The Secret
to Creating Positive PR: Hike a Rock and
Have a Party!
Take the taboo out of cause-related marketing
Having your team participate in a charity event,
sounds good in theory, but putting it into practice can raise questions that
makes you want to scrap the entire project. Here’s an inside look at how you
can help others while creating a positive buzz for your practice.
6 Easy
Ways to Spread the Word
Once you’ve decided to participate in a charity
fundraiser — such as Climb For A Cause© — you need to
let your patients know.
Your team may protest that
they don’t want to ask patients for money, but the good news is that you don’t
have to push fundraisers on patients, says Dick
Chwalek, director of The Niche Agency. You’re
essentially creating an awareness campaign, he says. Patients are free to give,
if they choose, once you explain your involvement, he says.
The following are some of the
ways you can raise awareness:
1. Hang event-related posters
in your office.
2. Send patients a mailer
that includes why your practice thinks the charity is worthwhile. You can send
a special mailer, include
the message in your regular mailer to
patients and add a note to your recall cards.
3. Promise a match to show
your commitment to the cause. For example, if you have a team participating in
a 5K run, tell
patients that for every $5 given, the
practice will give $1. Or you can match a larger amount (such as $2 or dollar
for dollar) up
to a $1,000 limit.
4. Have assistants and
hygienists give out bookmark-size slips with the practice name and a form for
donations (if your event
organizer allows it). And hand out
colorful event-related stickers to patients, too.
5. Create a tag line to draw
attention to your practice’s participation, such as “Dr. Peterson takes on
Dental Practice: Hiking Miles For Smiles.”
6. Include information about
your participation on your Web site. Have a link where patients can donate
directly to the charity, if
possible. You want to make this as
much about the charity as possible, positioning yourself as an intermediary and
promoter.
If you stick to these few
simple steps, you don’t have to worry about overloading the patient. Most
people need to be approached a few times — not because they want to avoid the
topic but because the message has to penetrate everything else going on.
You should also promote the
event externally, for example, with newspaper articles.
community. By promoting other important causes, you bring more
people to dentistry as well.
Learn
From Climb for a Cause’s © Success
Daniel A. Bobrow, MBA, president of Chicago-based American Dental Marketing
Company (www.AmericanDentalMarketing.com),
has heard all the objections and concerns dentists have about involving
patients in fundraisers.
As executive director of
Climb for a Cause (www.climbforacause.com),
a non-profit organization that arranges an annual hike fundraiser, Bobrow knows
that dentists may be willing to write a check themselves, but can be hesitant
to ask for money or to combine charity with an event that promotes the practice,
too.
But imagine that you tell a charity director that
either you can give $1,000 of your own money or you could offer him $10,000
from a fundraiser, but your practice would benefit from it. Which option do you
think the charity will choose? asks Bobrow rhetorically.
Party time: Bobrow adds that another way to get over your
hesitation is to have a fundraising celebration. A Saturday night out can
quickly add up to $100, so why not invite people to have their night out and
benefit a good cause, too? Climb for a Cause organizes many send-off and
post-climb celebrations for its Participants, and party-goers don’t make
accusations or hide because donations are involved. The only question you hear
is, ‘When can we do this again?’ Bobrow says.
And if throwing the party gets your practice in front
of people who might not have known about you otherwise — media, local
merchants, patients’ friends and families — it’s truly win-win. Bobrow says.
Team: You’ll find a definite teambuilding aspect to
participation, too, Bobrow says. Teams find a new pride in the practice when
they work together for a common cause.
Enhanced patient
relationships: You’ll also deepen
your relationship with patients even more and separate yourself from other area
dentists by finding enjoyable ways for patients to share in the cause. Example: Climb for a Cause works with
charities such as Operation Smile and Children’s Dental Care International.
Pediatric practices can start a pen pal program between their young patients
and the children overseas, Bobrow says.
As odd as it may sound, the more you make charity
participation about the charity — rather than about your practice — the more
your practice will grow, Bobrow says.