Community Relation

As we speak about Corporate Social Responsibility Program, automatically we also talking about Community Relations. There is a reason for this statement, CSR is closed to the community especially for Public around the company environment. There are a lot of CSR programs made for community. 

Building local community relationships can be the most important communication activity undertaken by an organisation, yet it is often overlooked. Community relations refers to the various methods companies use to establish and maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with the communities in which they operate. The underlying principal of community relations is that when a company accepts its civic responsibility and takes an active interest in the well-being of its community, then it gains a number of long-term benefits in terms of community support, loyalty, and good will.

There are several activities can be used as a tool with an effective communication strategy and PR plan, can be highly effective in raising awareness of your business within your community:

1. Media relations

• In a community relations program, it is very important to build relationships with key journalists from the local media outlets. By doing this, you have an already established rapport with them which could be of a huge benefit in times of crisis.

      2. Sponsorship

• This could mean, for example, sponsoring a local event (community day or fair), donating new sports equipment to the local soccer club or donating a prize to the local schools speech night. This type of sponsorship is reasonably inexpensive yet can be capitalised on to make a great local newspaper story.

     3. Business and community groups

• An increased involvement in key business groups should also be introduced as part of the promotional activities. This involvement will help create visibility of your organisation within a business and community audience, therefore increasing the chances of developing strategic partnerships with other local businesses and groups. There could also be an opportunity for cross promotion in the business groups' members' newsletters, publications or website. 

From those activity, as a PR we must get involve in it.

What is The Differences between CSR and Community Relations?

Community relations is a PR (Public Relations) function, which means it's essentially marketing the company to the community it operates in. Social responsibility has nothing to do with marketing (not that it can't or won't be marketed and used by a company seeking to enhance its community relations). CSR is about doing things that actually make the community better or at the least don't harm society, such as environmentally friendly products, cleaning up any toxic pollution the company produces, or contributing to schools.

Types of Community Relations Program is various. According to Norman R. Soderberg in his book Public Relations for the Entrepreneur and the Growing Business, small businesses can become involved in their communities in any number of ways. Some recommended routes toward increasing community involvement include: taking an active interest in community problems; sponsoring youth activities; participating in local government; joining business and service groups; purchasing materials and supplies from local companies; encouraging community education and culture; making offices or other facilities available to community organizations; supporting local charity drives; and taking part in civic activities. 

Soderberg stresses that for a small business, community relations should involve more than just an annual contribution to the United Way. Instead, the small business owner should become personally involved in the effort, and should encourage employees to participate as well. A company's employees should try to represent it well in all their interactions—from practicing good manners on the road while driving company vehicles to treating customers and even visiting salespeople with courtesy. In order to motivate employees to be good company representatives, small business owners should take whatever steps are needed to boost morale. These might include maintaining an open-door policy, setting up a complaint box, or recognizing employees who are helping the community.