Evan Carmichael explains why charity work helps your business only if it's genuine. A retail owner who feeds homeless people strengthened her brand and found fulfillment. Carmichael's work with Kiva, which funds entrepreneurs in Africa, brought him contracts naturally, without asking.
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Can supporting charities help your business? So I got a question from one of my YouTube viewers, Floridian33936, love you guys, wrote in to say, I would like to know your thoughts about how, besides networking events, getting involved in charities can help promote and grow and starting a new business. Best wishes from Germany, Lars. So Lars, this is a great question. My belief with this one just like in every other business decision, is you should be doing it to do it. You should be getting involved with the charity because the charity does something that brings you alive, is contributing to a goal that you strongly believe in, and not just see it as a marketing opportunity for your business. If that's all you see, then don't do it because it's not worth it. It has to be something that you feel passionate about. If it is, then connections will happen. You know, you'll get along well with the board and they'll send you new business and you'll meet people at the events and, you know, maybe you donate stuff and you get promoted on their website. Like, all this will happen, but it only happens if you're really passionate about it. I got a question a while ago from a guy who was opening a retail store and he said he walked by these homeless people every day on the way to work and was wondering if he should support them and feed them and whether he should talk about that in his business or not. And I said, listen, you know, if this is something that is important to you, feeding homeless people, then do it. Like, don't care what your customers think. Don't care if it's a marketing thing or not. Do it because it's the right thing to do. Do it because you feel passionate about it. And if people, you know, homelessness is a tough issue because a lot of people, you know, they may not support that, say, well, you're, you know, why don't they go get a job? Why are you feeding them? Maybe you don't want those people as your customers. You know, like you want to be around people who believe the same thing that you do. And so he ended up going ahead and doing it before I released the video for him. And he said it worked out great. You know, he feels better. Most importantly, he feels better. He feels like he's doing something important and contributing back to society. But also by showcasing it in his store, customers are also going out and doing it. And they're feeling better. And they feel more connected to him because now This company stands for something, right? It has a soul. It's more than just buying— I forget what he sold— buying flowers or buying bread or whatever it was, right? It stands for something greater. So if you're doing it just for the marketing, don't do it. It's not going to work. It won't help you. But if you're doing it because it's the right thing to do, then you're going to get some great results from it and you should totally go for it. I'm involved with a charity called Kiva and it basically helps raise funds for entrepreneurs. We select Africa. Who are trying to start their business, and we've helped over 4,000 entrepreneurs now start their business, and that's something I'm really proud of. And I talk about it every now and then, and I've gotten some connections and some results from Kiva, but it doesn't matter, right? Like, I'm doing it because I think it's important to do. I'm doing it because it makes me feel good to be able to help those people out. I don't blast that on my homepage and say, "Hey, look at me, I've supported 4,000 entrepreneurs and gave them money to start their company." And yet I've gotten some great results from it, gotten some contracts and gotten some connections and gotten some deals because it's something that I believe in and I'm excited about. So hopefully that answers your question, Lars. Always just do the right thing. Always do what feels good, what feels, you know, what's in your heart, what you're passionate about. And even though it may not make sense right now, you have to trust that the dots will connect and it's all going to work out. Out. Believe. For those of you watching, you like the video, give it a thumbs up below. You have a question, you have a comment, you want me to feel better, leave a comment underneath. Click on my face and subscribe to the channel. Thank you so much, and I'll see you soon.
