How Your Small Business Can Support Its Local Community This Holiday
Looking for ways your small business can give back this holiday season? Here are 8 practical strategies — from donation drives to local sourcing — that make a real difference.
Bizee Editorial Staff
Editorial Team
Introduction
Your small business can support its local community this holiday by donating money or goods, volunteering with local nonprofits, hosting events, sourcing from local suppliers, running cause marketing campaigns, and selling gift cards that keep spending in the neighborhood. The strategies below are practical, scalable, and work whether you have 2 employees or 20.
Sponsor or adopt a local family
Many nonprofits run holiday "Adopt-a-Family" programs that match businesses with a low-income family. The family submits a wish list, and your business purchases items from it — gifts, clothing, groceries, and household essentials — then delivers them through the organizing charity. It's one of the most direct ways to make a tangible difference for a specific household.
The easiest way to get started is to find a local charity already running the program rather than trying to identify families on your own. Invite employees and customers to choose items from the family's wish list and bring them to your business for coordinated drop-off. That turns a single donation into a team effort.
Donate money and goods
Direct donations — cash or goods — are the most flexible way to support your community during the holidays. You can make a monetary donation to a local nonprofit, host a food or toy drive, or set up your business as a designated drop-off site where community members bring items for local shelters and charities.
If you run a food drive, think beyond canned goods. Partnering with local care providers to offer meals suited to the health needs of your community — low-sodium options for residents managing heart disease or diabetes, for example — turns a standard drive into something more meaningful. Plus, serving as a drop-off site costs your business nothing but floor space and brings new people through your door.
Run a cause marketing or round-up campaign
Cause marketing ties your holiday sales directly to a charitable donation. A common format: donate a defined percentage of revenue from a specific product or promotion to a local nonprofit for a set time period. Round-up campaigns ask customers to round their purchase total to the nearest dollar, with the difference going to charity. Both approaches let customers participate in giving without extra effort.
Transparency matters here. Your campaign should clearly state which organization benefits, how the donation is calculated, and whether there's a cap or end date. The FTC requires that charitable advertising claims be accurate and substantiated, and keeping records of the amount raised, campaign dates, and recipient organization protects you if questions come up later.
Build an employee volunteering program
An employee volunteer program gives your team structured time to serve local nonprofits — and it's more effective when it's built around real community needs rather than whatever's convenient. Start by picking 2 or 3 priority causes that align with your business's values, things like food security, youth support, or holiday toy drives. Then find local nonprofits with clear volunteer needs and coordinate specific projects with them.
Scheduling volunteer events during business hours — or offering paid volunteer time off (VTO) — removes the biggest barrier to participation. Employees are far more likely to show up when they're not giving up personal time. Donation matching is another lever: even matching at 10–20% amplifies individual contributions and signals that the business is genuinely invested, not just going through the motions.
Partner with a local nonprofit
A formal nonprofit partnership goes further than a one-time donation. In a cause-related marketing partnership, your business and the nonprofit agree in advance on which sales are included, the percentage of revenue donated, and the campaign time frame — then implement it together. Research shows this structure produces measurable community impact and builds credibility for both organizations.
Beyond cause marketing, you can host donation drives on the nonprofit's behalf, serve as a drop-off site for goods they need, or pledge to match cash donations from employees and customers. Matching donations is especially effective — it amplifies total contributions and gives donors a reason to give more. The key is picking a partner whose mission your customers and employees already care about.
Host events and workshops for the community
Holiday events bring people into your business and into your neighborhood. You can host in-store gatherings with entertainment, contests, or raffles, or partner with nearby businesses on a joint sidewalk sale or mini-market that gives residents a reason to visit multiple local shops in one trip. Both formats build foot traffic and community connection at the same time.
Workshops are another option that often gets overlooked. Teaching community members a holiday-related skill — gift wrapping, decoration making, holiday meal planning — provides real value and positions your business as a neighborhood resource, not just a place to buy things. You can layer in a donation drive or toy collection at the same event to add a charitable dimension without much extra effort.
Buy from and source from local suppliers
Sourcing from local businesses keeps more of each dollar circulating in your community — and the holiday season is the highest-impact time to do it. Shifting even a portion of your holiday purchasing to local suppliers, whether that's inventory, catering for a team event, or gifts for employees, directly supports businesses that often depend on holiday revenue to manage seasonal cash flow.
If you run a retail location, stocking products from diverse and locally owned businesses amplifies other small businesses while giving your customers something they can't find at a national chain. No retail space? You can offer employees stipends to spend at local businesses, or use local restaurants and food providers for any holiday catering. It's a straightforward way to put your purchasing power to work in the neighborhood.
Sell gift cards and offer local promotions
Gift cards are one of the most practical tools a small business has during the holidays. They give customers a convenient local gift option and bring future revenue into your business. Bonus card promotions — things like "spend $100, get a $15 bonus card" — encourage higher initial spending and drive repeat visits after the holidays, when foot traffic typically drops.
Some towns and chambers of commerce run community-wide gift card programs where a single card is redeemable at multiple participating local businesses. If your area has one, joining it puts your business in front of shoppers who are already committed to buying local. If it doesn't exist yet, coordinating one with neighboring businesses through your local chamber is a project that pays off well beyond a single holiday season.
FAQ
There are several ways to help, and the right one depends on your resources. Donating money or goods to a local nonprofit is the most direct option. Volunteering your time — or organizing a team volunteer event — adds a personal dimension. Hosting a food or toy drive at your business location lets customers participate too. Even sourcing your holiday purchases from local suppliers puts money back into the community without requiring a separate charitable effort.
The most effective approaches combine giving with visibility. Partnering with a local nonprofit on a cause marketing campaign ties your sales directly to a community benefit and gives customers a reason to choose you over a national competitor. Hosting events, running donation drives, and sourcing from local suppliers all build goodwill while keeping your business active in the neighborhood. The businesses that make the biggest impact tend to ask the community what it needs rather than assuming.
Buying from local businesses is the most direct form of support — every dollar spent locally circulates through the community rather than leaving it. Joining or organizing a community-wide gift card program through your local chamber of commerce makes it easier for residents to shop local as a habit, not just a one-time choice. Hosting joint events with neighboring businesses, sharing each other's promotions, and sourcing from local suppliers all strengthen the local economy in ways that benefit every business in the area.
It depends on your business structure and how the donation is made. Donations to qualifying 501(c)(3) organizations may be deductible, but the rules differ for sole proprietors, partnerships, and corporations. A tax professional can help you figure out what applies to your situation and how to document donations properly. The IRS has guidance on charitable contributions for businesses at irs.gov.
Yes, for cause-related marketing campaigns. A formal agreement should spell out which sales are included, the percentage of revenue donated, the campaign time frame, and each party's responsibilities. This protects both organizations and gives you the documentation you need if customers or regulators ask how the campaign works. For simpler arrangements — like hosting a drop-off site or co-sponsoring an event — a written agreement is still a good idea, even if it's brief.
