Voting…For Face Time

Just about every nonprofit seems to be urging its friends to “Vote for Us” in the Chase Community Giving Program.

Is this some sort of lottery, a "Survivor"-related nonprofit sweepstakes?

$5 million distributed among 500,000 eligible nonprofits...with 100 winning in the first round (that’s 1 in every 5,000)...an additional 5 in the second round...(5% of those 100, so 1 in 100,000 of the total eligible nonprofits).  

That’s some long odds!

You see where this is headed… although, truthfully, everyone doesn’t have an equal chance out of the starting gate – the race will, indeed, go to those with the greatest reach.

Yet there’s nothing wrong with this – as long as charities don’t substitute energy getting e-votes for face-time.

It’s so easy, isn’t it, to spend time at our computers typing away, virtually making our case, networking virally, tagging and friending and fanning…I’m as guilty as the next party.

But real impact comes one on one, building long lasting relationships that commit to staying the course over time to achieve real social change.

Sure there’s nothing wrong with e-voting – but it’s not enough to ask for.

So let’s not stop there – let’s build real relationships that can evolve into paintbrushes and tutoring and donated legal services and other sweat equity that leverages human energy and commitment into a real movement towards social justice. 

§       Why not table at a “Winter Fair” to gain community awareness and build your “friends and fans” base?

§       Why not hold a “wrap-a-thon” at a book store to publicize the fact that the local schools need book donations? 

§       Why not host a member reach-out night, where every member brings their cell phone and calls 5 other members to get their impact on the issues facing your community and catches them up on what your organization is doing? 

Not an ask – just a connect.

It’s the old saw about volunteering – that being there, on the ground, is key.  And that people have to see/hear/feel/touch/taste your impact before they’re moved to give, to ask, to be a real part of the solution.  And that doesn’t just come from clicking here.

The End of Year Letter...A Call To Conscience

It’s end-of-year letter drafting time again, and people are adjusting their tone, calibrating their messages, trying to figure out how doom-and-gloom to make their letters.

Do we talk about how we had to cut back last year? How we had to put whole programs on hold, literally fight not to close our doors? Or how the families we assist, the kids we educate, the communities we serve, didn’t have the same options in their lives in 2009?

Or do we sweep all that under the rug because people are tired of bad news and it seems like it might be getting slightly better (here’s hoping that’s not just a mirage)?

It’s a dilemma, and I’ve seen people address it in every which way.  There’s no wrong call, as long as it’s done with dignity and respect for the intelligence of the reader – and from the viewpoint of the reader, not the nonprofit.

What do I mean by that? That end-of-year letters are not about how well you’ve performed your service (or the cuts you’ve had to make).

A well-written end-of-year letter targets what the reader cares about, and brings out that sense of the reader’s “best self” – that part of the reader that truly cares about others.

The end-of-year letter as call to conscience…making us a better, more committed community in the process.