Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/95079
philanthropy THE GIFT OF GIVING GARETH THOMAS, CEO OF LIFETIME DISTRIBUTORS, SPEAKS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF GIVING BACK AND CHOOSING THE CHARITY THAT'S RIGHT FOR YOUR COMPANY. Australian workers and families are, in world terms, generous people. While the US has a tradition of philanthropy as a means of redistributing wealth, in Australia we need to tend to this in our own way. When it comes to giving back, many of us have too many calls upon our limited funds, which can mean we spread what we have so thinly that we don't see any difference. A more strategic approach has worked for us at Lifetime Distributors, where we recognised we needed to do something – we couldn't do an enormous amount, but we wanted to make a difference with what we did. It was important that our teams were involved in every way and could feel some pride in the part they played – better still if our customers did. But what to do? We decided to make a five-cent donation from every product sold. This doesn't sound like a lot, but we sell four million units a year so it quickly added up; over the years we have donated millions of dollars. We tell our customers this and they are pleased to work with us. As I said, Australians are generous people and if you offer a service that has an upside for everybody – including the charity and the joy of giving to it – customers are more likely to enjoy working with you. It also makes a difference back in the office and with our franchised book distributors and their subcontractors across Australia (they may have come to your offices). It's fantastic that we can combine earning a living with giving something to a great cause. If you and your colleagues can put some money aside on a consistent basis as part of your modus operandi (as opposed to a one-off splurge) it can change the way people think about their jobs. 84 Of course, the cause is vitally important. We are in the business of distributing books to schools, offices and other workplaces. Children's books are always an important part of our business, so it's logical that we support children's charities. We are national and local so we support a national charity, Make-A-Wish Australia, as well as regional service providers such as the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth. Choosing an affordable and consistent level of donation and linking it with how your business performs, as well as choosing charities that fit with what your company does, is all part of an approach that, for Lifetime Distributors and its customers, has worked very well. It's also important to recognise that your charity contribution is part of your marketing expenditure and, where you can, you need to convert the contacts, kudos and goodwill it generates into more business, which, in turn, ensures you can continue to donate. Working with charities that recognise these needs as a fact of life is also important, and some charities really understand this, but it is worth remembering that you will need to choose them as carefully and wisely as you would any other long- term business partner. Gareth Thomas is the CEO of Lifetime Distributors, Australia's largest direct-to-customer display marketing company supplying books and gift products to more than 38,000 workplaces each week. Visit: www.lifetimedistributors.com.au