Here’s my top 10 reasons why it’s healthy for your business to contribute time, goods or money to charitable causes:

  1. It does good for people or the cause that you’re contributing to.
  2. People form an impression by seeing how you behave.
  3. These people are your future customers.
  4. These people are your future employees.
  5. Your current employees and customers will be inspired by your altruism.
  6. Employees like to pull together for a common cause that they believe in.
  7. It creates ties with other businesses and can develop partner relationships.
  8. It’s usually tax deductible.
  9. It makes you think about whether making money is the only thing you want your business to achieve.
  10. It helps you be just a little more humble.

So…  Make a difference in the world!  And not just at the end of the year; the need doesn’t go away just because we’re moving into a new year.