Are you looking for simple, cost-effective ways to generate brand loyalty with your customers? Have you ever wondered about the benefits of donating products or gift cards to local community groups? Consider this. Panera Bread is recognized as a leader in corporate philanthropy. Among Panera’s giving programs is Day-End Dough-Nation, the company’s initiative that gets all unsold bread and baked goods into the hands of local non-profits – a retail value of approximately $100 million annually.

That’s an impressive number. Here’s another impressive number. One. That stands for one person. One person manages the process for Day-End Dough-Nation and that includes 115,000 site visitors, 20,000 requests for support, 9,000 charitable events supported and 10,000 certificates for baked goods each year. That’s a lot of logistics but with a streamlined donation system, it’s not only possible, it’s simple.

Panera is far from alone in taking advantage of the power of in-kind donations. Versaic works with dozens of companies that have used product and gift card donations as a way to create goodwill in their communities and burnish their brands. In this one-pager – In-Kind Superstars — you’ll see some of Versaic’s favorite examples of clients creating in-kind donation programs that deliver big rewards. Don’t worry if you don’t have a big budget to work with. Small programs can still yield significant results and give you an opportunity to promote your company’s corporate giving program and its value to your community. So read the one-pager to get some ideas on how you can get started, then jump in and set up an in-kind donation program. Or contact Versaic and they’ll walk you through the process and share some best practices for setting up a successful online donation management system.

Contributer: Versaic is a FrontStream partner that provides grants, sponsorship and donation management. This blog post was reposted with permission and the original can found on Versaic’s blog.

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