Local Love: Strengthening Community Ties Through Thoughtful Buying

The Importance of Buy Local

E-commerce has made it easy and affordable for anyone to purchase goods from anywhere. Yet, for many organizations, there remains a big draw for buying from local suppliers. Beyond the immediate and direct transaction, the potential to contribute to the growth and stability of local economics remains an added value to buying local.

Helping Local Businesses Thrive

Community-conscious nonprofits understand the importance of investing in the communities from which they operate. Their mission might be focused on helping that same community thrive and the people they employ could be fellow community members.

“Procurement teams play a big role in supporting local businesses when purchasing goods,” says Anthony Jenkins, Senior Product Manager of Sustainability at Amazon Business. “From buying office stationery to research materials, they want to do whatever they can to keep the money they’re spending close to home.”

By supporting their local merchants, nonprofits:

●      Create a more resilient community, ensuring sound financial health in the area

●      Strengthen bonds with the community

●      Preserve local natural or cultural heritage for area-specific food products or crafts

Rebuilding Disaster-Stricken Communities

“We work with many nonprofits focused on aiding communities who have been through a disaster,” says Andy Krzmarzick, Principal Strategic Account Executive for Nonprofits with Amazon Business. 

Disaster Services Corporation (DSC) is an organization that operationalized this concept. The DSC provides recovery services to people impacted by man-made and natural disasters across the country.

One of their biggest programs is House in a Box, which supplies furniture and furnishings to disaster victims who want to rebuild their lives with dignity. The program was set up in 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The items they purchase and provide include items like beds, tables, pots, pans, and dishes.

In the past few years, the DSC has worked closely with Amazon Business to improve logistical efficiency and to be better equipped to take on more disasters and reach more people. Part of this is having better control over where these goods are supplied from.

“Ensuring local economies and businesses are being supported is critical,” says Kevin Peach, DSC’s Chief Operating Officer. The organization has managed to set up procurement procedures that favor local and women-owned suppliers. “This is a direct investment into local economies that are working to recover,” says Peach.

Improving Sustainable Practices

Buying locally is attractive for its environmental and social implications. Procuring goods from local sellers often results in a smaller carbon footprint as items do not need to travel as far. This can remove a lot of unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions from the procurement process.

Organizations can also choose to support local suppliers that use sustainable practices in the production of their goods. Examples of this include buying from:

●      Local, organic produce

●      Furniture made from responsibly-sourced wood

●      Energy-efficient building material

Leaning on Tech to Ease Local Procurement

Technology has the ability to significantly improve the day-to-day processes of nonprofit procurement officers. It makes exploring and onboarding local suppliers that meet the organization’s needs faster and more streamlined. It also ensures that the supplier selection process is transparent and unbiased, promoting an equitable and more trustworthy procurement process.

Buying Policies

Nonprofits can create standardized procurement rules with the help of Guided Buying. This involves developing organization-wide buying rules and policies and integrating them into their purchasing system.

“When procurement officers are looking to buy items, local sellers are automatically highlighted. Administrators can also leave messages explaining why certain sellers are preferred, outline pricing thresholds, and any other relevant information,” explains Jenkins. This means that buyers do not need to spend time justifying every purchase they make. Guided Buying makes it easy for organizations to find and highlight sellers based on other desirable criteria such as minority-owned sellers or products with sustainability certifications. 

More than 60 percent of sales on Amazon are from independent, small and medium-sized businesses. These businesses employ more than 1.8 million people in the U.S. and have averaged more than $250,000 in annual sales in Amazon’s store.

Analytics

Using cloud-based technology in procurement also opens up the door for data analytics — offering your organization insight into how your buying policies and strategies are impacting the communities you serve. Spend Visibility, available on Business Prime, allows nonprofits to track spend with local businesses and report back on how they’re achieving their buy-local goals.

Access to spending reports not only improves procurement visibility but also helps organizations optimize their spending, reconcile accounts more easily, and create reports on orders, shipments, returns, refunds, and reconciliation quickly. 

Summary

“Ultimately, nonprofits have an opportunity to be far more intentional in the way they buy goods that support their important missions,” says Krzmarzick. “They are already making a difference in the lives of their neighbors in need. By purchasing from local suppliers, they can also bolster their local economy and build a stronger, more resilient community in the process.”

Originally published on The Chronicle of Philanthropy