Corporate citizenship should go both ways

“I’ve known Alan for years. We attended college together, belong to the same Rotary Club and play golf at least once a month. He always beats me! But what bothers me more than his lower handicap on the golf course is that he stopped buying cars from me a couple of years ago, saying he got a better deal in a neighboring state.

“I can understand that, to a point. But what really burns me is he comes to me several times each year to sponsor a Little League team, or donate to whatever charity he is focused on at the moment. I always said yes, but no more.

“Why don’t folks understand that local business support greases the wheels that make community events like Little League happen? If the community does not support us, how can they turn around and ask us for support? There are times my management team and I ask ourselves if all this community involvement we do is worth anything anymore.”

Ouch. This is not an unusual sentiment anymore. The world of corporate support is changing and the marketplace is expanding. I have a friend who runs a bookstore and she wonders what the heck Amazon.com ever does for Hoopfest, and better yet, if anyone even notices anymore.

Some Sponsorship Facts and New Realities

The days of “big bank” or “firm” support for an event each year is no longer a given. The big players continue to ask, and ask even more stringently, “What’s in it for us?” Does this shift align with your own current marketing strategy? Do the folks in some faraway high-rise care about an event or cause in Spokane or Coeur d’Alene?

The more local, state and federal government cutbacks on services, the more responsibility falls to the private sector, and to the “for profit” and “not-for-profit” groups. Resources are stretching thinner each year and the pool of money to do good things with no strings attached has gotten smaller.

Consolidation and loss of local control has shrunk the pool of supporters of local projects. Consider the things Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities used to support locally, or other midsize employers who are now part of huge corporations.

The last five years have seen some very big capital campaigns: the Coeur d’Alene Area Chamber building, the YMCA/YWCA, and the Fox Theater, just to mention a few. So, there are more groups out asking for a whole lot more money, making competition for sponsorships fierce.

Before you head to the keyboard to send me e-mails about the world being flat, the marketplace being everywhere, and local merchants not up to snuff, hold your fingers!

I am aware of all of that, but what I would like you to consider is if all things are equal, does the “corporate citizenship” factor influence your decision-making in any way?

Or does it really boil down to the bottom line?

In an informal discussion with a variety of CEOs as I pondered writing on this subject, I have some sad news. The overwhelming majority feel it makes no difference, and they are asking themselves why they continue to pour money into sponsorships, membership and other events that seem to have little or no impact on building customer relations, or simply getting folks into the store.

I think they are wrong.

Some food for thought (pun intended): Why did you drive past grocery store A to shop at grocery store B?

When you recall the logo of a local Realtor that was all over a community event, do you shift your focus to that firm?

And then look at the most personal of relationships, the one you have with your bank.

Have you considered moving your money and then measuring the local feel of the bank as you make the decision?

I could be Pollyannaish but I think these kinds of things are subtle influences on all of us when we get debit cards out of our wallets. If a business supports something important to us, that message does get filed away in our memory bank and we DO recall that partnership.

If we share values with a business, that drives us to do more consistent business with them as there is comfort and trust embedded in that knowledge.

But even more important, let’s go back to the story that started this column. Before you go and ask for a drink from the trough, make sure you have done more than just blindly drain it.