Support a cause
is your business giving back?
Identify a social or community cause to support, make a plan and get started! Supporting a cause doesn’t necessarily need to cost a lot of money. In addition to donating money or products from your business, you could donate staff time (as volunteers), encourage visitors to donate, and raise awareness of the cause.
The cause(s) you support should align with your business values. There are many causes to support in your local community.
Volunteering
Volunteering is a great way to give back to the many community and environmental causes doing good work on little, or no, budget. It's also a good way to learn new skills and meet people. Volunteering opportunities are available for both groups and individuals, and there are a variety of ways you can volunteer.
Team volunteer days
You could offer your team a paid volunteer day to support a cause collectively. Getting together as a team to volunteer your time is good for team building and staff morale as well as giving back to the community or working to protect or restore the environment. Read on the TIA blog about our annual volunteer day for staff.
Individual volunteering
Another option is to offer your staff the opportunity to volunteer for a day while still being paid. You could suggest a cause they may like to support, or allow them to support something they feel passionate about.
Skills-based volunteering
As well as volunteering time, skills-based volunteering is incredibly value. Skills-based volunteering involves using the skills, talents, networks or resources you use every day, to help someone else. This could include working on projects, helping with marketing, setting up education programmes, assisting with strategic planning, etc. Specialist skills are an expensive cost for charity and not-for-profit organisations, so help in this area can be incredibly valuable. For the volunteers, it's very rewarding to be able to use your skills to give back. And it looks great on your CV too!
Helpful Resources
Conservation Volunteers
With offices in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Punakaiki and Dunedin, Conservation Volunteers works in partnership with community groups, all levels of government, non-governmental organisations and many of New Zealand’s businesses to tackle a diverse range of conservation projects. They believe in a healthy and sustainable environment, and for everyone to be involved in managing and protecting that environment. Discover your local places and make a difference to our natural habitat by joining one of Conservation Volunteers NZ one-day projects. There's usually no cost for these projects, and you can join for just one event, or come as often as you like. Find out more on the Conservation Volunteers website or email wellington@cvnz.org.nz.
Volunteering New Zealand
The Volunteering New Zealand network has centres around New Zealand connecting volunteers with organisations in their community that need help.
everydayhero
If you are passionate about a particular cause, or are looking for ways to give back, everydayhero is the perfect place to start! With not-for-profit organisations covering many major cause areas available, you can fundraise or donate to the cause that matters to you.