Civic Duties <b></b>

You don't have to be a Ben or Jerry to capitalize oncommunity outreach. In fact, "civic marketing" can serveas a low-cost, high-impact marketing tool for almost anybusiness.

Take Boston pawnshop Empire Loans, for example. Owner MichaelGoldstein contributes to a variety of causes, including a nearbyhomeless shelter, a shelter for battered women and a localperforming arts school.

Goldstein's motives are sincerely altruistic--and savvy."Doing our part makes us a good neighbor and helps our imagein the community," he says.