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Just as a business plan helps a company stay on course toward its financial goals, a charitable giving and community involvement plan - however informal - can help a business achieve its company and community goals. A giving and community involvement plan can help you:

• Make wise decisions about which community programs to support.
• Strengthen ties to your customers and your community.
• Keep track of where your giving and community involvement resources are going each year.
• Increase the sense of satisfaction you and your employees derive from charitable giving and community involvement.

Many businesses want to know how their giving and community involvement can be more effective. Others would like help starting a giving program.  The Minnesota Business Giving and Community Involvement Workbook can help you set up and carry out a charitable giving and community involvement plan. And the Minnesota Business Gives workshop, Strategies for Smart Giving, can help you learn when to say "yes" and how to say "no."

Workbook: The Minnesota Business Giving and Community Involvement Workbook

This Workbook was developed by Building Business Investment in Community (BBIC), a statewide collaboration of 14 business and philanthropy organizations in Minnesota, as part of a four-year project to promote, encourage, and expand business giving and community involvement in Minnesota.

The Workbook contains all of the information you need to launch or redesign a giving program for your business. It is available on-line or may be purchased for $24.95, by sending an e-mail to jreis@mnchamber.com.

Workshops: Strategies for Smart Giving

Business owners and managers are eager to respond to community needs, but relatively few have a plan guiding the distribution and use of their charitable contributions. This two-hour workshop will help you better understand how and why you give and how to be more strategic about what you give and to whom.
 
Each participant receives a copy of the Workbook as a guide for discussion. The workshop features examples of tools and processes you can use to address critical giving decisions. By sharing insights and experiences, participants will gain new perspectives, test ideas and get advice on giving and community involvement practices.

This workshop is designed to be flexible to fit the needs of a local community, an industry group or an individual business. It also can serve as a customized, in-house training where a facilitator works with an individual business and its key team members. The result is the same: a relevant giving plan for your business.

To learn more about scheduling a workshop or customized training, contact Jackie Reis at jreis@mnchamber.com,