Many local businesses work with us on their corporate giving to help them to achieve their charitable and community aims. Whether you have a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy in place or not, we can offer you a simple, flexible and effective way of making a real difference in your community.
For those businesses wanting to get involved in charitable giving, finding the time to research where the greatest areas of need are and deciding how best to manage the governance and administration of grant-giving can be a real barrier.
Running your charitable corporate giving programme through a community foundation is a great way to deliver real impact and help those most in need. We can work with you to tailor your funding programme and find the best way to involve you and your staff in the process, and of course to publicly recognise your support.
There are a number of ways that businesses like yours can partner with Heart of Bucks for your corporate giving.
Corporate fund: We can work with you to tailor your funding programme and find the best way to involve you and your staff in the process, and of course to publicly recognise your support.
Community Investor fund: This fund simplifies charitable giving and brings together local businesses to make an impact, regardless of their size. When a business makes a donation it is divided into funds that are used for immediate support and money that is invested. This means that one donation will make a positive impact both now and in years to come. To view our current Community Investors click here.
Charity of the year: Working directly with our foundation, your business can select a different local, grassroots charity each year to receive your corporate donations, and build a direct relationship with them. Heart of Bucks will work with your business to identify the local issues that your staff are most interested in, and then select a shortlist of suitable local charities where your donation will make a difference. Our expert knowledge will ensure that, each year, your generous support reaches a deserving local charity.
Celebrating an anniversary: Is your business celebrating a significant anniversary this year? By supporting Heart of Bucks to mark the occasion you can make a big difference in the local community. Whether it is 10 years, 25, 50 or more, as your local community foundation, we are positioned as the custodian of choice for organisations that want to ensure their charitable giving is effective and helping those most in need in our county.
Sponsorship: From the production of publications, such as our Annual Report; supporting events, including our Annual Reception; or providing us with your core product or services, there are multiple ways you can support our charitable work. Sponsoring Heart of Bucks helps us to keep our operating costs to a minimum and ensures that more money reaches those who need it most, whilst also raising the sponsor’s profile throughout Buckinghamshire.
General donations: Whether you would like to regularly donate a small amount to Heart of Bucks or give a larger one-off donation, your support will ensure that together we can continue to award funding to the organisations working with those most in-need across Buckinghamshire.
Expert support and advice
We provide a structured and managed approach to corporate giving, offering practical advice on the different options available to channel charitable funds. Your business can maintain control, yet reduce the administrative aspect of giving.
If you already have a clear idea about the types of causes, charities or areas you would like to support, or have specific organisational priorities that you would like to reflect, we can help match up your priorities with local groups in need of funding.
If you’re not at that stage yet, we can work with you to tailor your giving strategy in-line with your own corporate aspirations, matching your organisation with the causes you care about, either in your chosen area of Buckinghamshire or county-wide.
Our knowledgeable team will work with you, drawing on local research to help you and your staff learn more about areas of priority within the county. We will also work with you to establish the fund criteria which helps to guide applicants when applying.
Case studies & testimonials
B P Collins is a law firm based in Gerrards Cross. They wanted a process that enabled all of their staff to be involved in supporting the local community.
Groups are invited to apply for the B P Collins fund once a year. The applications are shortlisted to five charities and those groups are then invited to the B P Collins offices to meet the staff and discuss their projects. The staff then have an opportunity vote for the ones they’d like to support. Each shortlisted charity gets a portion of the fund depending on the number of votes received. B P Collins, where possible, keep in contact with the charity to see how the money is being used to support their project. Updates are reported to staff and also used to promote the work of the charities on social media.
“B P Collins has had a charitable fund with Heart of Bucks since 2015.
Through our partnership we have helped many local charities. Some of these are causes which don’t grab the headlines but make such a vital and, at times, life-saving contribution to people or communities.
Our law firm is passionate about helping those in need in the local area and Heart of Bucks helps us to achieve that.”
Gina Connell, Head of Business Development & Marketing
Rectory Homes is a property development company based in Aylesbury Vale. Owners Simon and Sarah Vickers wanted to give something back to their local community by supporting organisations in their district.
The Rectory Foundation has its own panel which takes place twice a year. This allows Simon and Sarah to be actively involved in the decision-making process when it comes to their charitable giving, along with representatives from their staff.
“We have been involved with Heart of Bucks since 2008. As a company and on a personal basis we were often approached directly by charities and worthwhile causes and how to decide what to give and to whom was a very difficult choice to make.
Heart of Bucks have successfully taken away the worry of getting money to where it is needed. Not only do we have confidence in the applications that apply to our foundation as they are suitably vetted, we also know we are reaching people who we normally would not be able to help.
We have also been quite specific about how we would like our money used and Heart of Bucks have listened and acted upon our criteria. As a company that is based in and operates in Buckinghamshire we can wholeheartedly recommend Heart of Bucks as the vehicle to direct your charitable aims if you would like them to be applied to your local area.”
Simon and Sarah Vickers, Rectory Homes Limited
Buckinghamshire Building Society is a 116 year old mutual organisation situated in Chalfont St Giles, in Buckinghamshire. As part of its “Sustainably Strong | Member Centred | Community Rooted” Strategy, the Society is committed to partner with local organisations like Heart of Bucks to drive and deliver purpose-aligned benefits for the local community and wider environment,
“We have had a highly rewarding and longstanding relationship with Heart of Bucks. Our charitable foundation with Heart of Bucks helps generate the returns to enable us to support our ‘Member chosen charity’ every year and allows us to provide meaningful funding and support to a wide range of local causes over the years. As a Buckinghamshire-based mutual organisation, our ethos is grounded in being an active member of the local community and the two organisations naturally align in this area. We are pleased to continue to develop and invest in our relationship with Heart of Bucks and look forward to working on future projects in the coming years”.
Dan Wass, CEO of Buckinghamshire Building Society
To discuss how we can support you with your corporate giving please email giving@heartofbucks.org or call 01296 330134.
