How Giving Campaigns Connect Your Dental Practice with Your Community

How does your cosmetic dental practice give back to your community? Maybe you make donations. Maybe you help raise awareness for the causes you care about. Maybe you’re too overwhelmed with options and you don’t know where to start. No matter what, giving campaigns are an amazing thing that you can do to give back to your community and highlight your practice. This engagement helps show that you are really a part of your community. 

When I say giving campaigns, what do I mean by this? Well, one example is clothing drives. If you live in a place that gets pretty cold, you might have people in your community that need winter coats. Around the start of the school year, kids might need new shoes or new school clothes, or school supplies. Many local organizations want to partner with businesses and practices (like yours!) to make events like clothing drives happen. To find them, you can check your local chamber of commerce, you can check with other cosmetic dental practices in your area, or could simply Google “local charities” and find their volunteer or partnership page. These organizations have the infrastructure to make a giving campaign a success. They have drop boxes, which you can set up in your dentist’s office, where your patients or your team can just drop their donations off. Whether it’s coats, shoes, gloves, school supplies, books, whatever it is, that is an amazing thing that you can do. It mobilizes your cosmetic dental practice as a member of the community to support the people around you. You invest in and sow good into someone’s life. They’ll always remember the kindness that your practice represents after that. 

A canned food drive is another important campaign that your dental practice can participate in. We think about this most during the holidays, but we should think about it year-round. Some people struggle to afford even the essentials, and food is one of those essentials. There are food pantries and food banks all around, and there are various levels of need that they serve, from families living paycheck to paycheck to families with little to no income at all. You just have to pick a charity and partner with them, and you’ll do amazing things for those people in need! 

Food drives are really underrated as an outreach program. We live in a world with tons of excess on TV and maybe even all around us, but more people than you might think are struggling. You may not even know it, but your next-door neighbor or your friend, or that family down the street could be struggling to make ends meet. And just by doing good in your community, whether you’re donating canned goods or participating on a food line, you’re telling them that they matter to you. 

Getting out into your community helps those around you, and it helps you. It lets you see who your core demographic is and to meet them where they are physical, which better helps you meet them where they are in terms of the service you provide. It also allows you to sow good into people’s lives, and that just feels good, doesn’t it? Just putting a little bit of food in someone’s stomach can go a really, really long way. 

Around the holidays, toy drives can also be a huge part of how less fortunate families make that magic happen for their kids. And since we’re talking about giving peace on earth and goodwill to mankind, donate some toys! Either your dental practice can donate some funds or some toys. There are amazing agencies such as Toys for Tots, which is probably one of the most popular ones, but there are also local organizations that I encourage you to reach out to. By helping to support kids growing up in poverty, you give them a little bit of hope and joy. 

Many of these organizations require you to register ahead of time, so keep that in mind when you plan your giving campaign. For example, Toys for Tots asks that you register with them in August or September. But it’s certainly never too late to participate in the giving aspect of it! Even if you didn’t make the cut-off for the boxes and the drop-off locations, you can still give by collecting and donating those toys or by donating money to help them distribute the toys they receive. Even when the holiday season is over, children will still have birthdays and kindergarten graduation, and big events like that, which is why Toys for Tots collects year-round. 

Other programs, like charity runs, require you to register in advance so that they can accommodate everyone. If you or your dental team are runners (or even avid walkers!), you might sign up a team from your practice to participate in a charity run. Again, it’s all about doing stuff for the community, so reflect on what your community needs. 

There are plenty of events out there. Reach out to your local food pantry, homeless shelter, or charity shop and see how your practice can help. You could institute a community service day with your team instead of an in-service day. Those are also wholesome community events that your practice can sponsor or participate in. Either option would bring in a lot of goodwill. It puts you right next to your community, elbow to elbow, which allows you to fellowship and learn some new ways to help people. You may meet some new patients! But more than that, you’re investing in your community and helping those around you. And isn’t that what it’s all about?If you’re interested in learning more about how to grow your cosmetic dental practice, we’d love to help you. We are on a mission to help 500 cosmetic dental practices double their revenue by 2026, and we want yours to be one of them. Now that you know how giving back can help you find your next patient, would you be interested in a free consultation for your dental practice?