Okay, well, phew… glad that’s over with for now. Don’t get me wrong, I know we’ve done a good thing, but it can certainly take it out of you.
Last week we held a 12 hour fund-raiser in our home for a very good cause (Rainbows – Hospice for Children and Young People) and raised a very healthy £165. Okay, the twelve hour timeframe was a little nuts, and holding it in our home did mean that everything got shifted around, turned upside-down, or hidden from view, but it was worth it because, together with our customers, we were able to do something good for the World…
Why doing something to help a charity can help your business – a breakdown…
When we started doing this years ago (we hold three events a year, and I think this is our fourth year), we wanted to:
- Create an environment where we could bring many of our customers together
We achieved a few things by doing this:
- Allowed our customers to meet (many for the first time) and share their enjoyment of our products
- Demonstrated a sense of ‘social acceptance’ – “you mean I’m not the only one to love this stuff?”
- Let customers demonstrate their particular favourites to each other, allowing us to step back and ‘just let the magic happen’
- We also get a decent sales boosts, three times a year, at times we schedule
- Provide something extra for our customers
It’s not just ‘us’ that our customers find when they arrive at our door. We invite a few other traders to set up stalls at these events as well, ensuring that each one is offering the quality and service we’re proud to introduce our customers to.
This results in a two-fold benefit.
- Our customers know that we’ve gone out of our way to bring them something new and fun, without being overly expensive.
- The traders we invite tend to reciprocate and keep us informed of opportunities we might have otherwise missed.
- Give our customers an opportunity to feel good about what they were doing
While our customers are having a good time eating cake (lots, and lots of cake), playing games and shopping, they also know that what they’re doing is contributing to a good cause they can really get behind, and this gives everyone that ‘warm, fuzzy feeling’.
- Give back to the community
Yes, what we’re doing does make good business sense, but it’s more than that. We’re not putting in over a weeks worth of extra effort just to increase the bottom line. It’s great to feel a part of something that really matters and know that we are helping to enable others to make this world a better place. And you can’t really put a price on that.
So, next time you’re looking for an opportunity to inject some more of that ‘feel-good factor’ into your business, have a think and find a way to involve your staff and customers in some fun, friendly, fund-raising.
How have you put this idea into practice in your business? What has worked best for you? Let us know below…
