Get Involved in Your Community (Pt. 1)

Giving back is very important for an entrepreneur. Really, this kind of community involvement is important for businesses of all sizes. But for entrepreneurs and their small businesses and startups, they are especially crucial. This is because of how important the relationship with the local community really is. Take a look at a basic guide to giving back for entrepreneurs and what it all means.

Entrepreneurs typically are heavily engaged in the local community. However, this doesn’t always mean that they are giving back. But donating time, energy and even products or services can be an invaluable way to immerse yourself into the culture of a community and its citizens, all while doing generally good deeds as well. Therefore it’s a win-win for everyone involved, and it really doesn’t have to be a hassle whatsoever.

There is no set time limit or quota or that you have to spend in order to earn your stamp as being a good, caring, local citizen. You can spend one hour per month, or 10 hours per month, but it’s still giving back. The important thing is to really give 100% of yourself, and not to try to fool anybody by doing a good deed just to get seen doing it. If you give back to the community and mean it, people will take notice without you needing to showboat around or scream it to the world.

One good idea to get involved is to pick one particular charity or local organization to get involve with. This makes your contributions all the more worthwhile than if you spread yourself too thin, and you’ll also get to know everyone better, and vice-versa. With one charitable organization that you’re tied with, you can even work together for larger events and gatherings that are beneficial for everyone.

Additionally, this also makes it easy for everyone else on your team to get involved as well. This is something that you should encourage as much as possible. You want everyone you’re involved with getting involved with the community and giving back. You can even offer team members a paid day off, or half day, once per quarter or so to go spend with the charity and make a difference.

You can also think of creative ways that your organization can give back. Donating a check might be nice, but donating time or other services is even better. Some connections might be really easy to make, like the makers of a new innovative, eco-friendly dog product getting involved with the local animal shelter and donating a new toy for each animal. But on other occasions you’ll have to get just a bit more creative than that.

So what are you waiting for? If you’re an entrepreneur, then you have to get involved in the community, and it shouldn’t take much pushing to get you started. You’ll be doing great, positive and rewarding work, and you’ll be raising your visibility and reputation amongst the local community as well.