Is Volunteering Massage Therapy Worth The R.O.I?
“Contact us and we’ll get you to the first page on Google”
We’ve all seen the emails come into our clinics (and maybe even personal accounts).
Then there’s the other emails. You know the ones.
“Our organization is doing a fundraising event and would like to give you the opportunity to donate some gift certificates to help raise money for our charity”.
Every year as business owners Massage Therapists must decide how they are going to spend their marketing dollars.
Where is the best place to spend money and what will the Return On Investment be?
Is volunteering our time really worth the effort it takes to provide free treatments?
As it is with any marketing venture, you have to ask “is there a return on investment of my time if I donate”?
Well it depends.
Donating Massage Therapy Gift Certificates
This can be a bumpy road.
Every year our clinic gets several requests via email, phone and our regular patients that come in, to donate a gift certificate to some sort of cause or function.
One of the interesting things about this (and I know from doing fundraising with the fire dept) is that once you say yes, the same organization is coming at you next year to ask again. While there is nothing wrong with them doing that, just make sure that wherever you are donating gift certificates is worthwhile.
Make sure to check that your donation is going to something you can actually help with.
I’m always more than happy to donate to local hockey teams, or different events that I can at least relate to. If there is a request to donate to an organization where I know the recipients are people who actually use massage therapy, then yeah I’ll donate.
For instance in our community, hospital workers (ie: nurses, pharmacy tech’s etc.) have amazing benefits when it comes to massage. So if I can manage to get one of them in the door, where there’s a really good chance they’ll rebook, I’m happy to help.
If the request comes from one of my current patients, again I’m happy to help. They support me in my business, so the least I can do is help them out with whatever endeavor they are putting their efforts toward.
If the request comes from someone or something that I don’t connect with, I’ll be far more reluctant to donate anything. Although from being involved in fundraising on the other side of the table, there’s something I’ve learned from making requests for donations.
Most of the time when we’re fundraising and ask stores for donations (especially the big box stores) they’ll donate just enough that it requires the recipient to spend more money.
Rarely do they donate a material prize, it will be a gift card for say $25-$50 so that the person will buy a bigger ticket item and just put the gift card toward the cost. It ends up being a win-win for both parties.
The other thing most of these places do, is ask for a tax receipt. At least this way, they are not losing out on the money, they will actually get a tax deduction at the end of the year which lowers their bottom line.
Before you just randomly donate to the next charity that calls, ask yourself (and the person asking) a few questions first:
- What is my possible return on investment?
- Can I get a proper tax receipt?
- Is it better to give a discount rather than a full treatment, so I at least make some money?
- Is the charity or cause something I actually believe in and can connect with?
- Does my clinic schedule actually allow for someone to book in?
Gift certificates can be a great way to promote your business and be a great marketing tool, just make sure you donate wisely so it is still profitable for you in the end.
Volunteering With Sport Massage
When it comes to working in sports this is a bit of a vicious cycle.
So many sports organizations don’t have the funding or the money to be able to pay for the services of a Massage Therapist. Depending on the size of the community you live in this can be almost painful if you want to get involved.
Your average high school basketball team obviously can’t afford full, or even part time therapy and if there aren’t any teams in the area that can afford it and you want sport experience, what do you do?
One of the other issues with sport, is that if you do volunteer and decide that the organization should start to pay for your services and put up a hard stance with the team, there is someone around the corner who is willing to take your spot and start volunteering, just to get an opportunity.
Most teams are going to do whatever they can to save money, so if you’re not willing to volunteer your time anymore the general attitude can be (and I’ve heard this from team managers) “no biggie, we’ll just get someone else”.
While there are teams that can afford to hire a full or part time therapist, those spots are tougher and tougher to get into. It also completely depends on where a team gets their funding from or if the team is privately owned. Usually if a Massage Therapist gets one of these spots, they’re reluctant to give it up and they hold onto it like Donald Trump grabbing his hair in a windstorm.
I’ve debated giving up one of my sports volunteer positions but hesitate because I always wonder if I’ll get the chance again.
If you decide you’re going to volunteer your time, make sure it’s worth your while.
At a minimum, make sure the team is willing to promote you. In return for your donated time, the athletes should be willing to come and see you in your clinic as well. If the athletes are minors, their parents should be made aware of who you are and that if they need treatment, your clinic is where they should go.
Check to see what kind of insurance the athlete or team carries.
I used to do one day a week at the rink with the hockey team where I would bill hockey canada. If a player was injured, the team doctor would sign off on the insurance form recommending massage therapy so I could then fill out the form and submit it for payment from the insurer.
Find out what other healthcare practitioners the team uses and see if you can set them up as a referral base. I still have a steady stream of people who come in from the team chiropractor and we refer back and forth for each other regularly.
Just make sure that if you’re volunteering your time with sports you get more from it than just experience.
Photo by: Elvert Barnes
Fundraising Massage Therapy Outreaches
Every year in our city there are charity 10K’s, Run For The Cure’s, Goddess Run’s and various other charity events looking for Massage Therapists to volunteer.
They can all be great events to volunteer at and hopefully generate some business for you.
Just like the gift certificates, if you volunteer one year you can bet the event is going to call you next year to see if you’ll come out again.
But choose wisely.
I have done some volunteer work for events like this in the past, both as a student and as a registered therapist. I’m much more likely to spend my time at a half ironman or a 10K because most of the people involved in these are going to look for more therapy after the race day.
If they have spent enough time training to get ready, they’re more likely to keep exercising as a regular habit, thus needing more therapy. This is where I’m more confident that I can turn a couple of them into a regular patient with a little education and discussion on race day.
I’m far less likely to volunteer at a Run For The Cure, or a Goddess run. Not because I don’t think they’re great causes or that the athletes won’t need further therapy. It’s because it’s harder for me to connect with the participants (which is my own issue). I worked a couple of these kinds of events as a student and had a tough time watching people crying as they crossed the finish line. I hate seeing women cry!
If you decide to volunteer at one of these events for the first time, keep track for the rest of the year and see how many people come to your clinic as a result of your attendance. If you get a few new people, then you’re getting a return on your time investment.
I’m not saying that volunteering your time is a bad thing. I volunteer hundreds of hours a year between the fire department and sports. Both have their own set of rewards and both have given me some great opportunities. However our time is valuable, maybe the most valuable thing we have. While volunteering can help give you better community engagement as a business person your time shouldn’t be given away randomly. As you should with any marketing you do, track how successful the marketing strategy was. Track how much business comes your way from your volunteer time and weigh out whether it was worth the investment. I mean you paid a lot of money to go to school and learn how to be a therapist, you should at least get paid for it!
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Hey I tried all these FREE massages I donated to different places. I never got much out of it. It was a waste of time. I stopped giving away. I know my value in what I do. I think alot of people enjoy freebies but when it comes to paying. .. different story. Oh I wasn’t aware it cost so much.. said one lady! ,another actually had the gall to call and request another freebie! I was polite and said, ” Sorry it was a one time thing. I’d love to help you out again but I do have ti charge you.. to which I hear.. ok well then I can’t make an appointment due to lack of funds! Ha there’s always people who are cheap! I didn’t go to school for FREE! I didn’t work hard in my business for over 10 years to do FREE massages! I digress! :(