Giving back to the community doesn’t just make your employees feel good — it also improves your relationship to your local market and gets the word out about your company or brand. But it can be hard to decide exactly how you want to give back. Giving both time and money to charity will foster a sense of connection within your community.

1. Create a frequent flyer mile pool. There are many charities that can use frequent flyer miles; one of the most notable is the Make-a-Wish Foundation, which often requires travel to make its wishes come true. Pool frequent flyer miles that aren’t going to be used to donate to either local or national charities. You can also offer frequent flyer miles to needy cases within your own community.
2. Volunteer at the local airport. Believe it or not, there are actually charitable opportunities… in the airport itself. Volunteers run the Travelers Aid International, which is a volunteer society based on helping those who are lost, confused or simply frustrated. Travel can be extremely frightening, especially to those who are from a very different area. Bilingual volunteers are especially useful. You can ask for volunteers within your company and pay to donate their time to charities similar to this one.
3. Donate to travel crowd funding sites. Does your company prefer to donate money rather than time? There’s nothing wrong with that. Consider donating to a variety of travel crowd funding sites. These sites often have missions, such as getting someone home for Christmas. Look for someone local to have the most positive impact in your community, but be cautious: not all of these crowd funding options may be tax deductible even if they are technically donations.
4. Fund shuttles and buses for the needy. Within almost every community, there are shuttles and buses available for the handicapped and for the elderly. Many of these companies run on donations — and may even offer sponsorship for your company. Donating to these companies has a few major advantages: they’re almost always tax-deductible donations, you can donate in cash rather than in time and you will be making a real, significant difference in the lives of those in your community.

Of course, there are also plenty of non-travel-related ways to donate time and money to various charities within your community — but this is a great way to get started. Charitable donations can be a very effective method of advertising in addition to making a real difference in people’s lives.

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