How can my business help Hospice?

[Tina B]

I have a business that creates memorials for cherishing lost loved ones. http://www.memorybears.net Our company is interested in being able to donate a portion of proceeds to Hospice in exchange for giving information on our services to grieving families. My father used Hospice years ago befor he passed away, and he is why I started the business I am in. I would like to give back to Hospice for all the good things they have done for our family and others. Does anyone here know how I can go about this? Thank you!

[gilbert_guide]

Hello there. I’m one of the writers for Gilbert Guide (the foremost resource for everything senior care), and I have some ideas that may help you in going about this.

•Formulate an introductory email or letter.
•Make a list of hospices you’d like to contact for affiliation or compile a list of umbrella organizations that trickle down to smaller organizations.
•Send out the initial mailing.
•Follow up by calling each hospice provider.
•Set up meetings as necessary to give more information

That may sound like a fairly straight forward process, but there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind.

•Crafting your mailing is fundamental to your initial success. Use simple, straightforward wording with a peppering of persuasive terms. You may want to consider having a professional copywriter draft the letter for you. Include information about your company’s success to give people an idea what they can expect in the way of donations.
•If you send these letters through email, include a link to your webpage. If you send them by postal mail, include your company brochure.
•http://www.nhpco.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3252 This is the link for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. According to the site, they represent “80% of hospices nationwide.” They have a “find a provider” section on the site.
•Check out http://www.GilbertGuide.com. We review long-term care facilities and have a series of online-subscription services that are invaluable resources for professionals. While the NHPCO is great for finding a listing of hospice providers, our books and subscription services give detailed information about the best hospices within certain key regions. We have an NYC service and will soon have an LA one, as well. These would be two great places to start seeing as they’re both major cities.

Here are few other ideas to spread the word about what you’re trying to do:
•Visit hospice blogs or blogs with hospice categories (Ours is http://www.gilbertguide.com/blog/tags/hospice/.) Use Technorati or other blog search engines to find blogs maintained by hospice providers. Accessing the industry through social media might be a little simpler than following the mail/follow-up procedure since bloggers generally write from a personal stance.

My best piece of advice: saturate the market with your business name. Word-of-mouth advertising is always the best, as far as I’m concerned. Once you make a few affiliations, it will be easier to make others.

I hope this information helps. If there’s anything else I can help you with, feel free to email me at info@GilbertGuide.com.

Best of luck,
Lori
http://www.GilbertGuide.com