stop romancing the sector

 
 


 
Yes, you all have noble intentions working in the social sector.

As insiders, you all know that that is one of the reasons why you are  volunteering, fundraising, giving monies to, and spend enormous amounts of time working for your favorite cause-oriented organizations, campaigns, and networks.

That is good.

But when you deal with people that are not steeped into the non-profit sector, be real and very practical. 

Stop talking about how it will change the world, the situation, feed the hungry, clean the environment, support the homeless, etc. Drop the romancing, idealistic notions.

You need to talk about how it works for other people.

 What is their return on investment by participating in your programs? They are moved not by feeding the hungry but my monetary gain or other important considerations.

Employee retention, brand recognition & awareness or domination in the community, more sales, positive association/CSR, customer engagement, to name a few.

Think about how the other person will get their interests served.

Human beings are very simple. While they get moved to tears because of the tragedy happening in the lives of other people and moved to take action, the first thing that they would do is to cover their own needs.

Are you communicating value for them? If you are being salesy by just pushing your agenda, it will not work.

Get their interests served and you won't be treated like a spammer.
 
 What do you think about this? Did I miss an important point? Join the conversation.
 

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