As the year winds down and we enter the season of giving, it’s a timely moment to reflect on the importance of charitable giving. With environmental and social issues more pressing than ever, business support for and collaboration with non-profits and community organisations is absolutely critical to solve our shared challenges.
Too often, however, business’ charitable giving is reactive, fragmented, or treated as a tick-box exercise. The result? Efforts that feel good, but don’t always do good. What’s needed is a more strategic, values-aligned approach, one that prioritises long-term partnerships over one-off donations, and offers time and energy as well as money. While charities are always grateful to receive sponsorship, when businesses give with purpose and intent, and build long term relationships the impact is far greater.
Our approach to giving is grounded in our own values as a sustainability consultancy. We donate 1% of our annual revenue equally between two charities whose mahi we admire deeply: Conservation Volunteers New Zealand (CVNZ) and KidsCan. We give time too, through team volunteering and community initiatives, such as planting days with CVNZ. Each Christmas, we also gift the planting of a native tree to our clients through Trees That Count — a gesture that reflects our circular economy ethos, giving back to the land rather than creating more waste. Importantly, our giving isn’t ad hoc. It’s embedded in our calendar and budget and reviewed annually. Globally, we’re seeing a shift towards greater and more sustained corporate giving. Rather than spreading donations thinly across many causes, more businesses are choosing to form deep relationships with a small number of charities whose work aligns with their values.
In addition to financial giving, we encourage our staff to contribute to causes close to their hearts outside of work — whether that’s Nick volunteering on the board at Kelmarna Community Farm, Charlotte organising community cleanups in Te Atatū Peninsula, or Kate volunteering at local repair cafés. True giving isn’t only financial — it’s about showing up for our communities in meaningful ways.
When done right, charitable giving can be a powerful lever for brand trust, employee engagement, and long-term resilience. It signals that your organisation stands for something bigger. Businesses that give consistently and meaningfully are more likely to attract purpose-driven customers and talent, while also strengthening relationships with local communities – and positively impact the lives of others. It’s also important for businesses to acknowledge that these relationships are not one way. Charitable organisations have much than can offer back to donor businesses in the way of subject matter expertise, experience, and trusted external insights and feedback.
The expectation on businesses to act with integrity is only growing. The latest Kantar and Sustainable Business Council (SBC) Better Futures 2025 report found that, of the 1,000 New Zealanders surveyed, 28% found action by business to be below its perceived responsibility on environmental issues, and 20% below on social issues. Consumers, investors, and employees are increasingly asking: what do you stand for, and how do you show it? Charitable giving is one of the clearest ways to demonstrate your values in action. But to have real impact, it needs to be consistent, strategic, and backed by genuine relationships. This festive season is the perfect time to rethink how — and why — you give. Make it count.
Written by Kate Lodge, Sustainability Consultant at Go Well Consulting.
AI Disclaimer: AI was used to help review and refine this blog. All content has been reviewed an edited by our team.