As we enter the last two months of the year and begin executing our holiday marketing plans, there’s a shift in our sentiment toward our audience and each other. In addition to the nostalgia of everything that’s happened over the last year, reflection on how far we’ve come, there’s also a spirit of generosity. As we roll into the Thanksgiving holidays, this next month is really the most celebrated time of year to give back.

For a lot of brands, it’s difficult to find soul and spirit of giving when marketing and profit expectations have us largely wound up and oriented toward the bottom line. When you pair this with margin goals many enterprise level companies have (which often need to be met in order to receive bonuses), it gets even more divisive to think of giving when you’re focused on gaining. However, the practice of giving and maintaining steam engine momentum of your business don’t have to be mutually exclusive. You don’t have to sacrifice one in order to do the other. You can do both.

Donate A Portion Of Sales

During the next month, there are many opportunities for folding in giving in a number of ways that can reflect your business in the most personal way. The simplest way is to dedicate a portion of sales during the month, a particular sale day, to a specific charity. Let’s say you have a doggy grooming business, which case perhaps the most poignant way to give back so to offer a percentage of sales to go toward an animal shelter, a rescue service or even the Humane society. This is a favorable way to give back because it requires the most minimal logistics and investment of time and resources to set up. The only thing you have to do is advertise the sale, including it in your email campaigns, social media channels and website. You’d also want to make a big deal of the giving, especially if you’ve raised a nice sum. Contact the charity and express your desire, and see if they’ll allow you to record a live feed of it, create a shareable video to take some photos – all of which are looped back into social media feeds.

Highlight Members Of Your Audience

If you’re looking for more of an intimate and profound way to give back, you can do so by highlighting select members of your audience. Thanksgiving season isn’t just about physical or monetary gains – that’s not the only way to give. When you go around the Thanksgiving table, we take a moment to acknowledge each other. No one says you can’t do the same with your audience. Select a handful to showcase and create a profile for. Maybe you’re doing one per day during Thanksgiving week. To carry this out, create a warm but concise profile of the audience/customer sharing what makes them special and why you’re thankful for them. Be sure to include at least one high-quality photo and some links to their work, website, or cause. By doing this, you’re not only spotlighting gratitude but you’re also interconnecting your network.

Create A Practice Of Giving

The third route is to embrace corporate social responsibility by creating a practice of giving that infuses regular or even seasonal charity with your brand. The best way forward here is to work with a special consultant so you can be guided through the process in a way that allows you to make the most of your time and effort so your company can be both impactful and gain greater visibility in the community.