Why Choosing a Charity of the Year Matters

We have been fortunate in the past to have been chosen as the Charity of the Year by a number of organisations, big and small. Being the “chosen one” is always an amazing endorsement for us, and for businesses it is also a fantastic opportunity to improve corporate social responsibility and staff engagement!

In this blog, Biba, our Fundraising Officer, explains why picking a local charity like MFT as your Charity of the Year is not only good for business for also for your mental health, your community and society in general!

Advantages for corporates or organisations

Choosing a Charity of the Year has the following benefits:

• It means that your staff can rally behind a common cause. It’s a great way to bring everyone together for the same purpose, which can lead to enhancing your work culture and team spirit too. There’s a whole lot of pride when you support a charity, and that filters down to your employees and customers too. Your staff will be able to organise or take part in fundraising events of their choice – whether it is a bake sale, a quiz night, a raffle, a challenge event (fancy a half or full marathon?) or a golf day. They can do so as part of a team or individually!
• It demonstrates a commitment to social responsibility and the community.  Your involvement can be promoted on your website, your social media channels and any other marketing you do which will be seen by both potential customers and potential employees.
• It can create shared values with your employees, potentially offering greater job satisfaction, pride in working for a company which helps relevant local causes and can increase overall staff engagement.
• It can offer your business the opportunity to engage with your local community in a variety of beneficial ways.
• It can be good for your own mental health – not just if you’re supporting a mental health charity like MFT! Knowing you are helping others is a sure-fire way to feel you’ve made a positive difference.
• It means that we can offer your staff some free training about ending the stigma about mental health. Alongside MFT, you will be campaigning for a better, kinder and more accepting workplace and society. You’ll also be given the chance to write blogs or share social media posts on our channels about how your business or your staff manage their mental health, or how they are raising awareness of mental health through their fundraising activities, which will strengthen your employer brand.

Advantages for local charities

For a local charity like MFT, when they are chosen by a business or an organisation to be their Charity of the Year, it can make an enormous difference:

• It validates what we do to support our local community. It spotlights our mission, giving positive reinforcement that what we are doing is recognised and celebrated. It is a real mood booster for our staff and volunteers too!
• It offers a new income stream via donations, fundraising activities and potential sponsorship income from challenge events (half marathons, full marathons, tough mudder team events etc). At MFT, we are lucky to get funding from local authorities for our services but that doesn’t cover all of our costs to allow us to go the extra mile, develop our own projects and campaigns, and deliver first class mental health services, free of charge for local residents.
• It helps us share what we do with a new audience, potentially reaching people who need our services and support.
• It helps us to meet new supporters who might want to fundraise for us or make a donation to us.
• It helps to educate people about important societal issues. In our case, educating people about mental health and dispelling any misconceptions about having poor mental health. It furthers our vision to change attitudes about mental health in society so that anyone experiencing any kind of mental or emotional health issues feels confident to ask for help, receives the right support for as long as they need, and are inspired to develop the skills that will help them to restore and/or maintain their own wellbeing over the long term so they can lead a fulfilling life.

Would you like to choose MFT to be YOUR charity of the year?

To find out more, please contact Biba, our Fundraising Officer, at biba@maryfrancestrust.org.uk or on 07877 846392.

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