How Chrissy Weems Teaches Businesses Give Back

According to the co-founder and CEO of Origami Owl, Chrissy Weems, successful businesses depend on many intangible factors for their profits. Meaning, increasing revenues is usually not as easy as reducing prices or finding more customers. On the contrary, this takes a series of steps including community involvement, outstanding customer service, and attention to feedback.

Out of the three mentioned factors, community involvement is generally the most important one. It allows businesses to facilitate local growth while raising awareness about their services. In order to engage in corporate philanthropy, however, businesses must have a clear-cut idea of their goals. So, what are some ways that companies can give back to their communities?

Working With the Local Suppliers

Although working with the local suppliers is a great way to involve the community, it only applies to product-based businesses. For example, a store of Origami Owl in Hollywood could do this because they produce jewelry. Thus, Chrissy Weems could insist on purchasing materials from the local market. If the business is service-oriented, however, it may be difficult to gather resources from the local supply. This is simply because the overhead materials needed for service-based businesses are intangible.

Consider, for instance, a law firm. Unlike the aforementioned example of a jewelry company, law firms do not offer tangible goods. Instead, they sell their services to clients who need assistance. Thus, buying supplies in Hollywood, per se, would be very unlikely since the law firms do not use raw materials. Even in this type of situation however, a company may choose to go out of their way to acquire basic office materials and furniture from local businesses or contract a local artist to decorate their lobby.

Sponsoring Events

There is seldom a better way to generate publicity than through public events. Consider, for instance, how the Robin Hood Foundation raised $100 million from Hollywood in one night. This was done through a high-level gala that countless celebrities, businessmen, and people of influence attended. Thus, organizing and sponsoring events where large donors can get together is the easiest way to promote community growth.

Not only does it allow companies to drive attention to specific issues, it also lets them raise funds that help resolve these problems. Not to mention the amount of coverage and news publicity that successful charitable events generate. So, it is about as close as corporations can get to a win-win scenario!

Local Recruitment

For businesses that cannot help communities by purchasing from local suppliers, there are other alternatives. They could compensate by getting their workforce from the communities in which they are operating. For example, that same law firm in Hollywood could focus on bringing in attorneys from the area. Although this may sound quite obvious, a fair share of companies tend to outsource their work or relocate employees. Whenever such hiring practices take place, the local market suffers as the eligible workforce is overlooked.

A lot of businesses promote local recruitment by having a long-term relationship with the universities in the area. For instance, Ernst and Young is an accounting firm that operates hundreds of offices around the world. Very frequently, however, they hire new workers or interns from the local schools. Thus, a good part of their employees in Los Angeles likely came from the Hollywood-based public institutions.

Pro Bono Services

Undoubtedly, giving something away for free is the easiest way to organize and execute a charitable campaign. This is because it is based on the concept of free products or services that would normally be chargeable. Thus, businesses that want to give back to their communities can do so through donation campaigns. So, for organizations that sell products, this would mean donating items to those in need. A clothing store, for example, could give away winter jackets to the homeless.

What makes this option so favorable is its inclusion and versatility. Meaning, it allows every business to get involved since pro-bono-based services are also very common. Thus, a law firm in Hollywood does not even have to worry about the local suppliers or workers. Instead, they could simply do a certain number of cases for free each year. That way, people who may not have the financial ability to afford a lawyer will still obtain high-quality representation.

On-the-Clock Volunteering

A recent trend in corporate volunteering has seen a noticeable increase. Although there are multiple factors that facilitated the growth, on-the-clock volunteering opportunities could be seen as the main reason. For those unfamiliar, this means that the employees of some companies are encouraged to take time off and help others. Since they are still on the clock, however, their earnings are not compromised.

A good example, once again, are most large accounting firms in Hollywood. Although their workers tend to be salaried, these firms give away time for volunteering. Even those that are paid hourly are often compensated for their time during some charitable event. After all, nothing incentivizes corporate responsibility like financial compensation for involvement with the community.

Other important ways that businesses can give back revolve around promoting sustainability, incentivizing innovation, and much more. In fact, the list of ways in which companies can help is not an exhaustive one. Meaning, there is no set of rules that limit people who want to give back. Usually, the only two things that they must have is the time and passion. Everything else tends to fall into place naturally. Luckily, the increased involvement of large companies has helped the local markets thrive. In the future, such growth is expected to only get better as more organizations start giving back.