It’s common knowledge that communities flourish when businesses and residents join together for a good cause. The many meaningful contributions that are made by small businesses to communities each year boost morale and help better the lives of residents. In addition to the impact your business can have on a cause, there are many benefits to getting involved, including building your network and brand awareness, improving buyer patronage, and boosting office morale.
Community organizations unite a wide variety of people who believe in a common cause, often one that your business also believes in. These opportunities can serve as a great platform to form relationships with your target market, while influencing community members and other local businesses that can help to propel your company. However, it is important to understand the difference between promoting and selling. Keep the cause at the forefront of every interaction and integrate how your company supports that cause into the conversation. Community involvement is focused on building awareness, not selling your product or service. By becoming a prominent member of the community, your business may naturally gain client awareness in a more cost-effective manner than an extensive local advertising campaign.
These opportunities can also help to establish your brand as being socially responsible. Most small businesses face an uphill battle of gaining awareness because of lack of both resources and an established network. Branding your business as one that contributes to the community will help gain that needed awareness and to establish a network of people that support your business’s goals and mission.
In addition, promoting your brand as one that cares about the community can improve buyer patronage. Clients are more likely to become loyal to a business that supports the surrounding community, than one that shows no interests away from promoting their own organizational mission. Community involvement has the potential to differentiate your business from its competitors.
Getting involved in the community will also help boost office moral. Taking time out of the work day for employees to collaborate and promote a great cause will help to unite your staff through shared goals. At the basis of every business is a mission, or the “why” statement, which drives the business forward. By fusing your mission with the mission of a community organization, your employees will gain a further understanding of your business’s culture and mission.
