Creating a Legacy with Community Service That Enhances Your Company’s Culture and Impact

If you ask most business owners what the goal of their business is, they’re likely to say “profits.” However, it’s not enough to deliver quality products to satisfy customers. Modern businesses are expected to do more, including contributing positively to the community.

No matter the size, businesses can make a bigger impact – positive or negative – on their communities. Whether it’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, a focus on sustainability, or unique efforts based on the audience’s values, businesses are expected to embrace philanthropy, inspire others, and make a difference.

But it’s not just about good PR. When your business engages in community service, it sets the tone for stakeholders, customers, and employees and establishes the company values and culture.

How Community Service Benefits Your Business

Community service is uncompensated work that’s done by an individual or a group of people with the intent to improve the community. Some examples of community service include planting trees, visiting seniors, tutoring children, or collecting donations of food and clothing for low-income groups.

Volunteering or donating to community causes is incredibly rewarding for individuals, but that experience can be even better for businesses. When a company commits to community service, it reaps benefits that align with strategic goals, such as:

Attracting Talent

The younger pool of talent makes job decisions based on more than just salary and benefits. Like customers, they have a wealth of information at their fingertips. They can find out if a company is involved with worthy causes, makes charitable donations, and cares about the impact on the community.

In short, companies need to prove that they’re not just in it for the money.

So, when a valuable candidate has multiple job offers, the company with several charitable initiatives can have a competitive edge over others. And furthermore, if it comes down to a company with charitable initiatives and one with bad press about negative impact on the community – especially in favor of profits – they’re more likely to choose the one that’s making a difference.

Improved Brand Reputation

Brand reputation is a key part of business success. It’s much easier to maintain a positive reputation than manage a bad reputation after a scandal, so it’s best to set the tone early on.

Look at successful brands like Patagonia, TOMS, Everlane, Gymboree, Merck Pharmaceuticals, and Dawn. They’ve all established themselves based on quality products, excellent customer service, and charitable efforts or social responsibility – all without direct financial interests.

When there’s rising competition everywhere, a company that actively supports causes out of a desire to make a positive impact, rather than increase revenue, it sets them apart and generates buzz.

Improved Employee Satisfaction and Retention

Companies want to make money, and so do employees. However, younger talent isn’t looking for just a paycheck. They want to work for companies that support causes that align with their values and improve the community.

When prospective talent shares your values, they find more meaning in their work. They believe in the company and the causes, so they are more engaged with their work and committed to the company’s success. They feel good about what they’re doing and the company they work for.

Increased Customer Loyalty

No business can survive without a flow of new customers, and this is built on relationships. Good prices, quality products, and reliable service are important for cultivating customer loyalty, but supporting your community causes can be a huge differentiator.

People build a personal, emotional connection with companies that support social causes and give back to their communities. According to research, 81% of millennials want to support brands that are socially responsible, and 71% of Americans believe companies should address social issues.

How to Cultivate a Successful Community Service Program

There are many ways you can get involved in your local community and launch a community service program. Here are some best practices:

Understand Your Company Values

If you want your employees and customers to connect with your values, you have to understand what those are and communicate them clearly. Prepare a company mission statement that defines what’s important to your business and what makes you different.

For example, TOMS was founded in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie, an entrepreneur who was inspired to start the company after visiting Argentina and seeing children without shoes. The original goal was to donate one pair of shoes for every pair purchased.

Since then, TOMS has expanded its philanthropy. The new mission is to “use business to improve lives.” It goes into further detail about how to do this by giving one-third of profits to good causes, funding nonprofits that provide mental health resources, and creating meaningful two-way relationships with grantees.

Mycoskie was inspired to not only start his business but use it for positive change. Think about what difference you want to see and what ideals you want your company to have. Is it to reduce food insecurity? Support diversity and inclusion? Promote sustainability? Understanding exactly what you want to achieve can guide you.

Talk to Your Employees

While any community service effort is admirable, don’t plan your strategy in an echo chamber. Talk to your employees and get feedback on your community service initiatives.

For one, employees will have their own personal causes and organizations that they’ve worked with. Some may volunteer, others may have been employed at nonprofits in the past, and some may have a desire to contribute to an existing charity. These perspectives can help you create your own community service program that your employees can feel good about.

Keep in mind that community service isn’t an opportunity to hand off work to your employees. You have to lead by example. Building a company culture of philanthropy starts from the top, so leaders, managers, and employees all need to be involved.

Create Diverse Opportunities for Involvement

It’s much easier to volunteer or donate as an individual than as a company team. You can coordinate your own schedule, determine how much time or money you can afford to give, and what types of charities you would enjoy.

When a business is involved in community service with its employees, it’s unlikely that one cause will appeal to everyone equally. Some people are passionate about children or animals, while others may be more interested in cancer research or homelessness.

Instead of selecting one cause, create multiple opportunities that empower employees to engage in and support the company initiative and their own personal values. This not only ensures that they’re fully committed, but it allows employees to contribute only what they can in time or money.

Consider Skill-Based Volunteering

Along with offering different options, you can maximize your impact by exploring skill-based volunteering. Your employees are a valuable asset with a wide range of skills, which can be used to support community service organizations.

For example, your marketing team would be perfect for a social media campaign for adoptable pets at a local animal rescue. Web designers, developers, and graphic designers can help nonprofits launch or upgrade their sites. Project managers can organize live events for a charitable cause. The possibilities are endless.

Make a Community Impact

Every effort counts, but your business has the power to make a significant difference in your community. when you volunteer your time and resources to causes you care about, you’re showing stakeholders, customers, employees, and prospective talent that your business is about more than profits.

Author Bio:-

Cameron Magee, the owner of avad3 Event Production, is a passionate and dedicated professional who began his journey in event production as a curious 12-year-old at his childhood church. Today, he leads a team of hard-working production professionals, having built avad3 from his college dorm room into a national production company, committed to both client success and the well-being of his team.

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