Charity events...

[Pompal 09.]

I am considering doing a charity event.  Something like a "Hands for Helping" (as I have seen it mentioned before) where I offer chair massage in exchange for a couple of cans of food or $ donation kinda thing.  I was wondering if anyone else on this board has done this?  I have some ideas but I'm not sure if they are appropriate.  I thought of selling gift cards for massage and/or gift baskets and donating a portion of the proceeds to the same or possible a different charity.  Can I get some of you to tell me what you think?  I don't want to make it seem like I am there to make a ton of money and using the charity for my "hook" to get people in.  I really will donate about 15% of the profits to the charity but of course I will be making money as well.  What do ya'll think?  I just opened my own practice and am looking to get my name out there and looking for a way to keep myself busy.  

 

[artofwar1234]

Charity events...

Wow! I disagree 100%. If you are doing a charity event, the most I would do is have a stack of business cards on display. Using a charity as a hook seriously rubs me the wrong way, if you'll excuse the overused pun. I would examine why you want to do the charity event in the first place. If you are looking for a new marketing tool, there are many great ideas on this board. If you seriously wish to donate time and effort to a good cause, by all means, do that. Mixing the two will send a signal to prospective clients that you are really in it for what you can get out of it.Just my 2 cents...Sally

 

[bennyblueballs]

Charity events...

I'm with BJB-LMP. Think of all the big companies that do this. Yoplait yogurt gives 0.10 to Breast Cancer Research for every pink lid collected. That gets me to try to buy more yogurt during that time to help out the cause. I do not think that Yoplait is only using the charity as a hook, but they obviously will make money on the product. That's OK with me because they are helping a great organization. Why don't you think of an organization you would like to help and contact them to ask what they could use. Maybe they have an event coming up and can use you for a donated massage gift certificate or have room for your chair or could help you promote your idea. I know of one group that approached me with a flyer to eat at a local hamburger shop during a specific week and the shop would donate 20% of the meal price to the group. The shop didn't have to do any of the leg work, they just had to agree to do the promotion and they got more business and the group was helped. I know I ate there even though I wasn't planning on it before the promotion. Good luck with your ideas.

 

[jlyn]

Charity events...

I have done this type of thing a few different times.Once I donated $15 from every (every!!!) massage during the month of January to sponsor my sister's participation in the Avon 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer. I printed little cards that I placed on the face cradle that said, "thank you" for helping me to support a great cause, etc & gave the website to learn more. The back of the card had my business contact information on it. My sales went up that month about 20%. I purposely chose January, because that is a slow month for me. It enabled me to donate over $600 to a very worthy cause. (my Januarys would never have allowed that in the past! ha. s-l-o-w)I advertised this in my newsletter, and in a sign at the reception desk at the salon.Last year I did a Yoplait (what a coincidence, tiamouse!) Yoghurt Promotion. They encourage it, provide a link to their site & even downloadable ads/signs, etc. I used my lucite drawing box & decorated it with the official sign from Yoplait. I asked people to bring in their clean pink lids. I would send them in so that Yoplait would donate their 10 cents per lid, and I matched the 10 cents myself, as a personal donation. In addition, I offered any massage client 1% off any massage service per lid (up to 50%) they brought in for any Oct/Nov/Dec appointments. I made a cut-off date that allowed me ample time to mail the lids in to Yoplait by their deadline.Another time a client approached my partner about helping to raise money for an amino acid analyser for a specific hospital. Their little girl suffers from Maple Syrup Urine Disease: a terrible condition that sends her into comas as her body cannot process &metabolize proteins. It's a little known & rare disorder that doesn't have large fundraising profiles like others (ie Breast Cancer, Diabetes, etc). It was a grassroots effort & many small businesses as well as individuals helped them come up with the 80K needed to get that machinery for St John's Barrows. We donated $10 from every massage. We were mentioned briefly whenever they listed the local businesses helping, but it wasn't really about that.I say, go for it. I can't really say that it will increase your income, but it will raise awareness of both you and the charity you are trying to help. You can orchestrate some kind of press release about it, etc. That's always nice on a couple of different levels. I wouldn't reccommend it unless your heart is truly in the right place about it. What if you advertise & pledge X% or X amt of dollars, etc. Will you be able to write that check in both the very best & worst of outcomes?In my new place, next year, I'm supporting a friend & client who is doing the 3-Day walk with a 'labrynth walk' in our studios. She is baking pink ribbon cookies to sell, I'll be setting up the labrynth & I'll be giving everyone who 'walks' & donates a coupon for 25% off a future appointment with me. My long-winded point: do it thoughtfully & think of it as a way to 'tithe' or gather the resources to make a nice charitable donation. I, personally, would never be able to write these large donations if I didn't involve a bit of marketing & business savvy.Jill/Sagetherapist

 

[Dilly]

Thank you all for the replies.  I have a few more ideas and more insight after reading all of your opinions.  I think I am going to set this up next week.  I have a "connection" at the local newspaper in the community where I work so I am going to call him and see if he can write up a little article before hand.  I am currently looking at what local charity I would like to donate to.  Thanks again everyone!  This board is really great...