Miracle on Third Avenue
In two months we raised a hundred and eighty grand for the United Way. I'm not going to say it was easy. We definitely put work into it. But there were no heroics, no working weekends, no shouting matches, no tears. This was a corporate endeavor, a small motivated team leveraging a mature, captive workplace for maximum benefit and minimum effort. Corporate Gods: teach me your lessons so that I might apply them to my non-profits.
My boss's boss asked me to lead our United Way campaign this year. I was about to say no, but then he gave me this inspired little speech about the benefits of always saying yes. I remember well how he pitched it to me: his cuff links gleaming in the florescent light, a pithy anecdote delivered with just the right amount of ego stroking. I said yes when I realized that my friend Anni would also be asked and that she would do the lion's share of the work.
The odds were against us: only two months to plan the campaign in a time of economic turmoil. Fortunately our company is still doing very well. We're not allowed to say the "R" word, so we figured, "What the hell? Let's go for it." Anni and I met a few times, established some goals, formed a small team of six people and we were off. A short time later and we'd surpassed our wildest expectations in terms of money and participation. How did it happen? Why is it so much harder to get things done in the non-profit sector? I can answer the first question, but the second is trickier.
Our company's been funding the United Way for years. Our senior executives believe in it and supported the campaign team's efforts. Corporate America in this respect reminds me of Thomas Friedman's wish that the US could be China for a day. Top down authority works for a day - it gets shit done. Obviously authority must be tempered - that's why Friedman only wants to be China for a day, but if the folks at the top have the right objective, then the infrastructure beneath them can execute at a fast pace.
In my do-gooder efforts outside of my corporate job, I have a real tendency to be party of one, or five, or maybe ten. It is very difficult to get people to show up. If you've tried to organize volunteer events you know what I'm talking about - or you're much better at it than I am. In corporate do-gooder efforts, people are paid to show up. You'd be amazed what a salary can do for attendance. United Way takes it a step further by offering events called "Lunch and Learn." United Way provides a speaker, your company provides a conference room and some pizza, and all of a sudden the donations are rolling in. Never underestimate the appeal of a free lunch.
In addition to large numbers of potential donors being physically present, corporations also have these wonderful things called distribution lists. With executive leadership behind you, it's pretty easy to write an email once a week and send it to all of your coworkers, informing them of the charity's goals and your company's progress. At least I think it was easy, since Anni did all of that.
All of this is not to say that I plan to abandon my non-profit pursuits of greening churches and pulling weeds in local parks. But I have seen the Miracle on Third Avenue:achieving big goals through very little effort, and I realize it is not a miracle. A lot of the social problems that face us, especially the environmental issues that drive me, are created in large part by our industrialized economy. It's no big surprise that we would find the solution to our problems in the origin of those problems. We can harness the same infrastructure that creates pollution and inequality to create sustainability and harmony. The people are there in their cubicles, the dollars are there to motivate them, all it takes is vision and work to move them in a new direction. OK, a lot of vision and a lot of work, but I have hope. Aside from our United Way campaign and other charities, in the last year I've worked with my company to plan our green house gas footprint, partner with the EPA to incentivize fuel efficient trucks (we're a shipping company), and helped reduce the carbon footprint of some of our customers. But these possibilities didn't just land in my lap. It took lots of prodding and persistence to connect the right questions to the right leaders willing to help me answer them.
So relax into your desk chair, lean into your cubicle wall, and ask the person on the other side what you're going to do at your company to make your community a better place. I bet you can think of ten doable, profitable things before your next meeting.
My boss's boss asked me to lead our United Way campaign this year. I was about to say no, but then he gave me this inspired little speech about the benefits of always saying yes. I remember well how he pitched it to me: his cuff links gleaming in the florescent light, a pithy anecdote delivered with just the right amount of ego stroking. I said yes when I realized that my friend Anni would also be asked and that she would do the lion's share of the work.
The odds were against us: only two months to plan the campaign in a time of economic turmoil. Fortunately our company is still doing very well. We're not allowed to say the "R" word, so we figured, "What the hell? Let's go for it." Anni and I met a few times, established some goals, formed a small team of six people and we were off. A short time later and we'd surpassed our wildest expectations in terms of money and participation. How did it happen? Why is it so much harder to get things done in the non-profit sector? I can answer the first question, but the second is trickier.
Our company's been funding the United Way for years. Our senior executives believe in it and supported the campaign team's efforts. Corporate America in this respect reminds me of Thomas Friedman's wish that the US could be China for a day. Top down authority works for a day - it gets shit done. Obviously authority must be tempered - that's why Friedman only wants to be China for a day, but if the folks at the top have the right objective, then the infrastructure beneath them can execute at a fast pace.
In my do-gooder efforts outside of my corporate job, I have a real tendency to be party of one, or five, or maybe ten. It is very difficult to get people to show up. If you've tried to organize volunteer events you know what I'm talking about - or you're much better at it than I am. In corporate do-gooder efforts, people are paid to show up. You'd be amazed what a salary can do for attendance. United Way takes it a step further by offering events called "Lunch and Learn." United Way provides a speaker, your company provides a conference room and some pizza, and all of a sudden the donations are rolling in. Never underestimate the appeal of a free lunch.
In addition to large numbers of potential donors being physically present, corporations also have these wonderful things called distribution lists. With executive leadership behind you, it's pretty easy to write an email once a week and send it to all of your coworkers, informing them of the charity's goals and your company's progress. At least I think it was easy, since Anni did all of that.
All of this is not to say that I plan to abandon my non-profit pursuits of greening churches and pulling weeds in local parks. But I have seen the Miracle on Third Avenue:achieving big goals through very little effort, and I realize it is not a miracle. A lot of the social problems that face us, especially the environmental issues that drive me, are created in large part by our industrialized economy. It's no big surprise that we would find the solution to our problems in the origin of those problems. We can harness the same infrastructure that creates pollution and inequality to create sustainability and harmony. The people are there in their cubicles, the dollars are there to motivate them, all it takes is vision and work to move them in a new direction. OK, a lot of vision and a lot of work, but I have hope. Aside from our United Way campaign and other charities, in the last year I've worked with my company to plan our green house gas footprint, partner with the EPA to incentivize fuel efficient trucks (we're a shipping company), and helped reduce the carbon footprint of some of our customers. But these possibilities didn't just land in my lap. It took lots of prodding and persistence to connect the right questions to the right leaders willing to help me answer them.
So relax into your desk chair, lean into your cubicle wall, and ask the person on the other side what you're going to do at your company to make your community a better place. I bet you can think of ten doable, profitable things before your next meeting.
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