This is the second of two articles on advisors and charities.
From workshops to auctions, there’s a seemingly infinite number of ways to support your community while also marketing your own business.
In connecting with a charity for an event, make sure it represents something that’s important to you — whether it’s environmental issues or relief for earthquake victims, says Joshua Zuchter, a business and life coach in Toronto.
No matter what the cause, here’s a few different ways to raise funds:
Charitable workshops
Workshops, or speaking engagements, are a great way to connect your business with a good cause. Everyone wins when you run a seminar or speaking event in which all the income generated goes to a charity of your choice, says Zuchter: “The charity gains the income from it; the individuals who come gain the knowledge and wisdom from the [advisor]; and the [advisor] gains the individuals who come as potential clients.”
Alternatively, if you don’t wish to have the direct link with the charity, you can simply donate a portion of the revenue to a cause, says Zuchter.
Send clients to an event
You don’t have to run the event to promote a charity. Buy tickets for clients or invite them to a speaker event that you’ve sponsored for a specific cause, says Rosemary Smyth, a business coach at Rosemary Smyth and Associates in Victoria.
Hold a silent auction
To add a little fun to your fundraising events, think about a silent auction. “A silent auction is another way to raise money for charities and promote your own business,” says Zuchter.
Worked in as a part of any client appreciation event or workshop, the auction is a great way for other corporations and organizations in the community, including yours, to promote their services while guests have fun and support a good cause.
Network for the cause
Incorporate a networking event with a charitable organization. Throw an event with booths in which business owners can showcase their services and products. You can then donate money from an entrance fee, a fee for the booth or a portion of the income from sales, or all three, all while you and others get to network, says Zuchter.
“Everyone who comes gets to meet other people, gets to network, gets to potentially attract clients from it,” he says. “So, that is a very successful format for attracting clients as well.”
Write about the charity
Promote individual charitable work through your direct communication to clients via a blog or newsletter. If you’ve been donating money or volunteering with a charity, you can highlight it and discuss its cause in a newsletter or in a side column of a personal website, says Smyth. As well, you can link the charity to any social media you might have so others can learn about it.
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