What is the Buying for a Purpose Business program?
The Buying for a Purpose Business program is a campaign to recruit local businesses to join together to make a difference. A single business can only do so much, but together they can create a network of businesses committed to community schools, school sports, churches and other non-profit programs. Local businesses are the last untapped resource to generate the money needed for these programs and organizations for the long term.
Local businesses do give today. Actually, only a small portion of them. Most teams , clubs and other organizations call on the same businesses month after month, year after year. Businesses have to eventually say "no" and that's not good for business. They don't know what they get for their cash "donation".
Local businesses know that the marketing value so prevalent in pro and college sports does not work at the community level. While marketing is important to small businesses, cash is king and if programs can bring customers business owners will have more cash to contribute!
The Buying for a Purpose Business requirements are simple:
Simple and meaningful ways for local businesses to support the community for a specific need or year round.
Programs that support individual program or all program so they don't have to say "no" to the next deserving program who asks.
Programs that allow them to support more than 1 high school (or team) because their customers live in those areas.
Programs that are affordable and can be budgeted quarterly.
Programs that also have a business benefit... that bring customers to their door
Programs that support the community but don't cost them out of pocket (read cash register)
The creation of a Buying for a Purpose Business campaign can become a business community commitment and generate a momentum of its own for businesses to join and contribute. For more information on the Buying for a Purpose Business program, click here.
How do Business Teammates Change the Game?
The traditional team and club fundraisers include selling banners on the baseball field fence or ads in a program, through restaurant fundraising nights where the restaurant gives back a small percentage, or through merchant discount cards. Plus you have auctions, golf tournaments, car washes, bake sales, event concessions, wreaths, wrapping paper, begging and more.
The car washes and candy bars are "guilt" programs and most parents would rather just give the extra money. I try to support the car washes, but I admit that usually I head straight for a real car wash after. And as a car wash parent, the kids seem to wave signs to bring in cars while the parents actually wash the cars!
The signage and advertising offers raise some money put the merchant in a tough spot as local businesses have limited advertising dollars and most of these signs or ads do not actually bring in new customers. Is it a donation rather than a real advertising or marketing cost? Plus, with limited advertising money, they have to say "no" to too many teams and that is not good for business, either.
The real question is, how can one business make a difference?
What if local businesses could join together to create a Business Teammate Club where they could collectively make a true difference? They could put together collaborative campaigns and programs that they can't do as a single business, and they can get enough promotion and momentum behind the group campaigns to raise real money and benefit every team. Business Teammates change the game by joining forces showing their long term commitment to supporting the local community.
The Buy Local Business Teammate program provides a voice for the businesses and vehicle to promote the BFAP Coupons, the Auto coupon and Buy Local program.
Each program has benefits for the teams and clubs, but each program also drives customers to the business Teammate.
Business Teammates only pay when a real customer visits their business and makes a purchase, and the Buying for a Purpose takes care of all the sales tracking, website design and administrative stuff. That's a win-win-win. That is Buying for a Purpose.
