Marketing Your Business - Maximizing Your Marketing Profits
How to Work With Charities to Promote Your Business and Help Your
Community
By Kevin Nunley
Looking for a smart way to promote your business? How about a
tried-and-true marketing method that makes you look good in the
eyes of thousands of new customers AND helps people in your
community? Notice how many successful businesses in your town
support charities. It costs less than you think to help out a
non-profit group and the promotional payoff can be huge.
Plus, there are lots of worthy projects in your area that could
really use a helping hand. People give more to charities from
November to December than any other time of year.
Organizations benefitting children and the hungry get special
attention from the public. However, in surveys the public always
says they wished fundraisers would be held at other times of
year. They are suspicious of fundraising being grouped around
Christmas.
GETTING STARTED
NOW is the time to start talking with a good non-profit. Contact
their director and ask how your business can help. In most cases
you can dedicate a small percentage of your sales to the charity.
Non-profits will be ready and willing to include your name in
their advertising and marketing campaigns. Have a logo, flier,
short ad copy, or web site banner for them to use. Make yourself
available to join charity representatives on radio/ tv talk shows
and Internet chats.
There are so many worthy organizations that it is often hard to
chose which one to help. If you don't already have a favorite,
pick one that relates to your business in some way. If you sell
children's clothing, working with a charity that helps
underprivileged kids at Christmas would be a good match. Some
charities are better equipped to work with sponsors and the
media. Others are new, have inexperienced staff, and may
appreciate your business experience in showing them how to
organize people and resources.
THE BENEFITS TO YOU
Most people don't buy the item with the lowest price. Customers
highly value service and image. By involving your business with a
non-profit doing important work, you get the notice and respect
of thousands of people who otherwise might not know about you.
Note how many major newspapers and television stations are
promoting charities this time of year. Their audience and
advertisers appreciate when media works to improve the community.
Your customers and prospects will feel the same about you.
As an added bonus, business, political, and community leaders are
often heavily involved with charities. The people you meet can
form a valuable network of contacts for future projects and
business.
CHARITIES ON-LINE
The Internet started as a non-profit effort and still carries a
strong feeling of people selflessly working to improve life. Web
designer Lisa Schmeckpeper recently found the Net a perfect place
to do non-profit work. "It's turned out to be very effective. In
working with Toys Not Tears, we've linked our non-profit site to
the web sites of participating merchants." Order forms can be
modified so when a customer buys, a percentage of the sale is
collected by the charity. It's easy and everyone involved
benefits from the constant flow of customers from site to site.
The group uses one site for consumers with another to recruit
merchants.
DON'T BE TOO COMMERCIAL
It's easy to get carried away trying to promote the sponsor's
interests in a non-profit campaign. If it appears that sponsors
are being promoted more than the work of the charity, the whole
thing can backfire. Sponsors who stay discreetly in the
background receive more benefit in the end.
Focus on how you can help make things easy for consumers. Ease of
participation is often what separates success from failure. "Try
to solve the problems a potential donor may have such as no time
to write a check and mail it in, no extra money available, and
fear their donation may not reach the right people," Schmeckpeper
points out.
PROMOTE HARD
Lots of worthy non-profits are shouting their messages this time
of year. Even though you are a sponsoring business, you may find
yourself helping out on the publicity end. Use every available
marketing and publicity option. It takes lots of repetition to
have an impact. A well-written press release will interest
editors and producers. Many email newsletters are good about
donating no-cost ad space for charities. Radio, TV, and
newspapers will often give you free time and space if you have a
cause or event their audiences will be interested in.
Also think how you might be able to continue your association
with a charity year after year. Those who don't notice you this
year will be twice as aware the second time you participate. Many
of the most successful business-charity associations have been
going on for decades.
There's no question your business helps others by providing
valuable products, services, and ideas. You'll multiply the good
feeling when you lend a hand to a non- profit charity.
Kevin Nunley provides marketing advice and copy writing for
businesses and organizations. Read all his money-saving marketing
tips at http://DrNunley.com/. Reach him at kevin@drnunley.com or
603-249-9519.
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