We often find ourselves generally thinking that when it comes to companies giving back to communities or being charitable, that they are large companies of multinational in scale with employees numbering to thousands at least and with millions of dollars to dispense of.
In reality, the vast majority of the businesses in the United States are small businesses, and they employ over 50% of the nation's workers. While smaller businesses may not be able to match the massive amounts donated by huge corporations that certainly doesn't mean they can't have a substantial impact on their local communities in the long run. There are also some very good side benefits for small businesses that engage in giving back.
Giving Back Is Good Publicity
Social media is an important way to spread the word about your charitable endeavors. Remember that even when you are devoted to sending out announcements on your local publications and TV stations for new products to launch or for pure promotions, they can't always be interested in covering all stories of this nature.
However if the story is going to tell about your business giving back to your community through monetary donation, or donating in kind, services or the time you share doing voluntary works, any local media would find it highly interesting as it is good news for everyone.
As an example, a small tire franchise in northern Utah received national coverage on Forbes.com recently because they were regular participants in a local annual Coats for Kids community event. If they hadn't earned a well-deserved reputation for giving back in their community, you may never have heard of Burt Brothers Tires. But now the company has the support of a major media outlet. You can't buy that kind of publicity with an ad.
Employees Will Value Giving Back
It feels good to work for a company that cares. As a small business, most of your employees are likely from the same community, so many local causes will be close to their hearts. This makes giving back to the community a strong team-building and morale-boosting experience for everyone involved. You have many different options for helping your employees get involved in giving, such as:
Close your business for a day to organize a "Volunteer Day" where everyone reports to an organized volunteer event instead of work.
You can always solicit suggestions from employees on what causes they may be personally rooting for and eliminate one by one until you come up with a single cause which the majority prefer. People may be able to give financial donations through an online philanthropy platform like InstaGive, which is easy to set up.
This could be a very minimal yet smart way to provide for people to access a branded webpage for the purpose of collecting donations using credit card.
Your Customers Appreciate It Too
If a small business learns to give back to its community, those who benefit from it are not only the employees of the business. You'll find customers considering this to be valuable as well in that they often buy from businesses who have the heart for its community. There is a positive publicity showcasing goodwill and this can definitely have an impact on customers whether current or prospective. This should not be the end of it though.
Here are few ways you can directly involve your customers in your giving program:
Set up a change jar for donations or another quick and simple giving resource for walk-in customers to take advantage of, and talk to them about it while they're there.
An InstaGive site is another good idea as you can utilize visual signage to promote it as well as via email and the use of social networking sites.
You can always ask customers to join your employees for organized activities. The more work that needs to be accomplished, the more people you will need to partake of all the labor.
Pick a specific time period - say, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. every Wednesday - during which a percentage of every purchase will be given to a charitable cause. Actively promote this event so customers who care can plan their purchases accordingly.
Now you know why even when you are merely small businesses you ought to consider giving back to the community through an organized charity or through volunteering wherein you may find opportunities for participation suitable for you. Go ahead and plan a sound and tactical program for giving back which you can start today.
In reality, the vast majority of the businesses in the United States are small businesses, and they employ over 50% of the nation's workers. While smaller businesses may not be able to match the massive amounts donated by huge corporations that certainly doesn't mean they can't have a substantial impact on their local communities in the long run. There are also some very good side benefits for small businesses that engage in giving back.
Giving Back Is Good Publicity
Social media is an important way to spread the word about your charitable endeavors. Remember that even when you are devoted to sending out announcements on your local publications and TV stations for new products to launch or for pure promotions, they can't always be interested in covering all stories of this nature.
However if the story is going to tell about your business giving back to your community through monetary donation, or donating in kind, services or the time you share doing voluntary works, any local media would find it highly interesting as it is good news for everyone.
As an example, a small tire franchise in northern Utah received national coverage on Forbes.com recently because they were regular participants in a local annual Coats for Kids community event. If they hadn't earned a well-deserved reputation for giving back in their community, you may never have heard of Burt Brothers Tires. But now the company has the support of a major media outlet. You can't buy that kind of publicity with an ad.
Employees Will Value Giving Back
It feels good to work for a company that cares. As a small business, most of your employees are likely from the same community, so many local causes will be close to their hearts. This makes giving back to the community a strong team-building and morale-boosting experience for everyone involved. You have many different options for helping your employees get involved in giving, such as:
Close your business for a day to organize a "Volunteer Day" where everyone reports to an organized volunteer event instead of work.
You can always solicit suggestions from employees on what causes they may be personally rooting for and eliminate one by one until you come up with a single cause which the majority prefer. People may be able to give financial donations through an online philanthropy platform like InstaGive, which is easy to set up.
This could be a very minimal yet smart way to provide for people to access a branded webpage for the purpose of collecting donations using credit card.
Your Customers Appreciate It Too
If a small business learns to give back to its community, those who benefit from it are not only the employees of the business. You'll find customers considering this to be valuable as well in that they often buy from businesses who have the heart for its community. There is a positive publicity showcasing goodwill and this can definitely have an impact on customers whether current or prospective. This should not be the end of it though.
Here are few ways you can directly involve your customers in your giving program:
Set up a change jar for donations or another quick and simple giving resource for walk-in customers to take advantage of, and talk to them about it while they're there.
An InstaGive site is another good idea as you can utilize visual signage to promote it as well as via email and the use of social networking sites.
You can always ask customers to join your employees for organized activities. The more work that needs to be accomplished, the more people you will need to partake of all the labor.
Pick a specific time period - say, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. every Wednesday - during which a percentage of every purchase will be given to a charitable cause. Actively promote this event so customers who care can plan their purchases accordingly.
Now you know why even when you are merely small businesses you ought to consider giving back to the community through an organized charity or through volunteering wherein you may find opportunities for participation suitable for you. Go ahead and plan a sound and tactical program for giving back which you can start today.
About the Author:
Sebastian Troup enjoys blogging about philantrophic solutions for businesses and non profit organizations. For more info about the competitive advantage of corporate philanthropy, or to find about setting up employee giving campaigns , please visit the Truist.com site now.
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