Giving Tuesday and Beyond: Charitable Giving for Pharmacies

The season of giving has arrived. December alone accounts for 20% of all annual donations in the United States, with October, November and December totaling 37%. There’s even an entire day devoted to charitable giving in November.

This year, many businesses will participate in charitable giving through nationwide or community-based campaigns. Charitable giving is a great way to give back to the community that supports your business and it’s also a great way to create good will and drive traffic to your pharmacy.

Just like anything in pharmacy, there’s no one-size-fits-all for charitable giving. Here are some options to consider and tips for success with charitable giving in your pharmacy this holiday season.

Checkout Charity

Checkout charity has become common practice for chain retailers and it’s also something that’s easy for independent pharmacies to implement at the point-of-sale.

At a glance, checkout charity simply means asking customers if they’d like to donate to a charitable organization or cause during the checkout process, often just by rounding up their total to the nearest dollar. It’s a great way for businesses to partner with customers in charity fundraising. To make this program a success, make sure you verbally ask for donations rather than displaying as you’ll have better results. Set a time frame for your program and share the results of your donation drive.

Dropoff Location

Partnering with a local organization as a drop-off point for donations is a wonderful way to get involved in charitable giving. Research shows that people will donate if it’s easy and convenient. An easily accessible pharmacy location might fill those needs.

It’s simple, effective, and drives traffic to your pharmacy. Make the most of every drop-off by offering a personal thank you and offering a coupon for purchases made in the store that day. You can learn more about this strategy here.

Loyalty-Based Donations

If you run a rewards-based customer loyalty program, you can consider offering customers the option to donate rewards instead of taking a coupon or dollar-off amount. This is also something that can be set up through your pharmacy POS system so you can track loyalty rewards turned donations and easily send the right amount at the end of your donation campaign.

A Final Note of Thanks

Remember to share your gratitude with your customers and anyone who donates through a program in your pharmacy. Even a simple "Thank you for your donation" can start to create a relationship where there wasn't one before.