3 TRENDS DEFINING BUSINESS GIVING IN 2024

Here at B1G1, we’ve always held the belief that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can contribute vastly to the cumulative giving we see in the world.

Since we started, our mission has been to equip business owners and their teams with an intuitive platform for supporting their favorite Worthy Causes.

Now more than ever, SMEs need to be at the forefront of change.

We now need all of us

This is what business leader and B1G1 supporter Paul Polman emphasized in a conversation about what sustainability means.  He called on businesses to engage in sustainable giving on a global scale by creating one small impact at a time.

Watch his entire message below.

So with that in mind, let’s look at three emerging trends, not just to watch out for, but to adapt for your giving journey.

Leveraging AI in Your Giving

Small and medium-sized businesses tend to have a variety of tools in day-to-day operations. As such there are also apps and software you and your company can leverage for giving activities.

AI tools like ChatGPT are creating plenty of buzz online. And, in my opinion, rightly so. It is one of the most versatile (and intelligent) tools out there. You can leverage it to drum up ideas on how to make giving more creative and even seamless.  

Sisense is another helpful tool. It enhances efficiency by simplifying workflows, automating tasks and content generation, creating personalized communications, and dynamically optimizing impact segmentation.

AI gives organizations the ability to decipher patterns and trends. Thereby strengthening the connection between donors and the causes they support.

Engaging Your Business and Team

It’s time for your business’s giving initiatives to level up this year.  With that, here are some strategies you can incorporate so you and your team can be more engaged with the advocacies you support.  

Personalized engagement - 2024 is the year to get team members to contribute to the impacts that your company is creating. For starters, you can appoint a Giving Leader who can develop a giving strategy that’s aligned with your company’s core values.

If you already happen to be a B1G1 member, the Giving Leader can manage Impact Tokens and allocation mechanics for your team members. Once that’s done, employees can then be encouraged to structure their giving accordingly.

For example, a team member can, with the Giving Leader’s help, set up recurring giving towards his/her chosen projects for each birthday. Providing everyone on your team with the ability to create personal impacts adds a layer of personalization that goes beyond mere transactions, creating a deeper sense of connection.

Just watch Miren Oca, founder of Ocaquatics School, talk about how partnering with B1G1 has made team members and even clients more engaged with her business.

The power of storytelling - The emotive power of storytelling remains a potent tool in business and team engagement. As a company with a well-developed giving strategy, you can craft narratives that will resonate and inspire other businesses to support the causes they believe in.

Sharing your giving in the form of compelling anecdotes from team members and inspiring stories from clients allows people to emotionally connect with the impact of their contributions, reinforcing the significance of their support.

Creating Sustainable Giving

We are experiencing a cost-of-living crisis. With wallets stretched thin, developing recurring donation programs allows people to continue supporting their favorite charities. As detailed in Qgiv’s Sustainable Giving Report, 70% of respondents had their finances negatively impacted. Despite this, a staggering 80% of those surveyed expressed an unwavering commitment to continue their philanthropic efforts.

Creating impactful giving is a powerful way for individuals to contribute positively to the world. However, it is important to be able to give in a way that’s sustainable and cost-effective too.

B1G1 facilitates this by connecting businesses and individuals with a curated list of impactful projects worldwide, allowing them to choose the causes that resonate with their values. If you’d rather give as an individual rather than a business, this approach creates lasting and meaningful impacts, fostering a sense of connection and purpose in your giving journey.

The platform's transparency and accountability further enhance the effectiveness of these efforts, making it a valuable tool for those seeking to make a difference tangibly and sustainably.

What does all this mean for you?

Technology will have a great impact on giving in 2024. Advancements like AI and intuitive donation platforms will make supporting worthy causes easier. A personalized approach will foster a sense of connectedness and community.

Finally, enabling team members to set up recurring giving activities increases their engagement and commitment to creating impacts themselves. This in turn will increase the cumulative giving your company does without having to spend a lot of money and effort to do so.