Good Karma: Giving Back To Your Community

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IN[FOCUS] encourages community service as a part of running a healthy business. During this holiday season, some of our bloggers will encourage you through their own stories of giving without expectation of anything in return, and at IN[FOCUS] 2010, David Perry will touch on his in his presentation.

Greetings IN[FOCUS] Reader,

With the Holidays fast approaching, Corbin and I have come to the conclusion we want to reach out to our community more. We’ve come to believe that giving back for free and expecting nothing in return will do more for us and our business in the long run. Obviously, in these economic times not everything you do can be pro bono, but every once in a while something will come a long that just feels right.

In October, we were approached by one of our favorite Wedding Planners wondering if we could do a Tribute Video for St. Philip’s School & Community Center. We would just have to weave together pre-existing video clips and photos. We spent no more than 6 hours on St. Philip’s Tribute Video, all after the regular workday was done.

The Tribute Video was presented at the school’s yearly gala, which is also one of their biggest fundraisers. The video was such a hit that our St. Phillip’s contact invited us to the school’s morning chapel service where we were honored for our time and talent.

For Corbin and I, the gratitude from the children and faculty was worth wayyyyy more than we would’ve ever charged for 6 hours of post production. We don’t know if the good buzz made its way back to our Wedding Planer, but, we’ve booked two weddings from her since she emailed us to pitch in for this worthwhile cause!

You may not feel like you have time to give to others, and the truth is, you don’t!  You have to make time.  But making time is always worth it, even when you know you’ll be receiving no compensation in return.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Dave, Corbin – Soulbox

p.s. Here’s a truncated version of the video we created from the client’s footage.  While the production value wasn’t that as if we shot it all ourselves, the client loved it, and it provided a valuable service to them.  So don’t be held back by perfectionism when there are plenty of organizations that would love to have any effort you can muster.

Dave and Corbin Baxter