More than half of planners say corporate social responsibility has become more important to their meetings over the past year, according to a recent M&C Research survey. Yet, the majority are hesitant to add such an event if it would increase costs (for full survey results, see "How Meetings Give Back").
Clearly, more meetings and events would feature a CSR activity if it were affordable. The good news: It can cost little or nothing to give something back to the community.
"Even if you don't have a budget, there still are ways to make a difference," says Alan Ranzer, managing partner and co-founder of Impact 4 Good, a company that specializes in organizing CSR programs.
Ranzer and other experts offer the following ideas for CSR events that cost less than $5,000 -- including a few that are practically free. These activities are geared to fit into a busy agenda and take less than three hours to complete. Contact information includes companies and agencies that have experience running that particular event.
(Note: In addition to firms that specialize in creating CSR events, check with your hotel and local destination management companies, who can customize CSR events for groups.)
Baby Shower In June, the Senior Planners Industry Network held its first major North American conference in St. Paul, Minn. During the planning stages, SPIN founder and president Shawna Suckow, CMP, sought an activity that would make a difference to the local community. She learned that a domestic-abuse center in nearby Bloomington called Cornerstone provided refuge for battered women, many of whom arrived in the middle of the night with their babies and were in need of infant clothing and supplies. It sounded like an ideal cause to take up.
The group asked attendees to bring baby goods to the conference for donation to Cornerstone and later held a "baby shower" at the Mall of America, hosted by the Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau. The CVB gave participating planners a $20 gift card to use at the mall to buy more baby supplies for donation.
Cornerstone was deeply grateful for the support, says Suckow, who notes, "It's not about the act, it's about the impact."
For more details: Cornerstone, (866) 223-1111, and the Senior Planners Industry Network.
Wardrobe Assistance Clothing drives are a low- or no-cost way to give back to the local community. One fine charitable organization to work with is Dress for Success, dedicated to improving the lives of women in financial distress by providing professional clothing and career support. Attendees are encouraged to bring any unneeded, gently used work-appropriate clothes to the event for donation to women living in the area. A representative from Dress for Success will be at the event to thank guests for their donations and offer suggestions for other ways to help. Thanks to Visit Orlando for this idea.
For more details: Dress for Success, (212) 532-1922
Friends of Fido Walking dogs for a local
animal shelter is a great way for attendees to make a difference in the
lives of abused/abandoned animals in the community. The only costs are
those of getting the walkers to their charges.
For more details: Pacific Destination Services, which provided this idea, recently organized a CSR shelter event in Whistler, British Columbia.
The Art of Giving
For groups interested in an art-themed CSR activity, this one is fun,
creative and educational. Participants compete in a series of
challenges, e.g., a "name the artist" contest, in which teams are shown
pictures of famous paintings, and they must identify who painted them in
order to win paint that they then use to fill in a series of
paint-by-number canvases. When all are painted, the canvases are
assembled into one large mural to be donated to a local organization or
school. Cost: $55-$95 per person.
For more details: Impact 4 Good, (301) 214-1472, and Starwood Hotels & Resorts, (914) 640-8100
Build and Bond
Most planners have heard of Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit
organization that builds housing for families in need, but not every
group can directly participate in construction projects. This activity
allows attendees to help the organization in other ways.
Participants,
divided into teams, have a set amount of time to make gifts such as
mail and key organizers, decorated jars filled with cookie mix, memory
boards and personalized kitchen plaques. Each completed gift earns the
participant money credits that are used to "purchase" materials for the
next gift.
Throughout the circa two-hour program, attendees
learn more about Habitat from a spokesperson on-site and/or via an
informational video playing while they make the gift packages to welcome
families into their new homes. Cost: $55-$100 per attendee.
For more details: Habitat for Humanity, (800) 422-4628, and Impact 4 Good, (301) 214-1472
Piñata Party
Why not bring some joy to hospital-bound children? Have attendees
decorate piñatas filled with candy or trinkets for donation. During the
activity, teams compete in medical-themed contests, e.g., a
"wound-dressing relay," where a participant is wrapped in bandages, runs
to the other side of the room and is unwrapped by the next person whose
turn it is to get bandaged, and so on.
Winning teams earn
paint, streamers, glitter and other materials that will be used to
decorate the piñatas. The completed piñatas and other donations (such as
books, toys and games contributed by participants) are then delivered
to a local children's hospital. This two- to three-hour event costs
about $55-$85 per person.
For more details: Impact 4 Good, (301) 214-1472, and Starwood Hotels & Resorts, (914) 640-8100
Green Team
For
groups interested in learning more about sustainability, the Go Green
racing activity is a fun way to do it. Teams are challenged to build
miniature solar-powered cars made from recycled materials provided by
Impact 4 Good, then race their completed cars against each other to
determine the winner. Along the way, employees bond and learn about the
importance of recycling and energy conservation. Cost, $65-$100 per
person.
For more details: Impact 4 Good, (301) 214-1472, and Starwood Hotels & Resorts, (914) 640-8100
Can Do 
Channel
your inner shop teacher while recycling cans by engaging in the You
Build It Can: Structure for Charity activity suggested by The Event
Team, a destination management company in Southern California. Each team
has to create an object -- a bridge, a wagon, a house, an animal, etc.
-- out of cans supplemented by other materials. Judges can award prizes
based on fidelity to subject, how funny it looks or any other criteria.
The cost can range anywhere from $50 to $200 per person, depending on
the quality and quantity of materials.
In Orlando, the Rosen
Shingle Creek offers a Tin Can: Build Your Own Golf Course and Food
Drive activity that has teams design and build one hole of a miniature
putt-putt course using donated sealed cans and boxes of food as
construction materials. The food items are used to outline the
boundaries of the hole, as well as to create obstacles and add
decorations. Once complete, everyone can play a round of miniature golf
before donating all of the food. Cost: about $52 per person.
For more details: The Event Team, (888) 383-6888, and Mary Deatrick at Rosen Shingle Creek, (407) 718-4640
Line Drives
Assembly-line activities are a budget-friendly way to engage group
members in a cooperative exercise that gives back to the local
community. Groups can purchase kits or develop their own projects, such
as filling lunch boxes with wholesome foods for students, preparing
disaster-relief kits for people living in weather-devastated areas and
many others. Individual items such as bicycles and teddy bears can be
assembled on a line, too. Thanks to Mary Deatrick at Rosen Shingle Creek
(rosenrewards.com) for the lunch-box idea.
For more details: Mary Deatrick at Rosen Shingle Creek, (407) 718-4640, and Impact 4 Good, (301) 214-1472