As a corporate neighbor, it’s good business to roll up the sleeves and contribute to the health and vitality of your surroundings.  Programs like Keep America Beautiful help to empower the community by “…driving positive social, environmental and economic change.”  Within your own company, the effort can be a large community-wide undertaking, or it can be as simple as setting aside an afternoon to weed the community garden.

While every company deals with budget restrictions, employee concerns and the ever-present necessity of accomplishing more with fewer resources, lending a hand to help your neighbors is more than just the right thing to do.  It should be considered a strategic piece of the overall corporate profit agenda and factored in as one of the tools in play to increase brand awareness.

After all, consumers are becoming more and more aware of the environmental and social implications of their purchases, and therefore remember those brands that support their concerns when making purchases of goods and services.  Those are the customers that will be more loyal to the brand and give positive word-of-mouth advertising to their friends.

Give a branded tee shirt, hat or pair of gloves for the volunteers.  You want to be sure everyone knows who’s sponsoring the event!  Bring a few extras for anyone that might want to join the group at the last minute.  Have plenty of water available, and don’t forget to plan for a lunch break with a healthy menu that can be carried in a reusable bag.

Doing the right thing can be fun, rewarding and, eventually, profitable.  Plan your community cleanup event now – spring is right around the corner!