How small businesses can make a difference through charity partnerships
Small businesses may not have the resources of large corporations, but they can still make a meaningful difference in their communities and around the world.
Partnering with a charity is one way businesses can turn their values into action while engaging employees, connecting with customers and supporting a cause that matters.
For businesses looking for a meaningful charity partnership, supporting eye health can help address one of the world's most preventable health challenges.
Why should a small business partner with a charity?
A charity partnership can give a small business a practical way to put its values into action.
Customers and employees increasingly want to know what businesses stand for, and a partnership with a trusted charity can provide a meaningful way to demonstrate that commitment.
A business partnership can also help:
- Engage employees around a shared purpose
- Build stronger relationships with customers
- Demonstrate your business values
- Create opportunities for workplace fundraising and activities
- Support meaningful social and community outcomes
The most effective partnerships are more than simply making a donation. They create a genuine connection between a business, its people and the cause it supports.
How can a small business support a charity?
There is no one way for a small business to get involved. The right approach will depend on the size of your business, your team and what matters to your customers.
Some options include:
Regular business giving
Making a regular contribution can provide charities with reliable funding and help them plan their work over the long term.
For a small business, even a regular monthly contribution can become meaningful when it is sustained over time.
Workplace fundraising
Bring your employees into your partnership through fundraising challenges, events or team activities.
This can help turn your partnership into something your whole team can participate in, rather than something that happens behind the scenes.
Customer fundraising
Businesses can also involve their customers by fundraising at the point of sale, running a campaign or giving customers an opportunity to support the same cause.
Sharing your impact
A partnership gives businesses stories and information they can share with their employees and customers, helping people understand the difference their support is making.
Why support eye health?
Around 1.1 billion people worldwide live with vision loss, and at least 90% of blindness is avoidable.
For many people, the solution can be simple. It might be cataract surgery, a pair of glasses or treatment for an eye disease.
But access to eye care is not equal. In many communities, people face barriers including distance, cost, a lack of trained health workers and limited access to health services.
Supporting eye health means helping address these barriers and making quality eye care accessible to more people.
How your business can help end avoidable blindness
The Fred Hollows Foundation works across more than 25 countries to improve access to eye care and strengthen local health systems.
Our work includes supporting cataract surgery, treating and preventing eye disease, providing glasses, training health workers and helping build stronger eye health services.
When a small business partners with The Fred Hollows Foundation, its support contributes to this broader work.
Why partner with The Fred Hollows Foundation?
The Foundation's story began with Australian ophthalmologist and social justice campaigner Fred Hollows.
Fred believed that everyone should have access to quality eye care, regardless of where they lived or how much money they had. In 1992, he established The Fred Hollows Foundation to continue his work.
More than 30 years later, that vision continues through programs delivered alongside local communities, governments and health services around the world.
A small business partnership is a way to help carry that vision forward.
What makes a good small business charity partnership?
A strong partnership should work for both the business and the charity.
Before choosing a charity, consider:
Does the cause align with your values?
Choose an organisation and cause that your employees and customers can genuinely connect with.
Can you make a sustained commitment?
Regular support can be more valuable than a one-off contribution because it gives charities greater certainty when planning their work.
Can your team get involved?
Look for opportunities that allow employees to participate in the partnership if that's important to your business.
Is the organisation transparent about its work?
Choose a trusted charity that can clearly explain how it works and the difference your support helps make.
Become a small business partner
Your business doesn't have to be big to make a difference.
By partnering with The Fred Hollows Foundation, you can support access to quality eye care while demonstrating your business values and giving your employees and customers a cause to get behind.