Does charity yield more sales? Other benefits?

[jlwilliams]

I'm working my way through creating a brand in a fairly crowded industry. There are days when I see and feel progress, and there are times when this feels like it's over the horizon somewhere, and I spend too much time analyzing each nuance.

I have identified an under served niche that I'm going after. I have the LLC process started (using a lawyer so that I get an entity I can have confidence in, but the lawyer does add time and cost) I have an artist who is doing some concept drawings for my logo and labels. Label appearance is huge, particularly in a crowded field of players. I'm still working on a couple aspects of my marketing plan; which is where I come to this question.

If I donate a portion of sales to a charity and publicize that in my add copy and on the web site (and everywhere I can squeeze the words "A portion of each sale benefits ____") will that translate to more sales? I'm sure that some people are motivated by that, and I can't help but think it will open doors, but I am wondering if I can quantify a likely prediction as to what this will do for my business.

There are many reasons I think that giving has a place in this venture. Some philanthropic, and some more self centered and I'm not ashamed of that. I can help people, and I can give my brand the public face of integrity. I can legally get tax benefits from this, so why shouldn't I? I can likely get some publicity from the charities I help, and I can give them publicity by mentioning them in my advertising. It just seems like something that has a lot of good to go around. Is this something I'm considering in large part because it will benefit me? Yes. Helping others will help me. Not least of which by raising my credibility, which is likely greater than the direct gain of people buying because they support the charity. I think that when I go from my initial e-tail phase to JV-ing with marketers who can catapult my brand, this sort of action at the inception of the project will make my brand something that credible, successful marketers want to be a part of.

Do any of you do this? How does it do for you? Are there any considerations you'd like to bring up as I contemplate this possible move?

 

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