It feels great to give back, and the promise of that big surge of happy feels that follows is almost irresistible. Those feelings are often associated with philanthropic marketing. If you’re not familiar with this strategy, it is essentially a method of simultaneously promoting your store/products, and advocating for/supporting a cause. By offering a way for people to give back, you can foster a mutually beneficial relationship between your store, your customers, and the community.

At Primitives by Kathy, we like to do our part in supporting a few of our favorite causes by donating the proceeds from the sales of our Benefit Items. However, with the abundance of incredible causes that need help, we understand that it can feel overwhelming to decide how to best volunteer your time and resources. So to make it easy for you, we’re introducing you to Socktober (mentioned in this article from Gift and Dec), an event that retailers all over the country are participating in during the month of October.

As we approach the cooler fall and winter days, homeless shelters have an increasing need for socks and other personal care items to provide to their patrons. For the Socktober event, retailers are inviting shoppers to donate such items for local shelters by setting up donation bins in their stores. To encourage participation, they are also providing an additional incentive to shop their stores, with many retailers offering a percentage off of their collections of decorative socks* to each customer who donates an item. To help spread the word, the Socktober website even features free resources like printable flyers to customize and use to advertise the event.

Although October is already in full swing, there is still plenty of time to get in on the Socktober fun. And don’t forget, the season to give back is not confined to a single month—any time is a good time to support your community! Plus, an added benefit of participating in Socktober is that it provides an easy way to kickstart your own ongoing support of a cause. This kind of contribution can make a lasting impact on your community, show that your business gladly fulfills its civic duty to contribute to the greater good, and gives your customers more reasons to keep coming back. All in all, it’s a win-win-win.

*It’s worth noting that socks continue to be one of our best-selling and most loved products, and a whole month dedicated to socks sounds like a chance to turn a great profit. So if you have Primitives by Kathy socks in your store, there is no better time to promote them. If you don’t, you can check out our full selection here!

For reference: http://causecapitalism.com/retail-philanthropy-is-in-high-demand-4-steps-to-doing-it-right/

Cover photo is from Socktober website: https://www.happysocktober.com/