One of the greatest privileges of running a startup company is the entrepreneur’s ability to personally connect and generously give back to their community. Social responsibility is an essential component for businesses because it helps the people around your community recognize your efforts in society—all while increasing brand exposure.
With these programs, you actively increase employee morale in the workplace and improve your company’s public reputation. Once businesses implement social responsibility initiatives, it also helps build trust among existing customers and the general public as well.
In this regard, small businesses have an advantage because the owners and employees coexist in one community. Hence, participation in fundraisers and charity drives has a more personal touch and makes a huge impact in their respective communities.
In this article, you’ll learn how your business can effectively participate in community fundraisers. Read on to know more:
Table of Contents
Research Different Local Organizations To Support
Before committing to helping a charity organization, you must ensure that you’ve thoroughly evaluated what a particular charity does. You shouldn’t be afraid of asking relevant questions about the accomplishments and vision of an organization. For your company’s sake, you must ensure you’re partnering with a trustworthy and highly respected charity since your brand will be associated with theirs.
When determining a local charity to support, you may communicate with your employees so you can gain insights into causes you haven’t heard of before. In addition, you must ensure to look for a partner that resonates with your company’s values so you can still represent your brand as you help your community.
As you look for a charity to work with, consider all the benefits you can offer that go beyond financial assistance. With that, you have to evaluate your organizational strengths like your existing industry connections and expertise. Once you do so, you can effectively analyze if an organization will be the best partner to fulfill your initiatives of giving back to your community.
Encourage Your Team To Volunteer
Before you even begin to think about participating in fundraising events, you must ensure that your workforce is passionate about dedicating their time to this activity. That said, you should encourage volunteerism with incentives like offering paid time off as they volunteer for a charity that aligns with their interests. In addition, you must give employees a specific amount of time throughout the year to improve their morale and activate your company’s community involvement.
One excellent way to encourage your workforce is by organizing team activities like trivia games, board games, or golf tournaments for your staff. After the activity, you must enable the champion to select the charity that best aligns with their interests through either monetary or other types of reward. In turn, these types of modern social gatherings can help any type of charitable cause within your community. Alternatively, you may use a program like Hour-A-Thon to help you raise money as a team, and then donate the pooled money to a charity organization or local cause.
Lend Company Properties For A Good Cause
Businesses can always find creative ways of giving back to the community with their own products and services. For instance, if there’s a disaster within your area, you can help by offering extra space in your company where local groups and organizations can convene to organize relief operations and give out free clothes or food to the affected victims.
Another way is to offer your space to local organizations that are looking for a wide space to conduct their activities. This could be students who are looking for a place to hold symposiums for social causes or charity organizations that are planning to host a feeding program for marginalized sectors. Lending your extra space is already a huge contribution as these organizations don’t have to pay rent to hold their events.
Donate A Portion Of Your Sales
If you own an established company, you may consider developing a limited edition set of products for a cause. You may also hold a limited-time offer where a portion of your sales will go to beneficiaries of relief operations or charity organizations. This allows your customers to participate in the fundraising drive as well.
Many businesses have been doing this for years. While some will only donate percentage sales during times of calamities, some support causes all year round. These businesses are usually committed to donating to well-known humanitarian organizations such as UNICEF or are partnered with non-government organizations that push environmental concerns and other social causes.
As a small business, however, it’s best to start with your local community. Find a local organization or donate to public causes that the community can directly benefit from. This way, your charity efforts will be really felt at the grassroots level.
Sponsor A Cause That Most Of Your Customers Care About
Customers prefer supporting a brand that actively listens to their preferences, especially if it creates a positive impact on their preferred causes. Your market will instantly assume your company is reliable and trustworthy if you choose to sponsor other organizations they care about.
Once you get to know your customers more, it will be easy to identify causes and organizations that they care about. For example, if the majority of your customers are mothers, then they would most likely be advocates of breastfeeding and healthy lifestyles for kids and families. You can then opt to work with a local support group for mothers or donate to organizations that work for the betterment of children in your community.
If your company is offering products for pets, then your customers would most likely care about animal rights. Hence, it would be a great idea to sponsor a local animal shelter. Doing this will encourage your customers to continue their patronage of your business because they know that by doing so, they contribute to the well-being of the animals there. As an added bonus, some of your customers might even be interested in adopting an animal from the shelter, and you can help connect them to the people who can work that out for them.
Identify A Major Issue In Your Community And Support Concerned Groups
A business must actively respond to community issues because the members in your local area can be valuable stakeholders.
For instance, if there is a growing problem of drug abuse in the community, then you can choose to support rehabilitation centers and treatment facilities for addiction that accepts donations. In addition, you can also support concerned groups that aim to reduce the problem by joining and sponsoring their events that help spread awareness.
If one of the main issues in your community is the growing number of out-of-school youths, then it may be best to take a look at how you can address that too. You may either reach out to parenting groups or academic institutions that can create programs to combat the problem.
Find Organizations That Support Community Heroes
You can partner with professional organizations or support groups and raise funds to celebrate special occasions or make them feel appreciated. You may choose people or organizations who devote their lives to your locality. These hard-working individuals include nurses, doctors, teachers, veterans, firefighters, and police officers.
Another excellent way to give back to community heroes is by ensuring they’re taking sufficient time in taking good care of themselves, which allows them to continuously serve the community. For instance, you may consider offering free food to hospital staff or offering a free ride for them as they return home so you can ensure they arrive home safely.
Offer Support To Local Youth Groups
Every entrepreneur wants to connect with the younger audience because this community is more open to changing their minds when it comes to brands. In addition, they have the power to persuade the older market to purchase your products and services since they actively use social media for their own advantage.
If you offer support to local youth groups, you can help them eliminate the risk of becoming involved in activities related to alcohol and drugs, which benefits your entire local community. This is because youth groups usually organize activities such as fun runs, sports competitions, and even tree planting activities to instill good habits among the youth.
Another way to provide support to local youth communities is by fostering education and introducing the latest technology. Alternatively, you may establish a scholarship fund by having your organization match employee donations to help the youth in your community reach their personal career goals. You can also raise sufficient funds to support teachers who are voluntarily handling after-school activities and advanced summer camps.
Key Takeaway
As an entrepreneur, you have the means to make a bigger impact in your community. That said, you may consider following these eight strategies so you can effectively participate in charitable activities and social causes in your area. With a bigger influence, your participation will also inspire your customers to take part in meaningful causes that can collectively make your community a better place.
About Carson Derrow
