Whether you host a charitable fundraising event or start a community beautification project, your active engagement leads to better business outcomes.

Making meaningful contributions will help you increase your reach, boost your sales, and achieve long-term success — all while supporting your most valued customers.

A Small Business Can Have A Huge Impact

In Sweet Home, Oregon, one small community recently received a huge remodel — and it was all thanks to one business. The community-wide “Paint the Town” project provided a much-needed refresh to storefronts and empty buildings.

Miller Paint — a local paint manufacturer — spent roughly $250,000 in supplies and time to sponsor the event. The community appreciated its massive contribution so much that it kicked off a weeks-long event. Ultimately, over 80 volunteers dedicated their time to help repaint.

Local artists stepped in to create murals once the volunteers finished repainting the buildings. Kelcey Young — the city manager — said the event was an excellent opportunity for Sweet Home. Young believes it will attract tourists, boost business, and increase the city’s curb appeal.

Many small communities have come together for a community beautification project much like Sweet Home did. Notably, many of those efforts wouldn’t have been possible without a local business’s contribution. On the other hand, success relies on community-wide collaboration.

In Sweet Home’s case, the downtown revitalization was only possible because of Miller Paint’s donation. However, the actual repainting only happened because locals volunteered their time. Ultimately, the project proves communities are a business’s greatest strength.

What Does Active Engagement Look Like?

Actively engaging with and contributing to a community is a lengthy process. You must first identify what goals or values they share with the surrounding area. Then, you have to define your path forward. Ongoing participation and positive accountability are essential.

What does successful community engagement look like? It can be any meaningful contribution. Whether you engage in fundraising or community beautification, the locals just want to know you care enough to take action. Utilizing tools like Loc8NearMe can further bridge the gap between businesses and the communities they serve, fostering a deeper local connection.

While you don’t have to publicize your efforts, they will be more impactful if you do. Outreach is part of engaging with your community and making it a better place to live. To some extent, active involvement requires relationship-building through messaging and public event hosting. In our exploration of Bizzabo alternatives for event hosting, we’ve traversed through a landscape of diverse platforms each with its unique set of features catering to different needs.

How do you engage actively in a community? You address current needs, seek to better your city, and remain vocal about your ongoing efforts. Your involvement should revolve around direct interactions and collaborative efforts. Most importantly, you take action instead of outsourcing the work to others.

How Can Businesses Contribute To The Local Community?

You can actively engage with and contribute to your local community in numerous ways.

Improve local storefronts

You can try to improve storefronts by taking inspiration from Sweet Home’s community beautification event. Since greenery increases curb appeal, you improve your building’s market value by planting tree canopies and native flowers. Repainting, decorating, and landscaping

Partner with others

You can actively contribute to your community by partnering with local businesses or institutions. For example, you can work with a high school to establish a student mentorship program. There are endless opportunities for collaborative projects.

Sponsor public projects

Sponsored events like the one in Sweet Home incentivize community-wide collaboration. You can donate money, supplies or your time to improve your city. Whether you back a litter cleanup or a charity fundraiser, people will appreciate your efforts. In fact, individuals contribute 67% of all charitable donations, showing the power of personal contributions in making a difference.

Increase your sustainability

Actively becoming less wasteful and more mindful improves your community’s environment. You can install smart LEDs to increase energy efficiency, plant native greenery to help local wildlife thrive, or shut off signs after closing to minimize light pollution. Exploring resources like Utility Bidder can also help identify more ways to optimize energy and water usage for a greener approach.

Create local attractions

Community beautification projects are a one-time investment that can last decades. Creating a public art installation, historical marker, or mural shows community members you care about them and their homes. It also can attract tourists and improve curb appeal.

Share locals’ stories

Sharing locals’ stories shows them you care about the community’s message and values, encouraging them to do business with you. In fact, about 83% of people say they’re more likely to buy something if someone they know recommends it.

Make your mark

Placing benches, adopting roads, and installing informational plaques can enhance your community while getting your business’s name out there. Once residents see your brand name attached to an improvement, they’ll know you’re working hard to help.

Hire local employees

Hiring locals lets you engage directly with your community every day. It even stimulates the local economy since whatever you make or spend on labor stays within your city. Instead of outsourcing staff or moving operations out of state, source employees locally.

How Does Community Engagement Benefit Your Business?

Your active engagement doesn’t just enhance your community — it leads to better business outcomes for you. Whether you sponsor a community beautification event or partner with local organizations, you increase your brand awareness and reputation.

When community members have a strong relationship with you, your retention, sales, and lead generation rates improve. Also, your customer acquisition cost shrinks noticeably. Being an active participant in revitalization and support efforts can lead to long-term business success.

More importantly, your contributions can have unique impacts. For example, murals, historical markers, and public art installations can attract tourists. Small-scale projects like community gardens and branded benches can draw customers to your store.

If you improve the area directly surrounding your brick-and-mortar business, you increase your curb appeal. As a result, your building’s value rises, making it easier to expand or scale your operations in the future. You may even gain a competitive advantage.

Ultimately, your ongoing efforts to engage with and contribute to your community contribute to a thriving local economy. When you keep money circulating in the same place where your business is located, you increase your chances of long-term success.

Actively Participate In Your Community To Succeed

Getting involved in local programs and hosting public events strengthens your relationship with your community. Even if you don’t have $250,000 like Miller Paint did, you can still give back. Your time, supplies, and voice can be just as impactful.