Updated on May 5, 2023
Tyann Marcink, front-center, at the CASA Justice is Served fundraiser in 2022
Have you ever heard the quote, Help yourself by helping others? According to research, helping others, aka volunteering, can also help your vacation rental business.
Volunteering can help you or your staff develop new skills, attract good publicity to you and your company, connect you to influential members of the community, and open up new business opportunities.
On top of all of these benefits, volunteering simply feels good. Research shows it boosts our levels of dopamine, reduces stress, and gives us a sense of purpose and meaning.
Learn new skills
Volunteering can help you learn new skills. A study in Frontiers in Psychology, for instance, found that volunteering helped young people to learn skills that made them more employable.
Maybe you want to learn some skills that would help you complete some home improvement projects at your vacation rental. By volunteering at an organization like Habitat for Humanity, you could learn some basic construction skills.
In some cases, nonprofit organizations may need the skills you have to offer.
Tyann Marcink Hammond, queen of guest experience at Touch Stay and co-host of the Guest Cast podcast, said she was invited to volunteer on the Board of Directors for the local CASA chapter (Court-Appointed Special Advocate) in Union, Missouri, in 2018. Outgoing Board Member Joette Reidy recommended Tyann because the nonprofit needed someone with her skills in marketing, networking, and outreach.`
“I had actually never even heard of CASA before that point,” Tyann said.
Each court-appointed special advocate is assigned to an abused or neglected minor who is in the child welfare system. They spend time with the child, get to know them, and then give them a voice during court proceedings. The national program has chapters all over the United States.
As a member of the Board of Directors, Tyann helps to raise funds for the organization, oversees the budget, and recruits volunteers.
While Tyann has helped CASA with their marketing and outreach efforts, she also has learned more about Missouri’s child welfare system.
New business opportunities
Volunteering raises your business’s social responsibility profile, which is appealing to most consumers and makes them more likely to do business with you.
About 88% of consumers prefer brands that help them make the world a better place socially and environmentally, according to a 2018 survey by Futerra.
Download: 2023 STR Sustainability Report and Resource Guide
Getting out there and helping the community can also open up other opportunities to grow your business.
In 2018, Tyann bought an old bank building in Marthasville, Missouri, and transformed it into a vacation rental property. She learned about the opportunity to buy the property through the former CASA board member, Joette.
Joette, owner of an apple orchard and caramel apple company, was inspired by Tyann’s rehabilitation of the old bank. She decided to rehabilitate a building on her property that was used for migrant workers during apple harvest season. The Happy Apple Bicycle Bunkhouse continues to serve as housing for migrant workers during the apple harvest. Then, between May and August, the bunkhouse serves as a short-term rental for bicyclists traveling the Katy Trail.
Good publicity
People notice when you are contributing to the community and helping out. This leaves a good impression and indirectly improves the reputation of your brand.
A study by Circle Research found about 38% of businesses that participated in volunteer activities received some form of positive PR as a result.
Boost your chances of positive PR by sharing your personal or company volunteer activities on your website, social media accounts, and in other marketing materials.
For instance, on Giving Tuesday, you could showcase the good works that you do in the community in your marketing campaigns while simultaneously encouraging others to donate to the good cause.
How to create a great vacation rental guest experience by supporting local businesses
More engaged employees
If you have employees at your vacation rental business, you can multiply the goodwill by starting an employee volunteer program.
Volunteer work is associated with better job satisfaction and performance, according to a study by the University of Georgia Terry College of Business in 2013.
Meanwhile, a survey by America’s Charities Snapshot Employee Research found that about 71% of employees place high importance on a work culture that supports volunteering and philanthropy.
Social and professional networking
Volunteering cultivates new relationships and nurtures existing relationships within the community. This, in turn, expands your social and professional network and your sphere of influence.
In a survey by the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, nearly 90% of respondents who had volunteered in the past year said it had improved their social life.
Knowing the right people can help you gain the ear of your local city council members or other influential people in your community. It also can help you find the best vendors and partners for your business.
And as a valued part of the community, decision makers are more likely to seek your input and view the industry as a whole in a more positive way.
Jamie Michel is a founding member and administrator of the VIA Oregon Coalition, an alliance of vacation rental operators on the Oregon Coast. She has volunteered on the boards of multiple chambers of commerce and was involved in the destination marketing organization for Newport, Oregon.
In addition, she follows all of the agendas for the local municipal governments and attends council meetings whenever possible.
“As those different small municipalities were rewriting or forming their ordinances, there was often an opportunity to serve on a committee that was going to do that work, like a workgroup or an ad hoc committee, and I always threw my hat in the ring to be the industry representative,” Jamie said.
Through her many volunteer efforts, Jamie has become well-known in the community and a go-to source for input or advice from the vacation rental industry.
“When the town of Waldport was considering their short-term rental ordinance, they knew to reach out to me and bring me in to talk about best practices,” she said.
As a result, the town backed down from passing a draconian ordinance that would have hurt vacation rental operators and the local economy.
“By serving on those committees, I was able to start building those relationships,” Jamie said.
“I encourage everybody to just find something and just start,” she said. “Make yourself the expert on the short-term rental industry everywhere you go in the community.”
Sense of wellbeing
In order to avoid burnout, vacation rental entrepreneurs need mechanisms to enhance their sense of wellbeing whether through connectedness or self-care.
Research has pointed to repeated examples of how doing good feels good and does us good, according to Psychology Today.
One study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin in 2017 found that volunteering helped people to decrease their symptoms of depression and increase their emotional regulation.
Nick Settles, a relatively new vacation rental property manager (and Tyann’s son-in-law), started serving on the Board of Directors for the Marthasville Chamber of Commerce in January 2023.
The volunteer position has helped him get to know more members of the community and find mentors for his role as a leader.
But what Nick loves the most about volunteering is how good it makes him feel.
He recently volunteered at an Easter egg hunt that the chamber sponsored.
“That felt so good to see that we put this event together for them and to watch those kids go nuts over the candy,” Nick said. “We brought the fire department, and there was a fire truck there that they could play on and take pictures.”
“It just gave me a drive to want to do more,” he said.
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