The Question of How
March 11, 2010
Okay, my next blog post is going to have some useful internet marketing tips for restaurant owners. I promise. This particular post is relevant, albeit perhaps not educational, to small business owners in any industry. It’s a post about a subject we visit often here at TwoTables – philanthropy.
This isn’t a guilt-ridden, you-should-be-doing-more-for-others admonishment. I find those a bit presumptuous, frankly. We all do as little or as much as we desire or we can, and that’s just fine. No, this post is a direct result of a question that invariably arises within that general discussion of helping others, and that’s the question of how.
Perhaps unfairly, I have always shied away from the major players in the land ‘o’ charity. You hear so much about administrative costs, wasteful budgeting, and, sometimes, corruption within the ranks. At some point I’d like to investigate how unfair those assumptions truly are. But I’m honest enough with myself to know, that along with those vague suspicions about the big boys, I also harbor a selfish need to make it all fun, and that’s more likely the driving force behind finding my own paths to advocacy. Plunking over a $2,000 check to a multi-million dollar organization is a selfless, admirable, and helpful thing to do, but it sure as hell isn’t fun.
Mindi and I were fortunate to hear Blake Mycoskie, the founder of Tom’s Shoes, speak in a relatively intimate setting, and I’m here to say the man was impressive. One of the key points I took away was his commitment to forming a philanthropic organization that was SUSTAINABLE. He was talking specifically about the organization making enough money via products and/or services to pay for its entire operation and its charitable work. Agreed 100%, but I also found myself taking it to the level of emotional sustainability as well. No one can give and give and give without receiving anything in return. Try it. You can’t do it. So, for me at least, a certain percentage of that type of work has to fulfill one or more of my needs as well, and fun seems to be as good a need to cover as any.
Obviously, that narrows the options a bit. Throw in “creative”, “active”, and “hands-on” – three terms that pop up often enough as well, and you’re at the starting line for a fun brainstorming session. And no matter where it ends up, it’s going to help some folks somewhere, because helping someone is the sole non-negotiable requirement.
Opportunities abound when you put a keen eye to ‘em. If you haven’t had such a brainstorming already, you’d be surprised at how many ideas spring up when you start looking around with those requirements as your perspective. For example, I’ll never forget our trip across Colorado last Fall (the keen eye for that one was Mindi’s). It was truly one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, and one I got to spend with people I enjoy immensely. I won’t rehash our trip here – you can read about it if you’d like – but I do think it’s a great example of the type of philanthropy you can be “up for” again and again. And what’s more important in philanthropy than consistency and stamina?
So…how do y’all maintain your energy? What “emotionally sustainable” ideas have you come up with? We’d love to hear ‘em…
“Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all – the apathy of human beings.”
~Helen Keller~
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