In every interview we have with our Top Rated Local® award winners, we ask what the business’ mission is and how they work to make the world a better place. Not only does this question help to highlight the humanity and passion in our award-winning businesses, but it also helps to highlight one very important piece of success for the modern-day business — giving back.
There are so many ways that your business can give back to your community and the world.
In our last article — The Benefits of Giving Back Your Community — we highlighted just a few of the ways that giving back and becoming a more socially conscious company can benefit your business. If you’ve had a chance to read it, then you know just how important giving back can be to your brand, your business and your success.
Making it a point to give back can help with everything from employee retention to productivity and brand recognition, and if you’d love to enjoy the many benefits of giving back, you’ll be glad to know that you have tons of options at your disposal. Giving back doesn’t have to look the same for your company as it does for another local business in your area, and with a little help from our team, you’ll find that there’s no shortage of possibilities at your disposal.
Five Things Your Business Can do to Give Back to Your Community
#1. Organize or sponsor a fundraiser.
There are so many ways to give back, and one of the most straightforward is to help financially support a cause that you’re passionate about. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to donate a huge chunk of your profits, either. Organizing or sponsoring a fundraiser for the cause or organization is a great way to raise money for that cause.
#2. Sponsor a local sports team!
Sports are as American as apple pie, and kids who participate in sports learn all kinds of invaluable lessons that they can take with them into adulthood, from how to have a healthy competitive spirit to sportsmanship and teamwork. However, not every child in the United States comes from a family that can afford to enroll them in even sports programs at public schools.
In fact, according to a TD Ameritrade survey, 63 percent of American families spend between $100 and $499 every month on youth sports. Fifty-five percent of those respondents said that they cut back on entertainment, 40 percent said they take fewer vacations and 23 percent said they cut back on retirement savings in order to cover the costs of youth sports.
This makes local recreational teams an essential and valuable asset for these people, and as a business, you can play a big part in that by sponsoring a local sports team.
#3. Encourage your team to volunteer.
As the owner of a small business, there are a lot of things that fall on your lap and no one else’s, but you’ll be glad to know that giving back to your community doesn’t have to be one of those things. Sure, you can and should lead by example, but one of the best ways to show the world that your business is one that cares is by giving back as a team.
One effective way to encourage your team to volunteer in the community is by giving them a certain number of paid volunteer hours — this way, they can volunteer for causes they are passionate about, they have more flexibility to choose when they volunteer and they are getting a break from the office and the day-to-day grind, improving their job satisfaction.
Another way you could encourage your employees to volunteer is to have an annual volunteer day where you shut down all business operations and volunteer as a team.
#4. Donate a portion of your profits.
One of the best ways to make a name for your business as one that gives back is to donate a portion of your profits. This can look like many different things:
- You could donate a percentage of the profits from a specific day or time of the day.
- You could donate a percentage of the profits from a specific product or service.
- You could donate a percentage of the profits for categories of services or products.
Whatever route you choose, giving back in this way can benefit your business in a big way. When you advertise that a portion of the proceeds will go to a good cause, you’re also advertising your business and the product or service you want to highlight. Or, if you’re donating your profits based on a certain day or time, you’ll be driving more traffic during your business during those periods. Either way, it’s a win for you and your community!
#5. Support other local businesses.
When people think of giving back, they often think of donating money or volunteering their time, but it doesn’t have to be that straightforward. In fact, your day-to-day decisions, such as who you choose to source your materials from, can have a huge impact on your community, and one of the most effective ways to give back without having to sacrifice a whole lot of your time or money is to simply choose to work with other local businesses rather than large corporations.
There are a lot of great reasons to support local businesses — you’re putting money back into the community, you’re supporting local careers, you’re helping to keep the market competitive, etc. — but as a business, there are even more benefits. When you choose to work with a small business, you’re developing a valuable partnership and establishing beneficial community connections.
One other benefit of working with a local business is the increased access you’ll get. When you work with a corporate supplier, your business is just another number. But when you work with a local company, you’ll have the opportunity to talk with them face to face, which not only leads to better access but also better service.
Would you like to learn about five more ways that your business can give back to the community and make the world a better place? Stay tuned for part two!
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These days, it takes a great online and offline reputation to reach the widest audience, and while we can’t do much to help with your local reputation, we can help you take ownership of your online reputation and mold it into whatever you want it to be.
Unlike Yelp and the many other reviews sites out there, Top Rated Local is built on five pillars of the customer experience and designed to capture the overall customer experience like no other option out there. Top Rated Local empowers both businesses and consumers by solving everyday problems businesses face on typical reviews sites, like fake reviews, slanderous comments, blackmail, competitor reviews and more, and if you’d like to enjoy the many benefits of being a Top Rated Local business, it’s time to get started. The best part is that it’s absolutely free to get listed!
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