Four Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Powerful Fundraising Campaign

The benefits of purposeful social responsibility and giving back.

By Chris McCuiston, Goldfish Swim School

Being a true industry leader and innovator requires your business to go above and beyond simply serving your customer. It’s more than just identifying a need and providing a product or service. It means finding the overarching reason as to why and how your brand can dig deeper to help a cause much bigger than what you’re selling. Establishing a business comes with a sense of responsibility to create a genuine purpose. It requires taking social ownership of an issue, rooted in passion to initiate change.

Creating Your Path to Partnership 

The first step is determining how your company can actually make a measurable impact — which is something that can’t be done by merely writing a check to an organization and moving on. It’s done by creating a comprehensive program that your entire team can rally behind. 

 For example, Goldfish Swim School’s mission is to make children safer in and around the water by providing the skills and knowledge to combat the staggering epidemic of fatalities caused by drowning among children. Sadly, this remains the number one cause of injury-related death among children ages one to four — taking the lives of three children in the U.S. every day. This devastating reality is at the core of Goldfish Swim School’s purpose. As a leading premier learn-to-swim franchise brand, Goldfish Swim School felt a sense of corporate social responsibility to do more to help change that statistic, and decided to dive into a partnership with the USA Swimming Foundation in 2018.

Goldfish Swim School has committed to raising $1 million for the USA Swimming Foundation
by 2024.”

In the inaugural year of the partnership, Goldfish Swim School introduced its “Float It Forward” campaign, where the brand rallied to raise more than $200,000 to benefit the USA Swimming Foundation’s Make a Splash initiative. Funds have been raised in various ways, including a National Water Safety Month fundraising competition campaign, in which schools fundraised on a local level through in-school events, membership fee donations, retail percentage donations, auctions, raffles and more. In addition, the brand utilized its partnership with three-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Ryan Murphy, for a holiday sweepstakes, which offered participants a chance to win a day with the world champion swimmer. 

The USA Swimming Foundation’s Make a Splash initiative supports swim lesson providers with resources, materials and grant funding to allow the opportunity for every child across the country to learn to swim, regardless of their ability to pay. In result of the Goldfish Swim School’s contributions to its communities, it was presented with a prestigious Franchising Gives Back award in September 2019 by the International Franchise Association (IFA) Foundation. But the brand doesn’t stop there — Goldfish Swim School has committed to raising $1 million for the USA Swimming Foundation by 2024. 

“Swimming is arguably the only Olympic sport that can save lives, as learning to swim reduces one’s drowning risk by 88 percent,” said Shana Ferguson, Chief Commercial Officer of the USA Swimming Foundation. “In 2019, the USA Swimming Foundation distributed more than $600,000 to our partner swim lesson providers for children who would not have otherwise had the opportunity to learn to swim. So, there is real impact being felt by the donation Goldfish Swim School made to us! We are humbled and thankful to have partners like Goldfish Swim School who share our vision of providing water safety education to all children.”

Taking the time and effort of partnering with an organization that speaks to your brand’s mission should serve purpose for both that organization and your business, as you make an impact cultivating social good. You will know you’ve established the perfect charitable partnership if you begin to notice that your partnership: 

1. Increases team member inspiration and motivation. 

Internally, investing time and energy toward a cause will show your employees they’re working for a company that does the right thing, and that their impact goes beyond typical business duties, as they are making a positive impact for the betterment of society. This mindset, that the workplace is beyond just work, will instill motivation and compassion among your team. 

2. Provides a different kind of exposure. 

When promoting your cause, you’re shining a new light on your brand. Your company will have the potential to reach new prospects who have a connection to the mission, but may not have heard of or experienced your brand before. As for existing customers, your fundraising efforts can further engage them with your brand as they support the fundraising campaign — becoming brand advocates. Together, with the support of the charitable organization, you can elevate awareness for both brands, which will help each other to continue to grow and innovate.

3. Inspires and evokes creativity. 

In order to pull off a successful campaign, it takes a different type of thinking, planning and execution. By introducing a charity-driven campaign to your organization, your team members will have a new opportunity to flex their creative arms in ways they may not have been able to do before. This new-wave of thinking will bring innovative ideas to the table to not only support the campaign but help grow both brands. 

4. Builds consumer loyalty — when you give back, so will your customers. 

In addition to raising funds and spreading awareness while elevating your brand reputation, giving back gives franchises a way to strengthen the bond between your community and your business. More executable local projects, events and fundraising initiatives will draw in your core demographic and increase engagement with your brand — all while doing social good. 

Chris McCuiston is co-founder and CEO of Goldfish Swim School. The franchise started in 2006, alongside wife Jenny, an Olympic Trial Qualifier Swimmer with a degree in early childhood development. They recognized the demand for quality swim lessons in the area and utilized Jenny’s expertise in swimming and teaching along with Chris’ strong business and financial background. Find out more about Goldfish Swim School here.