Publish a short page saying what your business supports, what it gives, when requests are reviewed and what to send. Point every request to it, decide on a fixed date, and answer everyone.

Another request at the counter

A parent at the counter has a letter about the school's spring fair. A coach phones at lunch about shirts for the under-tens. An email wants a prize for a golf tournament next Friday.

Local businesses hear requests like these every week, and more of them in spring, when fairs, team seasons and summer events are all being planned.

Each one takes a conversation, sometimes a meeting. The answer depends on who took the call, how busy the day was and whether the owner knew the person asking.

So some groups get a yes because they caught the owner on a good afternoon, and others hear nothing at all. The ones who heard nothing tend to remember.

What the page should say

A page on the website can hold the whole policy, so the conversation happens once, in writing.

The fourth is the one that saves the most grief. Most requests arrive a week or two before the event, too late to plan for, and a stated notice period lets you decline without anyone feeling singled out.

Decide the policy first

The page is the easy part. The decisions behind it take an hour with whoever controls the budget.

Set a yearly amount, in money or in goods at cost, and spread it across the months so the spring rush does not use up the whole year.

Choose a focus. Many businesses pick something close to their customers: youth sport in the area they serve, the schools their customers' children attend, a food bank, an animal shelter.

Then decide what you will not do, such as personal fundraising pages, events outside your area or requests that arrive without the details you asked for.

A fixed date for decisions

The most useful line on the page is when requests are reviewed. Once a month suits most small businesses: the first Monday, say, for everything received the month before.

That turns a weekly interruption into one sitting of half an hour, with every request side by side. Comparing them together is also what makes the answers consistent.

Say when people will hear back, and keep to it. A group planning an event needs a no in time to ask someone else, and a quick no is kinder than a slow maybe.

What to ask people to send

A short form collects the same details from everyone and keeps the review quick. Ask only for what you will use.

That usually means the group's name and a contact, the event and its date, what is being asked for, roughly how many people will attend, and what the group offers in return, if anything.

Ask too whether an official donation receipt is available. Many teams and clubs cannot issue one, and it is better to know before agreeing.

Send the form to one inbox that one person reads, not to whoever happens to be on shift.

A worked example

A video game store in a suburban strip mall sells new and used games, consoles and accessories, mostly to teenagers and parents from the surrounding neighbourhoods.

Requests came constantly: school fairs wanting a console as a raffle prize, teams wanting shirt sponsorship, graduation committees, charity gaming marathons. Staff took letters at the counter and promised the owner would call.

Notes went missing, and the owner said yes to whichever requests reached him. Then a parent complained on the store's Facebook page that her school never heard back, while another school got a console.

The owner wrote a page. The store supports schools and youth groups in its part of the city, with gift cards of a set value and one larger prize each season.

Requests are reviewed on the first Monday of the month and need six weeks' notice. Staff now hand anyone who asks a card with the page's address, and every request gets an answer.

Saying no in advance

A written policy does something a phone call cannot: it says no before anyone asks. A group outside your area, or hoping for cash you never give, can see that for itself.

When a request does not fit, the reply can point to the page. A published rule feels less personal than a verdict on one school against another.

Use the same short reply for every decline, thank them for thinking of you, and wish the event well. Consistency is what makes the policy read as fair.

Where the page belongs

It does not need a place in the main menu. A link in the footer, with a plain name such as donations and sponsorship, is where organisers expect to find it.

Link to it from the contact page as well, since that is where someone looking to ask will start. Put the address in the reply staff send to any request that arrives by another route.

Showing what you have supported

A short list of groups supported this year, with their permission, shows the policy is real rather than a polite way of saying no.

A photo of the team in its sponsored shirts, or the prize table at the fair, is also the kind of local material most small business sites lack. Keep it modest, and refresh it each year.

The counter-case

A business that hears two or three requests a year does not need a separate page. A paragraph on the contact page, with the notice period and an email address, covers it.

Some sponsorships are really advertising decisions. Your name on a team's shirts or the rink boards is worth judging as marketing, on its own budget, rather than through the donations policy.

But once requests arrive weekly, write the policy down, put it on the site and decide on a fixed date.

Before the next request

  1. Agree a yearly budget in money or goods.
  2. Choose what you support and where.
  3. Set a monthly review date and publish it.
  4. State a minimum notice period on the page.
  5. Build a short request form sending to one inbox.
  6. Give staff the page address to hand out.
  7. Answer every request, including the ones you decline.

Step three is the one that changes the week. Requests stop being interruptions and become half an hour a month, decided side by side, which is what makes the answers fair.

Stating a policy once on the website, instead of explaining it at the counter, follows the same logic as prices rising with the lower Canadian dollar.

Frequently asked questions

Why put a donation policy on the website?

It answers requests once, in writing, instead of in a conversation each time. Every group sees the same rules, so the answers are consistent.

What should a donation page say?

What you support and where, what you give, how much notice you need, when requests are reviewed, what to send, and what you do not fund.

How often should requests be reviewed?

Once a month suits most small businesses, on a fixed date such as the first Monday. Reviewing requests side by side makes the decisions quicker and fairer.

What should the request form ask for?

The group and a contact, the event and its date, what is asked for, expected attendance, anything offered in return, and whether a donation receipt is available.

How do I decline without offending anyone?

Point to the published policy and use the same short reply each time, with thanks and good wishes. A rule everyone can read feels less personal.

Is a sponsorship the same as a donation?

Not always. Your name on shirts or rink boards is often better judged as advertising, on its own budget, rather than through the donations policy.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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