Business giving, including donating to charity, has become an increasingly important way for companies to demonstrate their values and create positive social impact. When businesses think about charitable giving, there is a temptation to default to the familiar: nationally recognised names with polished campaigns and established infrastructure. It’s an understandable instinct. But it doesn’t always lead to the greatest impact. In fact, it can mean missing out on returns that reach far beyond your ESG report.
Small charities are doing some of the most effective, innovative, and community-rooted work happening in the UK today. Businesses that choose to support them find that the benefits multiply – for their people, their reputation, and their communities, not just their giving figures. For many organisations, these charity partnerships become an important part of how they create lasting social impact.
Why Small Charities Deliver Greater Impact
Small charities are close to the communities they serve. Many are founded by people with lived experience of the issues they’re addressing. Because of this, they respond quickly to emerging needs, without the weight of institutional complexity slowing them down.
Small charities – those with an income of less than £1m – make up 96% of the sector. Yet they receive just 16% of its total income (NCVO Civil Society Almanac 2024). It’s a striking gap, and one that businesses are well placed to help close through meaningful business giving and long-term support.
Small charities make up 96% of the sector but receive just 16% of its total income.
Funding that reaches these organisations tends to go further, too. That’s because lower overheads mean a greater proportion of every pound reaches the people and places it’s intended for.
They’re also frequently reaching people and communities that larger organisations miss — for example, those who don’t engage with mainstream services, or who live in areas underserved by bigger providers.
The Business Benefits of Supporting Small Charities
This isn’t just about generosity. Supporting small charities can deliver real, tangible value for your business too – across reputation, your people, and how genuine your purpose looks from the outside.
Employee engagement and retention
Employees care deeply about where their company puts its support. Over half of UK employees (54%) say working for a company that supports charities increases their pride in their job. A similar number (51%) say it increases their loyalty to the company, rising to 63% among 16 to 24 year olds. A further YouGov study found that 47% say it makes them more willing to go the extra mile at work (UK Fundraising).
47% of employees say that working for a company that supports charities makes them more willing to go the extra mile at work.
Directing that support toward grassroots causes, rather than large national campaigns, tends to build a stronger personal connection. It feels closer to home. And giving employees a genuine say – for example, through a vote on which charities to support – deepens that connection further. This type of employee giving helps people feel personally connected to their employer’s social impact.
Reputation and trust
Currently, three in four UK businesses give nothing to charity at all, whether in cash, in-kind support, or employee time (UK Fundraising). That’s a gap, and it’s an opportunity: standing out as one of the companies supporting charities visibly and well is still relatively rare.
Three in four UK businesses give nothing to charity at all.
Authentic corporate giving
There’s also an authenticity question. Consumers and stakeholders are increasingly able to spot the difference between genuine community investment and corporate badge-wearing. Because of this, supporting small, locally relevant charities – and being able to tell real stories about real impact – is far more compelling than a logo on a familiar fundraising campaign.
Why Businesses Find Supporting Small Charities Challenging
Many businesses want to support smaller charities but aren’t sure how to find credible organisations, assess their impact, or manage the relationship with confidence.
This is where a well-designed giving programme makes the difference. Rather than navigating the charity landscape alone, a structured approach with proper vetting, clear criteria, and a managed process removes the risk and the admin burden.
How Grants for Good makes this easy
Grants for Good is designed precisely for this. As a partner business, you provide the funding, and the Matthew Good Foundation manages everything from application to award. That means every grant reaches a credible, high-impact organisation.
As a Foundation business partner, you’ll also benefit from a managed charity partnership that offers:
- Expert advice and support, with a bespoke giving programme built to fit seamlessly into your existing business processes
- Ready-made communications, so it’s easy to share your impact with clients, customers and staff
- Direct employee involvement, through voting on shortlisted charities, giving your people a genuine stake in where the money goes
Beyond the cheque
The most effective business-charity relationships aren’t purely transactional. When businesses bring skills, networks, and voices to the table – not just funds – the impact multiplies.
Sometimes that means employees volunteering their time, just like it did for Dave from our partner business, TEPS. At other times, it’s about sharing a charity’s story through internal or external communications. Or it might mean a senior leader lending their platform to amplify a cause. These contributions cost relatively little, but they can be transformative for a small organisation that’s been quietly doing brilliant work without the audience it deserves.
More than giving
The businesses we work with tell us that supporting small charities has changed how their teams think about their company’s purpose. It has connected employees to their communities in ways that a company away day, or a matched-giving scheme to a large national charity, simply doesn’t.
That’s the opportunity grassroots giving offers: not just impact for the charity, but something meaningful for the business and its people too. The employees at our partner businesses put it best:
“Being able to vote and nominate allows employees to feel involved in the process. I think without that involvement, any donations feel very performative.”
Employee at our partner business, John Good Group
If you’d like to explore how your business could support small charities through a managed corporate giving programme, we’d love to hear from you. Contact Kathryn Biggin, Strategic Partnerships Manager at the Matthew Good Foundation, to start the conversation.