Isabellan Times

Today, I found a flyer on my door for the Souper Bowl.  For those who have not heard of it, the Souper Bowl utilizes “Super Bowl weekend to mobilize youth to fight hunger and poverty in their local communities.”  The non-profit was started in 1990 by Rev. Dr. Brad Smith, then a seminary intern at a Presbyterian church in South Carolina.  As of today, the Souper Bowl has raised over $50 million and collected over 22 million pounds of food.  It just goes to show you what one person can start.

So why should a small business help?  HINT: PR!  I will provide you with a few simple ideas on how you can make a difference in such a short period of time…the super bowl is this Sunday!  Get your staff and patients (or clients) involved.  If you are not a small business owner, I’ll go into ways you can help too.

Encourage your staff to bring non-perishable food they’d like to donate.

Ways to encourage your staff:

1. Match their donations.  Example:  You have a staff of 10; each brings 5 food items, bringing the total to 50 items.  You can easily buy 50 food items at Costco, in bulk, at “wholesale” prices.
2. Reward their giving.  Take them all out to lunch.  Give them each a little gift or you can raffle off a larger prize.

Ways to use it for PR:

      Photos, photos, photos.  Make sure you take photos of all the food you’ve collected and will be donating.  Take photos of you and your staff with the food, your staff at lunch or winning the raffle prize, etc.  Post them on your website, blog, Facebook, etc.  Send them to your local newspaper with a short write-up of what you did.

Encourage your patients (or clients) to bring non-perishable food they’d like to donate.

Ways to encourage your patients (or clients):

1. Match their donations.  This obviously involves collecting more food than if you only involve your staff.  You can put a cap on your match.  Example:  100 patients bring 5 food items each, bringing the total to 500 food items.  You’ve placed a cap of “we’ll match your donation up to 100 food items” or “we’ll donate a food item for every patient (or client) who brings in a donated food item”.
2. Give them discounts.  Examples:  Every food item brought in gives them a $1 discount.  Every patient (or client) who brings a donated food item receives $20 off their next appointment.
3. Reward their giving.  Raffle off a few prizes (ex. $10 gift cards, movie tickets, teeth whitening, etc.)

Ways to use it for PR:

      Again, PHOTOS!!!  Take photos of all the donated items with you, your staff, even your patients (or clients).  Post them on your website, blog, Facebook.  Definitely send them to your local newspaper with a write-up.

There are more and better ways to help and gain PR from this if we had a bit more time.  You can reach a broader public and gain patients (or clients) while making a difference in your local community and the world-at-large.  You can also involve your patients and staff in even more ways that would encourage patient loyalty, staff motivation, etc.  We’ll go into further details on how to do this in a future article, or feel free to contact me anytime.

If you are an individual wanting to help, that’s easy!  Below are several ways you can do so:

• Go through your pantry and gather any non-expired, non-perishable food items you’d like to donate.
• Buy non-perishable food items at your local grocery store and donate them.  Some of them have boxes or barrels where you can drop off the food items.  No need to lug them back home.
• Donate to the Souper Bowl of Caring.
• Order the Souper Bowl special now through Feb 6th – two large one topping pizzas with four 20 oz. drinks for $23.99.  The Souper Bowl of Caring will receive $2 from every order placed.  Order at papajohns.com. Enter promo code TACKLE.
• Get your family, friends, and neighbors involved.  You (and a few others) can pick up the donated items and deliver them to drop-off locations.
• Have every guest coming to your Super Bowl party bring a food item to be donated.
• Encourage businesses you frequent to participate in the Souper Bowl.  Feel free to direct them to this blog if they need ideas.