Shine A Light On The Good That Your Business Does
When it comes to the goals of the business, the financial growth and stability often take a front-seat, but it’s important that they are not the only goals. When it comes to keeping employees, customers, and other stakeholders happy, fulfilling your corporate social responsibility is important, too. If you’re involved in local causes, fundraising, and other methods of using your business resources to do good, make sure that you’re getting the credit that you deserve.
Get the press to take notice of your achievements
When it comes to raising awareness of a charity or fundraising event, and ensuring that your brand gets the benefit of it, then the first step is to recognize the power that the press has to play. Having a strong PR strategy that is designed around building contacts within the different relevant new organizations is important. Nowadays, more and more people are getting their news from non-traditional media sources, as well. This includes blogs, podcasts, YouTube channels, and more. Make sure that you’re reaching out to those who are spreading the world online, not just through traditional methods like the radio waves, television, and the newspapers.
Be sure to give individuals the recognition that they have earned
If you have your employees and your donors actively involved in some sort of fund-raising effort or otherwise using their time and resources to contribute to good causes, then it’s important that they feel rewarded for the work and money that they put in. There are many different reward systems that you can use, but you shouldn’t necessarily consider rewards that have a set monetary worth as it can seem to go against the altruistic nature of the campaign. Instead, recognition can be even more valuable. For instance, you can dedicate a wall of the office or of a new building to those who contribute to a cause, with engraved bricks bearing the names of the highest contributors. A little incentive goes a long way to get people to be more engaged with your efforts.
Get the public involved
There’s nothing that can make people take notice of a campaign like asking them to pitch in. The next time that you have a fundraising or cause marketing achievement that you want to publicize, consider asking for user-submitted content from the public. An effective social media strategy is all about ensuring that people are not only reading what you’re posting but that they’re actively engaging with it. Many of the people who share the same values as your brand will be glad to demonstrate those values. The ice bucket challenge, though not necessarily driven by any single company, showed the viral power of doing good and showing it online.
Recognition for the good deeds that they do can improve donor and employee morale. It also helps to shine a light on the positives of your brand, helping customers build a connection that’s rooted in more than commercial convenience, making for a stronger kind of customer loyalty.
