Giving

Like many small companies, philanthropic efforts at LarsonAllen are relatively informal; there is no foundation or structured committee that works on giving. Each year, different work groups at the company determine how they want to undertake their own initiatives, such as helping build a house for Habitat for Humanity or sponsoring a walk for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Though the firm’s charitable work isn’t institutionalized, LarsonAllen shares big companies’ goals to help the community.

“Life is good to us and it’s our responsibility to give back,” says Beth Peterson, director of operations at LarsonAllen’s Minneapolis office, which has 420 employees. “No matter how small or large you are, it’s part of being a good citizen. It’s an important aspect of being in business.”

A Little Goes a Long Way

The impulse to give can be found at even the smallest of companies. Tiffany Tompkins, president and owner of Etica Fair Trade, a Minneapolis-based distributor of fair trade wine, was in business less than two years when she created a scholarship at the University of Minnesota for under-represented youth. When she donates $25,000, the University will match her gift. She is setting up a similar scholarship at her alma mater, Colorado State University. Tompkins says the scholarships pair nicely with Etica’s business model of helping wine farmers and producers earn a living wage, which in turn paves the way for more sustainable farming practices and opportunities for farmers to educate their children and develop stable communities.

“I believe wholeheartedly in the concept of fair trade and, through my experiences and education, I found this sustainable business model is something all of us can benefit from,” says Tompkins, who has one employee. “I also want to prove that you can be a profitable small business and have a strong message of social responsibility—that you can be competitive in the marketplace and give back to the community.”

Clint Schroeder, a principal at Gray Plant Mooty law firm in Minneapolis who works with companies and individuals on charitable giving, finds that small businesses are as equally committed to philanthropy as their larger counterparts. Plus, small business owners can utilize unique ways to give, such as putting their companies in a charitable remainder trust or donating company stock. Later—as long as there is no pre-arranged deal—the company can buy its stock back to the benefit of the company and the nonprofit. These ways of giving wind up benefiting both business owners and their favorite causes at the same time.

Observes Schroeder, “It’s a different environment that small businesses are in, but they can be every bit or even much more generous than major corporations in the magnitude of their giving.”