My grandfather once asked a surgeon, "You charge twice as much as other surgeons. Why should we pay you a premium for my wife's cosmetic surgery?"

The doctor replied, "First, I'm the best. More importantly, for every surgery I do here, I spend four months a year in South America, performing facial reconstructive surgery for children."

Guess who my grandparents chose?

Add value to your service or product by practicing purposeful giving.

Why you should give back as part of your business plan

1. Increase workplace productivity and morale

Volunteering for events as a team helps everyone get to know one another outside a business environment, creating a shared sense of accomplishment.

People want to know that they work for a company that cares about their local community. Recent polling reflects that almost 80 percent of the U. S. workforce wants to engage with some type of social responsibility initiative.

2. Attract top talent

Aligning business goals with philanthropic endeavors is no longer “cool.” It’s a requirement. In fact, there’s a term for it: conscious capitalism — defined as doing well in your business by doing good in your community.

Young adults entering the workforce will accept lower wages to work for a business that aligns with their values.

3. Improve your company's reputation

You might feel uncomfortable thinking about giving back as a marketing tool. Don't.

You're an empire builder. You have a responsibility to leverage something you would have done anyway as a business growth opportunity.

4. Tax breaks: Giving back stretches your marketing budget

Tax laws are complicated, but contributions to non-profit organizations ease the burden on what you owe.

You don’t have to be Melinda Gates or Oprah Winfrey. They’ve already built their empires. You’re still working on yours!

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Now let's talk about the parameters you set as you seek to give back.

Implement Operation Give-Back to Get Ahead In Your Business

1. Talk to your financial advisor or accountant.

Make sure you understand tax regulations as they relate to your organization.

2. Understand what each prospective cause wants and needs from you.

The last thing you want to do is unintentionally hurt a non-profit. Most legitimate organizations have rules around how their name is used, so it's important that you sit down with a representative.

3. Become the title sponsor for an event that's going to happen anyway.

Unless you're an event planner, you cannot manage all the logistics involved.

Instead, become a title sponsor for an event and add value by providing a workforce of volunteers (your employees). This helps generate money for the charity while also marketing the event to your customers and social network.

4. Offer incentives.

• Provide an additional 3 or 4 days to employees who use that time volunteering for the non-profit of their choice.
• As part of your marketing materials, commit to donating a specific amount of money or time to the charity you've partnered with for every sale or contract signed.
• Provide employees with an option to contribute to their nonprofit of choice every payroll cycle.

When you think about giving back in these terms, you're strengthening relationships with customers and team members while creating a sense of community around your brand.

One step closer to building an empire and a bigger life.

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