Schonstedt Instrument Co. sells sophisticated electronic devices to locate underground sewer pipes, water lines and other utilities. But the company also gives away its products for another use.
Around the world, unexploded land mines linger long after wars end, lying in wait to take life and limb of innocent victims – often children. By donating its locating equipment to help get rid of those mines, the company aids the healing of countries ravaged by war.
Schonstedt also engages outsiders. The company solicits donations from customers and other groups in a two-for-one deal: If someone pays for one device for the mine-detection program, the company adds a second one. Since the program started, Schonstedt has supplied more than 100 locators to the cause, says James Bach, company spokesperson.
Schonstedt is not a small business in the mold of local construction contractors, but its basic example is one that any business can follow on whatever scale is appropriate. Smart businesses are discovering distinctive, personal ways to give to charity. And you can too.
GIVING BACK
Businesses give back out of a sense of obligation to the community, and certainly that is reward enough. But thoughtful choices in community service can also boost your business, promoting goodwill and name recognition that drives future sales.
Giving back is not limited to supporting the local United Way drive or providing uniforms to the youth soccer or baseball league. Savvy business owners instead find ways to tie their community service to the work they already do.
Lawrence Snow once operated a septic system and grease-trap pumping business in Las Vegas. In summer, he went to local camps and pumped their systems at no charge.
“This gave us a lot of mileage with the adult leadership at camp each week,” says Snow, now a business coach for Quality Service Contractors at the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association. “Each week there was a different group of adults at the camp.”
The camp’s weekly newsletter to parents and campers invariably included a thank-you to Snow’s company. Publicity wasn’t the main goal – being a good neighbor was. “But the overall outcome was that our name was out there,” he says.
