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Your charitable giving needs a strategy.

What if corporate philanthropy could support employee retention, recruitment, client relationships, and business growth while still creating meaningful impact in the community?

Emily Zimmon spent more than a decade working in the nonprofit sector before recognizing a problem on the other side of the table: many of the companies funding nonprofits were overwhelmed by their own charitable giving.

They didn’t know which opportunities to say yes or no to. There wasn’t always a strategy behind their donations. And corporate philanthropy often became someone’s “additional duties as assigned” rather than an intentional business function.

Emily saw the gap and built An Enduring Legacy, where she helps businesses develop more strategic approaches to corporate philanthropy and charitable giving.

In this episode of Ponder With Ashley, Ashley Waddington and Emily talk about corporate giving strategy, social impact, finding an underserved problem in the market, and what it really looks like to build a mission-driven business through the messy first years of entrepreneurship.

In this conversation:

💭 How Emily identified a gap in corporate philanthropy that became the foundation of her business

💭 Why she went from serving individual nonprofits to potentially impacting thousands through a different business model

💭 What surprised her about how long building a business actually takes

💭 How companies can connect charitable giving with employee retention, recruitment, and client relationships

💭 Why strategic philanthropy isn’t only for large corporations

💭 How solopreneurs and small businesses can incorporate giving into their business strategy 💭 Why talking about the good your company is doing doesn’t have to be bragging

💭 What “trust your crazy ideas” looks like when you’re in the messy middle of entrepreneurship

Whether you’re responsible for corporate philanthropy, building a social impact or charitable giving strategy, considering entrepreneurship, or navigating the first few years of building your own business, this conversation offers plenty to ponder.

Connect with Emily Zimmon: An Enduring Legacy: www.AnEnduringLegacy.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/emilyzimmon/

An Enduring Legacy on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/an-enduring-legacy/

Connect with Ashley: Ponder This Consulting: www.ponderthisconsulting.com

Follow Ponder With Ashley for founder interviews, Pondering Prompts, Pondering Lessons, and practical business growth ideas worth pondering. 💭