentage of our profits to a baby/ childrens charity. I thought it would be a simple thing to arrange but boy was I wrong! :shock:
First we have to pay to sign a licencing contract for the use of their logo on our product. This I can understand as they need to have control over who is using their logo and if the money is really going where its supposed to. What I was surprised about was the minimum amounts. My first call was to Great Ormond Street Childrens hospital. Having children myself I thought it would be a nice thing to give to such a worthy cause. But when I spoke to them they gave me the impression they only dealt with large Companies who generally give at least £35K a year. Seeing as we were just a small Company we could sign the contract to agree to give £5K a year. Now I couldn't sign a contract to commit myself to that as I don't like putting pressure on myself when its a new product. I was told to come back when we were up and running and able to commit to giving larger amounts.
Then I rang SIDS which is a charity for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. They said they would work with me..great! But when I sent in the product they turned me down flat. Wouldn't let me give them a penny. Turns out they are being supported by a Company with a similar product. So I guess they don't want to upset them? I guess that's understandable.
Next..Tommys and Bliss, both Charitys for premature babies. I'm still waiting to hear back from Tommys and Bliss initially said yes but now they have to think about it and get back to me. :( Blimey, I never knew it was so hard to give to Charity!
Its nothing to do with the product as its just a really nice baby swaddle / sleeping bag combo that's doing a storm in America. I just think the larger charities prefer to deal with large companies. So I'm feeling a bit deflated now. Anyone else ever experience this? :?

[Jayne]

I wouldn't bother if I was you. Save it up and give it to children in need once a year, i'm sure they'd be grateful of it.

It's not charity anymore, it's just business with the sympathy vote to guarantee sales!

Macmillan Nurses are the only charity that I know that gets most of the money given. Top charity!

Jayne :D

[caroline]

Oh and to add to that I've just went on the NSPCC website to enquire and they need 3 years audited accounts before they will let you give. :roll:

[Jayne]

I think it's disgusting Caroline. You should start your own charity to help babies, then at lease you'll know they get it all too.

Jayne :D

[clairemackaness]

Why not try littlehavens as you are an essex based company. Smaller local charities are happy to accept anything they can get

[caroline]

Thanks Girls, good idea I will look into it! I do find it amazing that because we are a small company they don't want to know. I'm sure if I rang and said I was from Mothercare they'd be all ears!

[Jayne]

When you run a multi million pound business Caroline and they ring up and ask for your help, you'll have the satisfaction of telling them to get stuffed, as you are giving direct and missing out little charity companies :lol:

Jayne

[clairemackaness]

You'll also find that if you give to a local charity (also how about first steps community playgroup) you will get a good response from local papers etc, making your local presence better. I have contacts for the Echo and weekly news if you need them.

Claire

[directmarketingadvice]

Caoline

Do you have to align yourself with one charity?

Could you not just say that "x% of our profits go to UK children's charities"?

Obviously, it would be better from a marketing point of view to have the name/logo of a well-known childrens' charity on your packaging/marketing.

However, these charities know this and that's probably why they're very choosy about who they allow to use it.

As far as I'm concerned, these charities are being sensible about this. The've got to be very clear about giving their approval to businesses (and any afiliation with you owuld be seen as giving their approval).

They don't know you from Eve and they've no idea whether you're going to abuse this. So, quite understandably, they're not interested.

Steve

[caroline]

I have emailed little Havens childrens hospice regarding giving to their charity. I don't agree with you Steve, as I think a contract would protect them from any wrong-doings. Also, the product we are selling is very well known in America, has won lots of awards and got great press over there. Its not a product that has not seen the light of day.
Thanks for your offer Claire, I'll let you know how I get on with Havens.
Jayne, that was exactly what I was thinking..some day they will be coming to me.. :wink: :wink:

[Cornish Steve]

What about creating your own foundation? You could contribute a share of profits on a continual basis. Once you reach the threshold required by charities, your foundation could make a large donation.

Don't give up. Charities really do need financial support, and your goals are laudable. We gave a significant amount last year even though we're not yet in revenue generation mode.

[WakingDragon]

I think you have to understand it from the charity perspective. An organisation like Great Ormond Street has a significant and valuable "brand" that they can leverage for fundraising. In order to maintain the integrity of that brand they need to be careful about how they licence it out.

Sorry to say, but if they let all kinds of people put their name/logo on their products that would make it less enticing to potentially huge donors who would see more value in an exclusive deal. That is in addition to the perceived endorsement issue that Steve raises.

I am sure they have not said thet you cannot donate, only that there are restrictions on how you can exploit that fact in connection with your company.

[Pebble Communications]

It is not that they don't want you to 'give'. You can of course freely give them as much as you like.

However, what you want to do is called 'cause-related marketing' - basically using a charity connection to increase sales. All above board and very normal these days but it is something that the charities naturally have to regulate very very closely. Otherwise they will get every Tom, Dick and Harry using their name to flog all sorts of things. They limit the number of these partnerships and also think very carefully about the type of product. Of course, with limited opportunities each year, they will want to go for the ones that raise the most money for them and have a high profile to in return raise their profile - but in the right way.

Otherwise it would be a free-for-all and would devalue the whole lot. You'd also end up with an apparent endorsement on some dubious things or companies that the charities do not wish to be connected to.

Don't you think a cigarette manufacturer would love to do a tie-in with cancer research or something, but of course they are not allowed.

I'm sure it's not you, your product, or your company that has caused the difficulty. It is just a matter of scale and the charities wanting to do what is going to be best for them and their supporters.

[caroline]

"Don't you think a cigarette manufacturer would love to do a tie-in with cancer research or something, but of course they are not allowed." - Fiona.
(sorry I don't know how to quote that so I've copied and pasted.)

I couldn't see that Fiona, as no cigarette manufacturer would want to draw attention to the fact cigarettes give you cancer. I couldn't really compare that to our product either, as our product is designed for babies to give them a good nights sleep so in my eyes a product that is good for babies is not derogatory to their charity, like a cigarette would be to a cancer charity.

Anyway I'm happy to say I have spoken to the lady in charge of Corporate fundraising in little Havens charity www.havenshospices.org.uk
She was thrilled at the prospect of having us on board and she is coming to our house next Wednesday to discuss it. They have no minimum amounts, and are desperate to raise money, any amount. They only get 2% from the government and the rest is gained from fundraising. Thanks so much Claire for putting me in touch with them, I'm really happy to be working with them, and am glad the bigger Charities turned me down now! :D