From fund-raisers to employee appreciation events, this section contains ideas on what an organization can do to bring people together. In bringing people together for one common purpose, we create community. The folks who collectively take part in any event are all sharing that common thread. Events can be a powerful way to bring value to your community, as well as a great vehicle for marketing your brand. When you produce an event, attendees bond with your brand in two ways. First, they obviously bond with each other, but second—and more subtly—they bond with you as their host. Now, you may feel that if they're networking with each other, they're not being mindful of you, but as memories and connections are made around your event, your own brand recognition is strengthened in the minds and hearts of those who have attended. Events can be a powerful way to strengthen your brand and bring value to your community.
Whether a holiday or a "client appreciation" party, getting your clients together in the same room and collectively thanking them for their loyal patronage can help you make clients (and friends) for life. Depending on the nature of the organization you operate, you may also have key staff members available to assist with mingling and mixing.
Variation: If you have a large organization, you may separate the employee party from the client party, but certainly both are worth having. Employee parties offer the opportunity for internal marketing; client parties, external.
Host and promote a competition. You can call it "The Great ____________ Race." Set up a small number of teams, each with a small number of participants. One team wins upon accomplishing the appropriate task you set before them. The entry fee may be the cost (or reduced cost) of your service. The grand prize can be more of your product or service, or you may find a sponsor to provide the prize(s) in exchange for promotion through the event. There are also services available that help you offer some of the larger packages like cars, electronics, and so on. (Essentially, you buy insurance against the cost of the prize if someone wins.)
Variation: Donate your product or service to a charitable cause in the winner's name.Hold a children's art sale. It may be as simple as having a local class draw on gift bags then selling those original artwork pieces to raise funds to sponsor a needy family for Christmas.
Better: A less labor-intensive way to get the same thing done would be to scan the artwork, and then create iron-on transfers of it. This allows you to sell more copies of each piece, realize greater profits, and maintain happier artists (and parents.)
Hold a Community Day. Offer your goods or services to your local community at a free or reduced cost. Work with other local businesses and the media to promote your event. This is a great way to give back to the community and bring in new customers who have not visited your business yet. It is also a great way to get to know your neighbors. Work with them to make Community Day a larger event, offering even more value to the community!
A restaurant might have a cooking contest for newly graduated local chefs. During the event, the restaurant would charge ten dollars per person to sample all the showcased dishes. Attendees must vote on which dish is the best. The dish that wins gets on the menu (which should tell the story about how the dish came to be). To make the stakes higher, the restaurant might even hire the winning chef.
Tip: This idea also works when you need an event catered and don't have a large budget.Conduct a window display contest (instead of a sidewalk sale). Make voter cards available, and encourage participants to vote on their favorite display. Offer free samples to entice voters to try your product or service. Maintain a guestbook to track traffic and build your contact database.
Participate in a local gallery hop, where local artists bring their wares to display at a collection of stores and businesses. Maps of participating businesses are provided, and the event is advertised throughout the community. Businesses may serve appetizers and beverages to visitors on the tour, and artists may be present to talk about their work. This may be done for free (for the exposure, sharing the expense for printing the maps, posters, and so on), or you might charge a small cover as the maps are handed out. (You would charge hoppers only once—not at each location.)
Just because you provide a service instead of a product, it doesn't mean you can't participate in sidewalk sales. Use sidewalk sales to:
Get to know your neighborhood and its foot traffic.Educate the public on what you do.
Survey the public for what they want. Get suggestions and ideas from people on what they need and how you may best provide it.
Conduct free demonstrations of your product or service.Tip: Don't worry if you don't have a sidewalk. Find out when the next big local sidewalk sale is, and work out an arrangement with one of the participating vendors (one that compliments your own offerings would be preferred) to share its space.
A number of good causes offer a "lockup" program to enlist members of the community in raising funds. The idea is to publicize a mock arrest and jailing (though you may really be handcuffed and driven to the local jail in a police car) in exchange for "bail" (contributions to the cause). The "arrestee" then contacts the members of his own network to solicit for a set amount of funds in return for his freedom. Once bail has been made, you're set free. If you can't be away from your job, there's often a "house arrest" option. Sign yourself up, and publicize it as widely as you can. You're gaining a life experience, a wonderful story, and good karma.
Host an adult spelling-bee competition to help raise money for your cause. Much like a walka-thon, participants are called upon to gather donations from their support network, based on the number of words they spell correctly, as opposed to donating so much money for each mile walked. Conduct the event on a weekend or evening so kids can attend and see adults sweating in the spotlight.
Tip: Pull in community leaders to make things more interesting. They will also lend wonderful support to the event.
Offer an adult education class or seminar. This may be something you conduct through a local school or university, or it could be offered through a local business association or group. Your intent is to bring value to the attendees and the program hosts and to become known.
Variation: Spread the wealth. Invite other professionals in the area to speak as well. By doing so, you offer more value to the seminar and improve your referral network. Other professionals will also be able to help in the marketing of the seminar by reaching out to their own networks.
Variation: Find a professional or celebrity speaker, and bring him in to talk about a topic that is relevant to your audience. Partner with a local hotel and business associations to provide the venue and help cover the costs.