Silent auction tables are a prime example of an area that can be overlooked when choosing what to donate. As a business, you have bills to pay, but if your charitable actions can also increase taproom sales and visits at the same time, well that can help make you more profitable in the long run, which means more money for charities and community involvement. Simply writing a check or sending money via paypal would be the easiest ways to support a charity, but at the end of the day, you should consider how that donation could potentially benefit your taproom sales as well. We promote it, but also rely on the individual(s) planning it to promote it themselves.” Maximize Your Donations When people come to us to schedule one, we look at whether it’s a cause we support, and schedule them in. We let it be known we do this, but don’t actively recruit for it. “For someone in the community raising money for a charity, we donate $1 for every pint, flight, growler fill, 4-pack, or 6-pack sold for the night. “We have the second Thursday of the month available as ‘Raise a Glass & Cash’ night in the tasting room,” says Lisa North of Great North Aleworks in Manchester, New Hampshire. We promote it, but also rely on the individuals planning it to promote it themselves.” “We let it be known we do, but don’t actively recruit for it. “ Brink for a Cause” at Brink Brewing Company and “Raise a Glass & Cash” at Great North Aleworks are great examples of these types of taproom events. This is a great chance to offer to host an event for the charity that your business can benefit from as well. Instead of sending a gift certificate, merchandise, or a cash donation directly to the charity, without ever interacting with them in person, turn the opportunity into a way to bring new customers into your taproom. You don’t want to be hunting this stuff down later in case of an audit.” Bring the Charity to You Type of event, name of 501(c)(3), EIN, etc. “Another thing I find helpful is to get all the information up front. “We also have requests come through our normal contact form, which we then redirect to the donation request form,” says David Lin of Comrade Brewing Company. You don’t want to be hunting this stuff down later in case of an audit.” Comrade Brewing Company in Denver, Colorado has a great example of a donation request form on their website. It also gives you a chance to let the charity requesting the donation know your requirements and limitations from the beginning, while simultaneously allowing you to collect the necessary information you need to make a decision on their request. Donation Request FormĬreating a template form that you can add to your website or attach to email requests is a great way to organize and collect the numerous requests you may receive. The decision on which charities to support is ultimately yours, but here are some good ideas for managing requests and maximizing the impact your donations can make for charities and your brewery. These can be tough decisions, especially as a steward of supporting local and being community-oriented, but there is a point where you have to look at your bottom line and realize there is only so much goodwill you can afford. How do you decide how much you can donate, and once you have reached the limit, how do you say no? As a small brewery just starting out, it can be overwhelming handling all the requests. While you were writing a business plan for opening your dream brewery, you probably didn’t take into account the amount of charities that would reach out once you open your doors asking for donations like free beer, swag, gift certificates, or just cash.
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