25 Years of Community: High Touch High Tech and Volunteering

 

We’ve all gotten the phone calls, in-person visits, and letters asking your business to donate time, or usually money to a cause or charity in the community. What is the real return on investment when devoting your money and time to these enterprises? While most people feel that the effort isn’t quite worth the response, it usually does much more for business than you’d expect! Involving yourself and your staff in charitable efforts builds morale, fosters customer relationships and builds trust within your neighborhood.

Being active and supporting your community doesn’t have to come in the form of monetary donations. One of the best ways to get involved is by engaging with your and your staff’s time. Devote one community day of action company-wide each year! Have regular blood drives or volunteer at a local shelter. It shows your clients that you’re involved and allows your employees a day away from the office!

Volunteering makes you happier and healthier, encouraging healthier employees! Volunteering is shown to increase self-confidence, sense of purpose, and decrease stress and anxiety. Even more interestingly, research has shown that non-volunteers’ to volunteers’ happiness levels are comparable to those with a $20,000 annual salary versus a $75,000-100,000 annual salary. A study among hiring influencers showed 82% of them were more likely to promote volunteers into leadership roles! Volunteering has a positive effect on your personal and business careers. Happy employees are more productive and pleasant to work with!

Your business volunteering to local organizations, or simply helping around the neighborhood is free advertising! We see advertisements all day long desensitizing us to their impacts to the point we ignore them. Giving back to the community exposes you to those who aren’t as welcoming to traditional advertising avenues. Community activism increases the chances that local media outlets hear of these happenings and grant you coverage and free exposure to a further fresh audience! Charitable efforts and volunteering put you and your business into new positions that offer new and better opportunities.

Your community, and potentially your competition, are taking notes on how to engage and participate in the community from you and your staff’s precedent. Setting an example of being helpful, being thankful and charitable makes it more likely other members within the community will do so as well. Be the reason more businesses donate and participate; you cannot succeed without your community’s success!

Take photos of these events and post about the charity you’re involved with on social media. Showing your customers that you care for your community, and so do your employees proves why your brand deserves their loyalty!

 

 

Sources Cited:

“The Advantages of Being Active in Your Community.” CorkTree Creative, July 2018. Retrieved from: https://corktreecreative.com/blog/350-the-advantages-of-being-active-in-your-community/

“The Benefits of Being Active in Your Own Community.” Managing Coummunites.com, September 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.managingcommunities.com/2012/09/03/participating-in-your-own-community/

Jenkins, J. “Health Benefits of Volunteering for the Employee Volunteer.” Community Health Charities, September 2018. Retrieved from: https://healthcharities.org/health-benefits-of-volunteering-for-the-employee-volunteer/

Charles, J. “5 Ways Volunteering Can Help Your Small Business Grow.” Small Business Trends, October 2011. Retrieved from: https://smallbiztrends.com/2017/10/business-benefits-of-volunteering.html