If Not You, Then Who?

When a non-profit closes its doors due to lack of funding, it’s your fault.  Not your neighbours, not your co-workers, not some stranger you’ve never met. Its yours and yours alone.

Disturb Us, Lord

- Attributed to Sir Francis Drake

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

Dear Non-Profit organization,

Does your community know you exist?

Why not?

Are you a member of the local Chamber of Commerce?

Why not?

Have you co-sponsored a community event? 

Why not? (Banks make great partners for this and the event doesn’t have to dovetail perfectly into your mission.)

Have you had an open house lately?

Why not? (You don’t need a new building for an open house)

Are you blogging daily?

Why not? (The blog showcases who you are and also allows you to provide valuable resources to you community.  See Non-profit Blog)

SERVE YOUR COMMUINTY – IN TURN, THEY’LL BE THERE FOR YOU.

If you don’t who will?

The world is different. Times have changed. Have you? Or are you still doing everything the same way and expecting different results? 

How many non-profits lament that the old generation of support is passing on and their off-spring isn’t interested in what we do?

If you’re not “friending” everyone of your donors (or donors children or even grand children) who has a Face Book page; if your not driving them to your blog where you are doing creative and informative written, audio and video posts; If your not tweeting with a link to your site; then you are not communicating to the next generation. 

They really do care and have the means to help.  They are passionate and full of boundless energy.  Give them a reason to step up to the plate.

If not you, then who?

To all non-profits out there changing the world, take a page out of the for-profit sector: To plan for one year, grow sales. To plan for three years, grow channel. To plan for decades, grow a brand.

Brand yourself.  Offer resources that benefit anyone who needs the services you offer.  If you assist the developmentally disabled, become the agency that your community turns to for anything they may need regarding the disabled.  As Zig Ziglar says “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”  Become your community’s foremost expert at what you do. Help the community and guess who will turn up at your next fund raiser?

For more information on branding yourself, I highly recommend Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk.

 http://www.amazon.com/Crush-Time-Cash-Your-Passion/dp/0061914177/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266450212&sr=8-1

If not you, then who?

Nobody has the answers.

Nobody is listening to you.

Nobody is looking out for your interests.

Nobody will lower your taxes.

Nobody will fix the education system.

Nobody knows what he is doing in Washington.

Nobody will make us energy independent.

Nobody will cut government waste.

Nobody will clean up the environment.

Nobody will protect us against terrorist threats.

Nobody will tell the truth.

Nobody will avoid conflicts of interest.

Nobody will restore ethical behavior to the White House.

Nobody will get us out of Afghanistan.

Nobody understands farm subsidies.

Nobody will spend your tax dollars wisely.

Nobody feels your pain.

Nobody wants to give peace a chance.

Nobody predicted the Iraq War would be a disaster.

Nobody expected the levees to fail.

Nobody warned that the housing bubble would collapse.

Nobody will reform Wall Street.

Nobody will stand up for what’s right.

Nobody will be your voice.

Nobody will tell you what the others won’t.

Nobody has a handle on this.

Nobody, but you, that is.

Never forget, a small group of people can change the world.

No one else ever has.

If not you, then who?