Our brokerage dates back to 1908, so it’s safe to say we have a deep understanding of our community. But knowing your community isn’t the same as showing your community how much you care. As a trusted real estate company in Sheridan, Wyoming, we have incorporated community engagement into our business practices.
Each year, we contribute a high percentage of the company’s net income back into the community, and that number has been as high as 27 percent in some years.
It’s not an afterthought or an addendum. It’s part and parcel of who we are. It’s not just something we are deeply proud of; it’s a commitment and a philosophy that is integral to our continued success.
Creating a game plan
Our team makes it a point to localize our brand’s national campaigns or sponsorships, such as the Indy 500, when we had a community party. During the Belmont Stakes, we had a community party, and we all dressed up for the event. During the Winter Olympics, we hosted a snow sledding event with our local YMCA and distributed 500 sleds to children in the community.
This year, we partnered with the YMCA once again to host a youth soccer event aligned with the brand’s two-year partnership with Major League Soccer.
More than 350 kids of all ages participated in the family-friendly event, and they all went home with a franchise-branded soccer ball. A local bank and a few restaurants “kicked” in for the food; I must have cooked over a thousand burgers and dogs that day. And the local Dairy Queen came through with a super cool donation of 500 Dilly Bars for dessert.
We had volunteers from all across the community help out, staffing the 20 different soccer-themed stations, including our team, Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors, YMCA staff, a local bank, our local media company, our adult soccer league, the high school soccer coach, and the high school soccer team.
The highlight was giving away tickets to a Colorado Rapids game to one lucky family. We had everyone drop their name and contact info in a box as they entered the event, and when the time came to draw the winner, we could not believe that the family who won was actually a client of ours who had bought a home with us earlier that year.
While the corporation provided the soccer match tickets, our team offered vouchers for food, travel and hotel accommodations to cover all costs for the family to attend the game.
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Ways to ensure a winning event every time
When the final whistle blew on our youth soccer event, we knew that everyone came away winners. If you’re looking to put a “W” in your company’s local community outreach column, here are some best practices we’ve learned over the years.
1. Be consistent
We host three to four events annually, with at least two being annual events, such as our Pie Day leading up to Thanksgiving and our sponsorship of the Sheridan WYO Rodeo Parade, where we consistently enter a float. People come to expect us at these events and look forward to them as much as we do.
For this year’s parade, we were the “BHJ Watch” and all dressed like Bay Watch lifeguards, featuring swimming pools, sandboxes and toy boats pulled by 4X4s filled with candy and toys, as well as a volleyball net on the float.
We played volleyball (with blow-up beachballs) during the entire parade while giving away 500 beachballs with our team’s branded logos. We even had the lifeguard station and the iconic police officer heading up our float. We took second place.
2. Be caring
Last year, we met with a woman who needed to increase her credit score to buy her first home and connected her with some great resources. We recently saw her at the youth soccer event, and when we asked her about her credit score, she reported that she was just a few months away from being able to start looking for a home. We couldn’t help but hug her.
Another way we care is by supporting local non-profits. Every year, at both of our offices, our agents select three regional organizations to receive financial donations. Our brokerage matches whatever the agents raise, allowing us to double our impact.
3. Be smart
Creating local pull-through of national events has worked so well for us. Think about ways you can make a local version of a well-known or highly exclusive event. Another innovative approach is to think about the segments of consumers you’d like to connect with.
Believe it or not, there are a number of polo leagues in Sheridan, and we sponsor some of the teams as a way to build name recognition with high-net-worth individuals.
4. Be inclusive
When we learned about the YMCA’s Open Door program for families in need of financial assistance, we planned our soccer event for a day when those families would already be on site. This was really important to us so that they could not only feel included but blend in with the rest of the crowd.
We also make a point of reaching out to newcomers to the community and inviting them to our events, so they can feel welcome and make new connections.
5. Be real
One of my favorite efforts was our Easter mailing. We mailed out postcards to about 2,000 past clients, inviting them to take a picture of themselves dressed for Easter. We kicked off the campaign with photos of all of us in “You’re Our Peeps” T-shirts. I was smack in the middle of the crowd, grinning from ear to ear.
Have fun
My last tip would be to have fun. We take the work we do very seriously — after all, helping people buy and sell their most valuable asset changes lives in a significant and lasting way. And in that sense, we are along for the ride and in it for the long haul.
Our job is really all about community — building it, strengthening it, connecting with it and enjoying it. Don’t miss out on that joy.
Bruce Garber is broker-owner at Century 21 BHJ Realty in Wyoming. Connect with him on LinkedIn and Instagram.
