Orthotown June 2019 - 53

Nonprofit outreach
Choosing one or more local nonprofit
organizations to work with on a regular
basis and making your practice a welcoming
place for nonprofits of all kinds is not only a
great way to do the right thing as you build
morale, but it's also a valid and vital part of
practice growth.
If you haven't already chosen a worthwhile organization or school to work with,
bring it up at your next all-team meeting.
There are almost certainly schools or organizations that have a special connection for
you, your doctors or other team members.
Make a simple plan to reach out to those
groups on an ongoing basis if you haven't
already-participate in their fundraisers,
offer their informational brochures in
your office, and come up with some new
educational and fundraising partnerships
that are fun and easy to publicize through
both organizations.
At the same time, consider doing some
community-building of your own. Our
practice has had tremendous success with
offering a $1,000 college scholarship each
year to the author of the best essay that's
submitted by our younger patients, past and
present, on the subject of "Embrace Your
Smile." There are no other parameters; we
know that topic means something different
to everyone. We publicize the contest widely
through emails, announcements on our
website, posts on social media, and in
flyers in the office and at all the schools
we work with.
After the deadline, each of our doctors
picks one essay they like the most; those
finalists are then read by everyone on staff,
and it's put to a vote. We invite the winner
to the office, where we present a check,
take pictures and proudly announce the
results everywhere we can. We even make
it a surprise by doing a pretend "retainer
check," so the pictures are terrific.

This is one of the biggest events we
have every year. It gets more "likes" on our
Facebook page than almost anything else,
and the news has been picked up by local
papers. It's a genuine "feel-good" moment
that works for everyone.
It doesn't stop with a single organization
or a single scholarship, of course; plenty of
groups in town deserve your attention. Girl
Scouts, Boy Scouts, Little Leagues, Pee Wee
Football, high school sports teams ... the list
is virtually endless. In many cases, these
groups will only want a little support-your
participation in a single event, or perhaps
purchasing a few boxes of cookies. If they
know that your practice is a welcoming
place that's always willing to pitch in, you'll
find it not only helps your community but
it also makes your practice more popular
and all the members of your team proud
to work there.
It's the definition of win/win.

Appearances at live events
Technology is great, and it allows easier
promotion of your practice. But, as it turns
out, face-to-face contact through referrals,
in-office conversations and events remains
the most important, productive and engaging
way to acquire new patients and keep
established patient families coming back.
Every week, we create or participate in
events that keep our practice top-of-mind
and draw people into the office. Community
festivals, summer camps, art walks, health
days, music and performance get-togethers
... wherever members of the community
gather for fun or education, our practice is
there. At these events our office has a booth
where we provide informational material
that highlights our practice and services we
offer. Our team members genuinely love the
contact! We have standard giveaways and
prizes we can offer at a moment's notice, and
we use our phones to take as many pictures

orthotown.com \\ JUNE 2019

53
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Orthotown June 2019

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