How Your Business Can Be Involved In Your Community

You should always think towards corporate social responsibility. This is thinking on how to give back and impact your community. This where you make money, your presence in community development is needed.

Here ways you can be involved.

Serve on a Community Board

You start by being a member on a community board. It could be an adhoc committee charged with a responsibility. Contribute in however way you can to help the committee achieve its goal. If you cannot be around personally, have a representative.

Volunteer

Be part of a community cause. There are a lot of ways to impact without spending a dime, volunteering is one. Accept responsibilities and get it done. It speaks well of your image.

Build Partnerships

You can give back to your community by building developmental partnership with organizations like the community hospital, the school, the cinema in providing better entertainments. Be, however, strategic in your approach to partnerships.

Donate

It is not only money you can donate, donate gifts. You can donate to a community fund for a project or to the Christmas party to be organised by the community school for kids. There are a lot of causes you can donate to for the help of the community.

Participate in Community Events

When the community is having an event, be there. You can even give free stuffs. Your participation in community events endears the members of the community to you. This is because you are seen as one of them and not just a business.

Plan and Host Events

It is not out of place to plan and host events yourself. You can organize a community competition or children’s events say games, plays etc. The event will cost you but it is your investment in the community to be their number one business place.

Promotions, Giveaways, and Contests

This is also a marketing strategy. Organize promotions, giveaways and contests. These bring more people to your business center as you are cutting some prices and giving some other away for free. Ensure that the contest is designed to derive more publicity for your business.

Donate School Supplies

Giving to the community school will endear parents, teachers, local authorities, and students to you. You are sure to enjoy a special place in the community when you invest in education. You can give new furniture, books, electronic materials, or sport items.

Incentivize Your Employees to Volunteer

When you reward them for volunteering, you are encouraging them to do more and your good image in the community is reinforced. Give them little time to spend volunteering in community causes. Since they are mostly from the community, getting them onboard shouldn’t be hard.

Mentor other Businesses

Your success in the community is bound to draw others to you. Be open to mentoring others. Give advice, follow up, and see how you can help with contacts and connections. This is a way of giving back to the community.

Work With Local School Programs

Look up the local school programs in your community. It could even be an evening class or the community school project. Whichever it is, work with them and see how you can make it better.

Donate What You Don’t Need

There are some items you may no longer need or you can easily get a replacement for; donate them to the community. It could be of use to someone. For instance, a computer set can be of use to a kid who loves computers but whose parents can’t afford one.

Promote Healthy Habits like Hydration

Healthy habits are needed for healthy living. You can distribute stickers or flyers promoting healthy habits. Words like “I pledge to dispose wastes sustainably”, “6-8 cups of water is beneficial to your health” can send messages.

Challenge Your Community for a Cause

You can bring up a cause the whole community can support. Challenge people on supporting what they believe are right.

Set Up a Pay “What You Want” Event for Charity

You can have a charity drive where people can pay extra for products if they want to and the change goes to charity. This can be done once in a while or over a period of time.

Create a Contest for Your Next Product

You can use this as a marketing strategy. Let there be a competition to get your next products free. This will help increase the anticipation for the product.

Acknowledge the Achievements of Others in the Community

Even your competitors, acknowledge the achievements of the people in the community. Encourage an atmosphere of appreciation and recognition.

Connect with Nature – Set Up a Garden or a Gleaning Event

Be in tune with nature and sustainability and invite members of the community to join. This will help boost your image as one who is not too concerned with profit-making.

Create a Free, Educational Workshop

Have a free, educational workshop on a pressing issue. Bring seasoned facilitators to handle events. Let the workshop flow with people’s schedule – it may be in the weekend.

Set Up a Neighborhood Watch Program

The neighborhood watch program can even be incentivized. Let volunteers present themselves and help them with necessary things.

Use Your Business to Showcase Your Community

Almost every community loves to be showcased in events, movies, advertisements, etc. Let your community appear in your insignias, advertisements, etc. It will be appreciated.

Help Fund a Building Project

The community may want to have a sport center built; give a large part even if you can’t fully give all. This would have your name cemented in the hearts of those positively impacted.

Work with Your Employees

Don’t participate in community development alone, work with your employees. With the team effort at play, you can get things done faster and better.

Invite Local Businesses to Use Your Products and Services

Let the local businesses attest to the quality and value in your products and services. They are influencers and they can pass the word across as fast as possible.

Create an Internship Program

Internship programs are learning experiences and they may be paid or not. Make opportunities available for those who are interested to benefit.

Create a Social, Community Space or Forum

Have something organized to bring the community together. You can create a social space or build a community fun place or hall where people can interact and socialize.

In conclusion, when you give to a community, you are definitely getting back. It is like a profitable investment. Let the community feel the impact of your presence.

The National Independent Hardware Association of America is here for all of your hardware industry needs. Hopefully you have found value within this article on the How Your Business Can Be Involved In Your Community. We are interested in what you would like to learn more about, please let us know in the comments below.