How Do Businesses Benefit From Giving Back to the Community?
Your roofing business has likely gotten a lot of support from its community. Happy clients may have gone on to recommend your company to their friends and family. The local media might have covered your business, highlighting the quality of its work or detailing a promotion you've offered. As a business owner, perhaps you're wondering what you can do to return the favor. Furthermore, how do businesses benefit from giving back to the community?
Supporting your local area and giving your time or money to charities in your hometown not only benefits those organizations; it can also do wonders for your company's reputation, making your business look like a local leader. Learn more about the tangible and intangible benefits of giving back, as well as the many ways you can support your community.
How Do Businesses Benefit From Giving Back to the Community?
Whether you make a donation to a local charity or sponsor an event that raises funds for a local organization, being active in and supportive of your community can pay off for your roofing company. According to SCORE, a national network of small business mentors, the majority of consumers form a positive opinion about companies that donate to charity. Customers are also curious about the ways businesses contribute to charity. If your company is upfront about its charitable contributions and activities, you might be better able to win over new clients.
Giving back to your community can also mean tax benefits for your company. The Internal Revenue Service lets businesses deduct charitable donations of up to 25% of their income. The deduction will lower your tax bill, allowing you to invest more in your business or in your community.
Your employees are also more likely to stick around if your company has a strong community presence or participates in community service or volunteer programs. SCORE found that 93% of employees who participate in volunteer programs with their company were happy with their employer.
Ways to Give Back to Your Community
The sky is pretty much the limit when it comes to ways your business can give back. A simple and direct way to give back is to make a financial donation to an organization you believe in. Another option is to offer to sponsor a local event. You could also sponsor a youth sports team or perhaps cover the cost of decorating Main Street or a local park during the winter holidays, for example.
You might also consider organizing a volunteer event with your employees. Together, you can sign up to volunteer at a local food bank, sorting donations or helping to bag groceries for distribution. Or you could sign up to participate in a community giveback day, such as a park cleanup or the MLK Day of Service.
Offering your services for free to nonprofit organizations or to people in need is another way to give back. For example, you might offer to repair the roof on the building of a local nonprofit or work with an organization such as Habitat for Humanity, installing roofs and helping to build homes for people in need.
Along with encouraging your employees to participate in company-run volunteer programs, you can also help them organize their own community-minded efforts. Ask employees to help give back by organizing fundraising drives, such as collecting canned goods for the hungry or picture and chapter books for local literacy programs. You can also offer to match any donations made by your employees to nonprofit organizations.
Giving back to your community doesn't just help your business. It also helps to improve the lives and livelihoods of everyone in your area. When your community is thriving, your business is likely to thrive, too.
