Giving it all away?

Interesting article in Good Magazine raises questions about the validity of corporate philanthropy.

Undoubtedly, most philanthropists mean to make the world a cleaner and more equitable place. Yet it’s like trying to reduce your sugar intake by eating 125 chocolate bars every day and then swearing off the occasional Pop-Tart. It’s as if the right hand has never met the left. But here is the punch line for this argument: We can all be good citizens much, much more effectively in the course of making money than in the course of giving money away.

I hate Mission Statements

It almost seems like there’s some law that mission statements have to be lame.  They have to sound the same and feel the same and really throw out a bunch of touchy words that don’t really mean anything. 

 Why did this start?  Should your mission statement be a powerful proclaimation of what you’re trying to do and why people should get involved?  You could easily create “Mission Statement Magnetic Poetry” with the following words:

Under-served

Community

Partnerships

Preservation

Commitment

Assist

Achieve

Supporting

Leadership

Promote

Advocacy

Resolution

Education

Dedicated

Implement

Contribution

Advancement

Development

Encourage

Aid

Emerging

Practices

Enhance

Strengthen

Diversity

Grass roots

Cultural

Empowerment

I could re-arrange any of these words and come up with most Mission statements I’ve ever heard. 

You hear all the time, “Our mission sells itself”.  Which is probably not true.  But one thing is for sure,  your mission statement is probably not saying much to anyone.

Consider a stronger statement that actually captures people’s emotions and willingness to become involved.

Hospitality

I stumbled on a new site by Hilton, Be Hospitable.  The concept is absolutely fantastic.  The idea is that people from all over the world submit “Good Samaritan” or random acts of kindness types of stories.  I am in love with the interaction and the theme.   (My only beef is with the actual useability of the site.  I find all that flash cumbersome and somewhat annoying.  Things are popping up faster than I can read and the map is a little unwieldy.)

 The idea is a great one and it easily translates to a non-profit site.  I can think of many ways people in charitable organizations can share their story through the experiences of people helped or missions accomplished.

Member based organizations should especially consider things like this in terms of letting members interact and get more out of their involvement.

Red Cross Drama

I stumbled on the news that Johnson & Johnson is suing the Red Cross via Seth Godin’s blog.  Intrigued, I went and read their official statement on the subject,  and this article as well.

 I have to agree with Seth’s take on the subject. 

In a small metropolis,  such as Asheville,  the pool for in-kind gifts in the non-profit community is smaller.  This means that the local companies are constantly hit for services or gifts.  As a printer,  (not to mention a provider of non-profit marketing support) we are asked quite often to print this poster or couldn’t we just help with that mailing.  And in many cases we do.  As a long time family business ( not unlike J&J,  but of course I haven’t been caught partying with Paris lately) we take our involvement in our community very seriously and have always given as much as we possibly can.  (One day I hope to be a 4th sector company,  but that’s a separate topic.)

 When a corporation gives to a non-profit, it’s not like they expect a parade,  but it’s nice to have some appreciation,  or moreover,  a lack of a sense of entitlement.  Non profits are out there doing good and the rest of us want to be a part of it and cheer them on.  But it’s frustrating to me when they don’t remember the people that have helped them move forward with their good works.   I have been on the board of a local 501c3 that receives quite a bit of in kind support.  The frustration comes in when they have a budget the next time and actually spend that money with the competitor of the company that supported them in the past.

 For the Red Cross to call Johnson & Johnson “obscene” is obscene.   I would doubt very much that if the Red Cross did absolutely ANYTHING except become directly in competition to J & J this wouldn’t even be an issue. 

 Finding new and different ways to raise funds is completely necessary in this non profit environment.  But to purposefully dip into the share of a long time supporter is out of line in a way that might hurt future efforts for other non profits.

List this!

I love checklists too!  The Agitator lists the top ten things fundraisers should monitor.  I  thought I’d make my own list of what a fundraiser should gather about the donor;

1. Obvious info like address/email/phone/as much as you can get

2. The person’s nickname if you can

3. Demo info

4. Hobbies where available

5. Any pertinent regional info

6. Possible motivations for giving/engaging

7. Anything financial is great,  but it’s a tricky area

Any information you can gather about your constituency you can potentially use.   The message needs to speak to the donor on an individual level.  Even in the non profit world the idea of “What are you going to do for me?” applies.  No mission sells itself.   People must be engaged on a personal level.