How to Choose Which Fundraisers Your Business Should Support

Fundraiser requests arrive all year: schools, clubs, churches, families, community groups. A generous business wants to help everyone. A smart business knows it can't — and chooses deliberately.

Here's the short version of how to choose: support fundraisers whose community matches your customers, whose cause fits your brand, and whose campaign you can actually deliver well. Three honest yeses — support it. Any no — decline kindly and save your goodwill for the right fit. This guide walks through each question in detail, including how to use Generous.nz's cause filters so your products only appear where you want them.

Start with your customers

The best partnerships are with causes your customers actually care about. The school your staff's kids attend, the club your regulars play for, the church on the corner. Support the causes your community supports — that's where the goodwill lands closest to home, and where the buying network is most likely to include your existing customers.

This is also where Generous.nz's cause categories help. Every fundraiser ticks what they're raising for — medical costs, education, sport, community projects, animal welfare, the environment, and more — so you can see at a glance what a campaign is about before you commit.

Consider the audience fit

Every fundraiser brings a network. Ask: does this cause's community match my target customers?

• A café wants school families and commuters.
• A gym wants sports clubs and active groups.
• A family venue wants schools and youth organisations.
• A premium service wants causes with supporters who can afford the offer.

The perfect partnership is one where the fundraiser's community is already your ideal customer — the campaign then introduces you to people who would have found you eventually, just faster and with a reason to try you first.

Look at the fundraiser's quality

Not all fundraisers are run well. Look for:

• A clear story and goal. What are they raising for, how much, and by when?
• An organised team with a plan. Who's promoting it, and how?
• A realistic audience size. A school of 400 has a built-in market; a private campaign with no promotion plan is a gamble.
• A history of following through — or a first campaign that looks promising.

A well-run small fundraiser beats a chaotic big one every time. You can usually tell within five minutes of reading the campaign page whether the team has thought it through.

Check the numbers before you agree

Before saying yes, understand the deal:

• How many supporters can they realistically reach?
• What offer are they asking for, and at what price?
• What share are they asking for? (On Generous.nz it's at least 10% — see how to decide the share.)
• When does the campaign run, and does that clash with your busy season?

If the numbers don't work for you, say so — or suggest a different offer that does. A smaller share, a midweek-only voucher, or a shorter campaign window can turn a "no" into a "yes" that works for both of you.

Use cause filters to protect your brand

Some causes won't fit your brand, and that's completely normal. On Generous.nz you can set the causes you don't fundraise for from your business dashboard — religious, political, or any other category you choose. Once set, your products simply aren't offered to fundraisers in those categories, so you never have to have the awkward conversation. Your items stay available to every other fundraiser, and you can change the filters at any time.

This isn't about judging causes — it's about being honest about fit. A business that supports everything loudly ends up supporting nothing well.

Spread the goodwill

If you can only support a few causes a year, rotate. Supporting the same school every year builds depth, but rotating across causes builds breadth — and avoids the perception of favouritism in small communities. A visible mix of causes also signals that you support your whole community, not just one corner of it.

Save room for the unexpected

Keep some capacity for the causes that come out of nowhere: the emergency appeal, the family in crisis, the last-minute ask that matters deeply. A business that can say yes to the urgent request earns trust no planned campaign can match. The fundraiser's needs are the only hard deadline that matters — everything else can wait a week.

The simple test

Before saying yes, ask three questions:

1. Do my customers care?
2. Does the audience fit my business?
3. Can I deliver well?

Three yeses — support it. Any no — decline kindly and keep your goodwill for the right fit. If you need help declining gracefully, we've written a guide on saying no to fundraiser requests.

Frequently asked questions

Should I support every fundraiser that asks?

No — and you shouldn't feel guilty about it. Focused support beats scattered goodwill. The three-question test above is a fast, fair way to decide.

Can I choose which causes my products support?

Yes. On Generous.nz, set the causes you won't fundraise for in your business dashboard, and your products simply won't appear for those fundraisers.

What if a cause fits but the campaign is poorly organised?

Offer a smaller, simpler partnership — a limited voucher run or a shorter campaign window. Good fundraisers learn fast, and your support might be exactly what they need to get organised.

How many fundraisers should I support at once?

Start with one or two and learn the workflow — redemptions, terms, promotion — before scaling. Many businesses find two or three active partnerships a year is the sweet spot. Our year-round fundraising calendar can help you plan them.

Where do I start?

Browse the wholesale catalogue to see how products and vouchers work, or set up your free business listing and pick the causes you want to support. Your first $1,000 in sales is fee-free, and there's no charge if nothing sells.