What Charitable Events Should Your Utility Promote?

Supporting a charitable or community event or program used to be a no-brainer for companies.

It’s always good to be involved in the community and be a strong corporate citizen, right?

Years ago, yes. Today, probably, but beware of potential pitfalls.

In our supercharged world, where everyone strives to be politically correct, even seemingly innocuous events can pose trouble.

For the love of all things holy, avoid having anything to do with politics. In today’s climate, by choosing sides – or even appearing to do so – you might aggravate half of your customer base.

Ditto for religion, which always is a contemptuous issue. Considering that wars have and continue to be fought over religion, you don’t want your utility embroiled in anything related to it.

The same largely holds true for race-related issues. Things aren’t as always clear-cut as they seem.

And any controversial issue in the news now or years past should be avoided. A few examples: abortion, immigration, gun control and vaccinations (yes, I know that sounds bad, but the issue is politicized to the nth degree right now).

All of this begs the question: What can we support? A few things are generally safe, although always be on the lookout for potential problems. Here are a few ideas, plus some caveats.

Patriotic events, such as Fourth of July festivities, are an easy way to create goodwill. Consider sponsoring the local parade or fireworks display, assuming a prior year’s event didn’t end in tragedy, such as a house burning down.

Feeding the hungry is always popular, and food banks perpetually have needs, whether it’s for dollars or for volunteers to sort and deliver food.

Food festivals are typically safe, yet even they can be politicized. For example, a food festival in Philadelphia was canceled recently after the banning of an Israeli food truck set off multiple complaints.

Animal events often are a big winner and can generate some great visuals – who doesn’t love cute animals? That said, events involving zoos may draw protests, so supporting animal shelters, especially “no-kill” shelters, is a safer bet.

Events involving kids or seniors (or both) tend to be safe, although the former can present issues at times. For example, some people are angry at the Boy Scouts for its since-changed historical policies about gay scouts and a history of sexual abuse by a few scout leaders.

One other possibility: Programs that assist your less-fortunate customers will likely be safe. It’s hard for people to complain about raising money to help financially challenged customers pay their utility bills.