Businesses large and small play active roles in their community through various sponsorships and events. Turn on your local public television station and you'll find shows funded by grants from corporations, and if you visit a ballpark you might see billboards thanking businesses that donated time or revenue. Giving back to the community is a great way to do business, and if you are looking for a way to expose your name and brand to your region, hosting a shredding party is the way to go.
What is a Shredding Party?
It may be held in the parking lot of a business or in a community park. A shredding party invites people in the community to bring expired documents and sensitive information to an industrial shredder to be destroyed. Many professional shredding companies will offer the use of panel trucks in which heavy-duty equipment renders paper unreadable, protecting Social Security numbers, credit card statements, and other personal data from being stolen. Bales of the shreddings are then taken to a recycling center where they enjoy a second life as paper cups and plates, and tissue.
Who Can Host a Shred Event?
Typically, financial institutions will partner with a professional document destruction company to put on an event. Banks and insurance agencies, and tax offices may hold such gatherings, but your line of work should not limit your participation. Any community-minded business wishing to volunteer time and resources to helping people can consult with a shredding office to plan a party...and events need not be limited to bringing in documents. Hold a canned food drive in tandem with the event, or arrange with a school to schedule a weekend on their parking lot and offer them the opportunity to raise funds for clubs and sports through a car wash or bake sale.
The Benefits of Hosting an Event
While you will be expected to cover some cost of an event, depending on the scale and participation of others, you can consult with your accountants with regards to writing off the expenses. Furthermore, attaching your name to an event that costs participants nothing is great for exposure. Hang banners with your logo, give out pencils and keychains, and your business could be etched in the minds of those who may need your expertise in the future. You will be recognized as a civic-minded business working to help the environment, too.
Give back to your community by giving them peace of mind. A public shredding party is a great way to promote identity security and recycling, and a great PR opportunity for your place of work.
Kathryn Lively is a freelance writer specializing in articles on Chesapeake shredding services and Chesapeake Web design companies.
