Contessa season is in full swing and while we love seeing entries featuring your best colour and hairstyling collections, we also love seeing how you give back to your community. The John Steinberg Award for Community Service is all about giving back, so with that in mind, here are five ways to pull together a great community service event (and maybe even win, too).

1. Choose a charity that means something to you

It’s no secret that passion equals success in every respect. When thinking about doing a community-based event, choose a cause that is close to you. Whether it’s helping fight a disease that has personally affected you, or helping to give back to kids in your area, or even just helping raise money for a local establishment or family, it’ll be more successful if you put your heart into it.

2. Use your network to plan your event

You have a huge network between your stylists, clients and friends and family, so have them chip in and volunteer their time and resources. Whether you’re asking your stylists to volunteer their time and services the day of the event, calling friends to help set up, do raffle tickets and help put some refreshments together, getting your network to contribute will help create a successful event that doesn’t feel like work at all.

3. Use your stylists to get the word out there

When your stylists have clients in their chair, have them talk up the event, even explaining why your salon chose that cause to give back to. Connecting with your loyal clients about such an important cause will hopefully make want them to get involved and help you reach your goal!

4. Generate some buzz

You’ve told your clients and your close friends and family, but why take it one step further? Give your clients some incentive to bring their friends and family, whether it’s a discount at your salon for new clients (and referrals, too) or entry for door prizes. Better yet, reach out to some local media outlets to see if you can get some coverage for the event and make sure to share on your social media platforms to get the word out there.

5. Document the day and enter!

Now that the event has come together, make sure to document it in any way that you can. Get photos of the whole event (maybe even using a photographer to donate their time to taking snaps for you) as well as video footage and any media coverage you got on the event, whether it’s in a local newspaper, web story or even on the news. Once you’ve got all that together, send it our way along with your entry form and you’re done! 

Image: Contessa 26 Winner John Steinberg Award for Community Service Steve Rego at The Mane Event