Years ago I heard someone at a nonprofit say there’s three ways to give back: with your time, your talents or your treasure. That’s stuck with me over the years when I connect with a nonprofit. November 2016 has been one of the weirder months on record. And as John Oliver talked about last week, 2016 overall hasn’t been amazing. So what do we do? We can take all our toys and go home, or, we can help keep America great. How?
Your Time
Volunteering is a fantastic idea. And it’s really easy to be busy and not do it. But if you can, find a couple of hours a month. Get off the couch and stop watching TV. Don’t meet your friend for happy hour or lunch, meet them at the soup kitchen or at a food bank. Don’t do this alone, you can pair up with your friends, your spouse, your family, a networking group you’re involved with. But the very least you can do is give of your TIME.
Your Talents
There are a variety of nonprofits in your community who could probably use your services. They may need help with their bookkeeping, or someone to review and edit the content on their website or their marketing materials. Or help building a newsletter or designing a logo. When I look at joining the board of an organization or getting involved, I first look to see what can I bring to the table to help. I build the monthly newsletter for an organization I’m involved with. It’s a weight off their shoulders and I think we all know it’s in my wheelhouse. Find an organization that you may already be involved with and see if you can donate a service, or at least let them know you’re available if they need help.
Your Treasure
Cold hard cash baby. Not everyone can give financially and that’s OK. And if one more person tells me that for the cost of a latte a week I could save albino narwhals…BUT if you have the means to financially support an organization that lines up with your values then by all means please do so.
As we head into Thanksgiving this week, it’s always a good time to be mindful of all that we have to be Thankful for. And it might be the right time to find one more way you can give back and show your appreciation to others.
I was at a luncheon last week and the host was talking about the give and take of networking. It’s a hard line to give too much help and get nothing in return, or to only take and never give. But one point that I really appreciated was:
I had a call earlier this week with a client who mentioned they want to share a Black Friday deal for their newsletter subscribers. As we were chatting I agreed this is a good idea and encouraged that we make it a Small Business Saturday promotion as well.