4th April 2022
In the current climate we are seeing a seismic shift toward doing good, helping others and support for charities and people less fortunate than ourselves. Fundraising has become a regular part of daily life and anything that can be done to raise much needed funds has to be a good thing.
Here’s the reality, although I advocate that you ‘RECLAIM RETAIL’ don’t do it in the hope that it’s going to help you get that brand new, top of the range Bentley as that’s a pipe dream for most of us. But what you can do is use the additional revenue for lots of good causes, from education opportunities for your staff to salon refits, team days, staff awards parties etc. And then, every now and again, do something that helps causes close to your heart.
There are numerous ways you can support local, national, and global causes, but donating a percentage of your retail sales profits to a cause is an easy to do, easy to implement and easy to talk about option.
Your staff, especially millennials (born 1980–1994) are keen to ‘do their bit’ and will embrace your decision to help whatever cause you choose. Your client’s will also see this as something they want to be involved in.
Perhaps once a month, for a given period of time, it could be a day, a week, or the entire month, you decide to donate XX% of profit to your chosen charity. But before you jump in at the deep end you have to get your team on board with the idea, so hold a team meeting and discuss it as a group allowing everyone to comment on what they see as charities, organisations or even individuals they would like to help.
Note: There will always be one individual who decides they don’t want to participate, that’s fine, don’t make them feel isolated or show any disappointment, it’s all about ‘each to their own’ and their reasons for not getting involved are theirs and not to do with anyone else.
Then share the news with your clients, the best way to do this is to announce it on your social platforms and encourage the team to explain to all of their clients why you have decided to do this. Make sure the message is consistent and always ask the charity or organisation if they are okay with you sharing links to their social pages as well.
Don’t expect to create a stampede from people wanting to buy your products because you are donating something to charity, and don’t think that you can’t generate enough revenue to make it a worthwhile venture. Every penny counts when donating to good causes, but just as importantly is the feel-good factor you generate from your team and their clients.
Give it a go, do some good with very little effort but maximum ‘feel good’ payback.
