One of the hardest things for businesses to do is to gain a positive public image. There are many ways to market your products, but getting the general public to feel good about doing business with you takes some effort. One of the easier ways to increase your company’s brand awareness is by aligning yourself with various charities. You should do this throughout the year, but one of the best times to join forces with charities is when people are preparing for the holiday season.
Whenever a popular holiday is on the horizon, many businesses partner with various well known charities in order to help “spread the wealth” and gain some market recognition for their brand. Supporting charities helps lend a sense of authenticity to the branding of a business name or cause. While supporting a popular worldwide charity can be financially profitable, it can also be rather difficult to do since most of those types of charities already have well-known businesses supporting them. In order to gain the marketing benefits of supporting a charity while not getting lost in the crowd of other supporters, businesses may want to consider supporting charities in their direct community.
There are many worthwhile local charities that really need the help and support of local area businesses. By providing support to these charities, businesses can also greatly improve their name recognition and the perception of the general public, while helping to strengthen the cause and reach of the charity itself. There are several other reasons why area businesses may wish to support local charities in their community.
Support for local charities can give local businesses the opportunity to speak with decision makers that may have some influence on policies that may affect the businesses both directly and indirectly.
Celebrities love to have their names tied to well-known charities, and many local charities carry a lot of clout. By your supporting a local charity that is also supported by a well-known celebrity you can easily gain a strong social media following via social ties with the celebrity.
People are more likely to support a business that they know gives to charities. By supporting a local charity you not only gain the financial support of those that favor businesses that are active in the community, you gain a whole new customer base that may not have been available to you before.
A great example of this kind of local charity support is TreeClassics.com. This website specializes in well designed pre-lit artificial Christmas trees, but what is most noteworthy is the fact that through Christmas a percentage of the sale of each tree sold on the website goes to the charity of the customer’s choice. By having a percentage of each sale go to charity, the website has been supported by various celebrities, which is one of the main reasons why this website has been featured in popular magazines like Woman’s Day and People.
By seeking out and supporting local charities that are most prominent in the areas your service, you can:
- Easily create a win-win situation to gain awareness for your business
- Support other local businesses
- Help the local charity achieve their most important goals
- See your donation in action in your own community
Overall, there are many benefits for local businesses to support local charities. I have included just a few.
Share below the ways you have supported local charities and how it has increased your brand awareness.