Small businesses are ultimately a product of the community they are a part of. Knowing how to connect with the people that you interact with on a daily basis is important for any business, and being a part of community events is a great way to do this. Whether you want to get involved with events like Triathlons or nonprofit work like food drives, here are a few ways to get started with getting your small business involved with your community.
The Logistics
Before you go out and start advertising your next event sponsorship or coordinating a food drive, you need to know about everything that goes into participating in the event. If you want to run an event that raises money for charity or general nonprofit work, for example, you might want to use a well-established peer to peer fundraising tool to keep track of donations.
Another important aspect of any event is how you plan to support both the attendees and your staff. If you want to keep volunteers in the field for long periods of time they will probably need food and snacks, and if you are the primary organizer of an athletic event you might need to provide these things for participants too.
Just make sure you follow and encourage the local safety guidelines and stay on top of recent public safety developments. Depending on the circumstances you may very well have to cancel your participation in the event and you should try to give as much notice of your cancellation as possible.
Sponsor Local Events
Local events aren’t going to be as common in light of the current COVID-19 situation, but they aren’t out of the question either. If you are looking to sponsor an event as a business decision, the first question you should ask yourself is how likely the people attending the event are going to want to patronize your business and adjust your budget accordingly. That is, a triathlete is more likely to take notice of a business that sells things relevant to running, cycling, and swimming. If you are starting an import/export business and you simply want to sponsor your favorite local sports team, on the other hand, that is perfectly fine as well since sporting teams are usually a decent place to advertise under normal circumstances.
Nonprofit Work
No matter where you live, if you feel that doing nonprofit work is a fulfilling career choice you shouldn’t let anyone tell you that charities aren’t worthwhile. That being said, you can’t donate if you don’t have money to give. Depending on your goals and your business model, you might have an easier time starting a nonprofit business instead of a more traditional one. Nonprofit organizations will definitely still need to cover their expenses and they can even make a “profit.” However, after a certain point, the money that they make will have to go to the stated goal of that nonprofit. Soliciting donations for charity while conducting business is by no means something that should be looked down upon, either, and all you can really ask for is what your patrons are willing to donate.
Participating in community events, online or in person, can be a practical use of business funds or simply contributing to community timebanking activities, both give back to the community and build rapport between your business and your customers. This isn’t always practical but once you have a dedicated consumer base for our business you will start to see how much your community affects your company, no matter what it specializes in. Companies cannot exist without doing business, and when you run a small business in your community you might pass your customers on the street every day without even knowing it.
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