|
Spring 2006
Minnesota Business
Gives Builds Main-Street Giving
|
Minnesota Business Gives provides:
|
Strategies for Smart Giving
The Minnesota Business Gives two-hour workshop helps companies put together a giving plan for their charitable giving and community involvement. The workshop is flexible and designed to fit the community, industry group or individual business. The Minnesota Business Giving and Community Involvement Workbook, used in the seminar, contains all the information necessary to launch or redesign a program.
The Minnesota Business Giving and Community Involvement Workbook
Minnesota Council on Foundations
100 pages, 2004, $25
A workbook from Minnesota Business Gives and its 14 Building Business Investment in Community Partners,
this guide helps business people in Minnesota start giving programs and learn how to make their giving and community involvement programs more successful.
Recognition Program
Minnesota Business Gives recognizes businesses for their commitment and contributions to the community, based on the Minnesota Keystone Program standard of 2 percent or more of pretax earnings. Through this program, the smallest business can be recognized in the same way as the largest.
Business Scorecard
Minnesota Business Gives has a scorecard to help small businesses see how their giving practices compare with comparable-sized businesses in Minnesota, from fewer than 20 employees up to 500 employees or more. A business owner can review a list of giving practices, including product donations, employee volunteerism and matching employee charitable donations, to identify opportunities. Minnesota is the only state in the country to have this level of benchmarking data.
Giving Stories
Minnesota Business Gives promotes giving stories to illustrate ways businesses of all sizes and types are investing in communities and showing results. Stories are organized by employee size, type of industry and geographic region. The program offers a story template for businesses around the state to capture and share their giving stories and giving practices.
minnesotabusinessgives.org
The Minnesota Business Gives website is a comprehensive source of information on business giving and community involvement for businesses in Minnesota. The site provides access to tools, resources and giving stories.
|
The desire to give back to their communities is fundamental to many businesses, no matter the size, industry or location. A collaborative project, Minnesota Business Gives, is tapping into that basic desire statewide and is providing tools for creating and strengthening business giving and programs to recognize commitment to giving.
Minnesota Business Gives grew out of work between 2001 and 2004 on Building Business Investment in Community, a project of the Minnesota Council on Foundations, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and 12 Minnesota business and philanthropic organizations. Minnesota Business Gives was the result of that four-year project and is now housed and coordinated by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.
The program partners with community Chambers around the state. Since January 2005, 18 local Chambers of Commerce have joined the program, with a goal of adding an additional eight to 10 Chambers before year-end.
"Minnesota Business Gives offers three primary aspects to local communities: workshops on smart giving, help recruiting participating businesses and local recognition programs," said Jackie Reis, program consultant. "It's a complete package focused on the concept that strong businesses make strong communities."
Reis and Bill King, president of the Minnesota Council on Foundations, conduct the workshops around the state. To date, they have presented 26 two-hour workshops for 150 state businesses.
"The Minnesota Council on Foundations is pleased to be a founder of this effort to promote philanthropy throughout the state and to help businesses in their efforts to give back to their local communities," said King. "The Minnesota Business Gives program fits with the Council's mission to strengthen and expand philanthropy in the state of Minnesota. Because the programs are locally ‘owned,' the local Chambers gain a wonderful service for their members."
Workshop participants find the seminars very helpful. Most often, they come to understand they are not the only ones learning when to say "yes" and how to say "no." One Owatonna business owner said, "I learned that having a plan gives me the power to feel in control of my giving."
The recognition portion of the program is adapted from the Minnesota Keystone Program and acknowledges those businesses that give cash or in-kind contributions to charitable organizations equal to at least 2 percent of their pretax earnings. The first three award programs recognized 24 businesses in Willmar, six in Faribault and five in Sleepy Eye. Each company received a framed letter of congratulations and thanks from Governor Pawlenty.
Minnesota Business Gives itself has been recognized nationally, winning one of four U.S. Chamber of Commerce awards in 2005.
For more information about Minnesota Business Gives, contact Jackie Reis at jreis@mnchamber.com.
Eighteen Community
Chambers Partner in Minnesota
Business Gives:
- Albert Lea – Freeborn County Area Business Gives
- Alliance of South Metro Chambers Business Gives:
Burnsville Chamber
- Northern Dakota County Chamber
- Bemidji Area Business Gives
- Cambridge-Isanti County Business Gives
- Faribault Area Business Gives
- Grand Rapids Area Business Gives
- Greater Mankato Business Gives
- Minnesota Keystone Program –
Minneapolis Regional Chamber
of Commerce
- North Branch Area Business Gives
- Owatonna Area Business Gives
- Red Wing Area Business Gives
- Saint Cloud Area Business Gives
- Saint Paul Area Business Gives
- Sleepy Eye Area Business Gives
- Waconia Area Business Gives
- Willmar Lakes Area Business Gives
- Winona Area Business Gives
"Our business, Nelson's County Market in Faribault, has gained valuable tools and strategies by attending the Minnesota Business Gives program through our local Chamber. The feedback our Chamber received was very positive. Local businesses appreciated learning how to be savvy philanthropists while both promoting their businesses and contributing to their community's needs."
Chris Nelson,
Owner, Nelson's County Market,
Faribault"As a Chamber president for over 20 years working in three different communities, the one common factor I found in each is how willing businesses are to give back in their communities but how very modest they are about their giving. We jumped on the opportunity as we thought it would be a great way to recognize our local businesses and thank them for all they do and then encourage others to do the same. It's a win-win for everyone."
Ken Warner,
President,
Willmar Lakes Area
Chamber of Commerce
More
Information from the
Spring 2006 Edition of Giving Forum
|
Thank you to the sponsors of this business giving issue of Giving Forum:
|
| $3,000 Partner |
 |
| $1,000 Supporter |
Mairs and Power |
|
© Copyright 2006 Minnesota Council on
Foundations
Reproduction in any form without the written permission of the publisher
is prohibited.
|
