Harvey Aftermath: How Your Small Business Can Help
You don’t have to fork out boatloads of money to make a difference. Here’s how your small business can help the victims of natural disasters.
The devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey in the South Texas region is unimaginable. Even on a sunny Autumn day in Austin, it’s clear that the atmosphere has shifted. There are restaurants and businesses collaborating, making discounts through donations to send over to many charities.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott expects the rebuilding of Houston to cost up to $180 billion. It’s a massive amount of money and already thousands of companies and individuals are pitching in. Large corporations are raising large fundraisers for the relief effort. Helping Hands Austin have collaborated with Crisis Cleanup, National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, and various religious organizations to coordinate a massive volunteer effort in Austin.
But startups are in a unique position. Depending on your business, you may not have as much money to give as the large corporations do.
You don’t need to bring out your bankbook to make a charitable donation. There are alternative routes you can take that are beneficial to others and your business. Volunteer opportunities such as disaster clean-up, recovery phone-line and marketing are still open. You and your community can convene to support in whichever area works best. More information and sign up availabilities can be found here.
Incidentally, your startup business can benefit, too. For example, while hurricane victims get the supplies they need to rebuild their lives, you can generate a fanbase and develop a positive image of your company. It’s an added benefit, not a marketing ploy. Everybody wins.
So, with that in mind, here are a few ideas and examples for your consideration.
Organize community support through creative fundraisers.
Have a food and drink networking event while sending proceeds to charities. League City Family Dentistry partnered with The Crazy Cajun Cookers in Louisiana and cooked over 1,000 free lunches for community members in need, while also accepting donations. Whether you’re in e-commerce or rely on in-person customers for your service, advertise and donate portions of your sales for the relief fund.
While many charities find money to be the best donation method, such as Team Rubicon and the food bank network, this doesn’t mean you can’t host a donation drive and collect supplies. Capital Factory organized a blood drive at the end of August while also opening their open-spaced offices for displaced businesses.
Left/Right Media, an Austin-based creative agency, hosted and collaborated with a Houston YMCA for a drive collecting arts and crafts supplies and games. Their reasoning behind this specific drive is derived from the severed attention between parents and children. While parents are figuring out the family’s future, this drive provides kids a way to keep them busy. Bo Duncan, Left/Right co-founder, advises startups to provide hands-on assistance because it’s easy on the wallet, easy to please, and beneficial to all.
If you’d like to host a drive, Left/Right recommends that you figure out what is needed first, then go from there.
Form partnerships with other businesses and communities and forge networks. Left/Right collaborated with a Houston YMCA as a base to send their supplies, and with local businesses, Brinton Collective and Penguino Travel, to host and market the drive. It’s a proven plan of action to benefit those around you.
Additionally, the Houston entrepreneur community is partnering with incubators and co-working spaces to support businesses by keeping their doors open. Entrepreneurs for Houston (E4H) launched a $10 million campaign to fund their volunteers and codify their efforts. Such efforts have yielded Shelter Bot (finds the nearest shelter by texting their zip code), HelpOutHouston (a map of shelters, supplies, and volunteer opportunities), and TexasRescueMap (connects homeowners who require help clearing their flooded home).
Florida resident Leah Halbina joined the E4H project when Harvey hit. And when Irma was plowing through, Halbina collaborated with programmers to replicate the Houston projects for the Florida effort with the Slack channel and irmaresponse.org.
SO LET’S RECAP:
You’re a small business, but you want to help. There are several routes you can take that will both contribute to the recovery effort and support your business. You aren’t alone: Forever Memories Photography, Mattress Mack, and Jack Brown’s Beer and Burger Joint have formed their own ways to donate and provide for the relief effort. You can find their stories here.
- Form collaborations with your business community.
- Sponsor networking fundraisers. To go the extra mile, have annual fundraisers.
- Get others to join in by advertising your efforts, and have them know where your heart is.
Remember that, as a startup business, you don’t have to go out of your way to send boatloads of money to support the relief fund. You have several alternatives, alongside incubators, too, that can be beneficial to the thousands of others and yourself.
Savin Weera is a UT San Antonio graduate with a B.A. in English. He is currently a writer at Sputnik ATX.
