BIG TIP: Always focus on how you can spread passion for your cause. If you do this, the money and the donors will follow.

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From 2006-2008, I served as board president for Aim High, a non-profit in St. Louis that serves under-privileged middle school children. It was one of the great honors of my life. But as I ended my tenure as president last year, I was haunted by this recollection:

Last year, after signing and sending dozens of year-end solicitation letters, I saw a friend at a holiday party. He received one of those letters, and he donated $50. He told me about his donation, and I thanked him.

He then said, “So…what is it?”

“What is what?” I replied.

“What is that thing — your charity? What does it do?”

I gave him the Aim High elevator speech, thanked him again, and didn’t think much about it. I was grateful for the donation.

My friend responded to my letter like so many of us who field solicitations. He opened the letter, saw a friend’s name at the bottom, gave the letter a cursory reading, and penned a check. He had little understanding or passion about the cause to which he donated. He was supporting me, not the cause, and I did nothing to change that.

Friends soliciting friends – I give to you; you give to me. Such quid-pro-quo philanthropy has fueled many charities. My friend’s $50 check made a difference, and for that I’m grateful. But I deeply regret that my friend still doesn’t know the difference he made. And he doesn’t know why Aim High is one of my BIG passions.

I wish I had told him about:

A group of current Aim High students met last year during one of the monthly Saturday sessions that emphasize character education. They discussed how gang violence has increased in their neighborhood. Their idea: Host a teen summit to create solidarity against the gangs and to plan ways to improve, not tear down, their neighborhood. These kids – who might otherwise be spending their summers and Saturdays on the streets, ensnared by the gangs – have developed the character and confidence to lead their peers, to confront the gangs, and to change their world. All of them will tell you they never could have done this without Aim High.

The Bottom Line: Aim High changes lives; in some cases, it saves lives. The kids planning the teen summit have learned that they have a choice. They don’t have to fall in line behind the gangs; they don’t have to view school like a prison; they don’t have to assume life will lead them nowhere. They can strive for something more. They can be passionate about learning. They can believe in themselves. They can Aim High.

The Elevator Speech

When my friend asked, what Aim High does, I said something like this:

Aim High is an academically rigorous, fun and engaging four-year summer academic enrichment program that changes the lives of under-served middle school children. Its students learn the academic skills, initiative, self-confidence, determination and character to take control of their own lives and achieve success both in school and in life. Eighty percent of Aim High students graduate high school (compared to 50 percent of their peers) and 80 percent of those graduates go on to post-secondary education. They learn to make positive choices, resist negative influences, value community service and become leaders in and out of the classroom.

I wish I had told him some of these stories.

I’ve engaged with Aim High for the last several years not to support an academic enrichment program but because I’m passionate about changing kids’ lives. I’m passionate about helping kids escape the cycle of poverty that shoves them toward gangs and misery. I’m passionate about helping hopeless kids discover hope. I’m passionate about watching kids lift their chins, and open their hearts, and reach for the stars. I’m passionate about helping kids Aim High.

Spreading Passion

There is no greater calling than to share one’s passion about a meaningful cause. I’ve known for years about my own passion for Aim High. But like so many others at non-profits, I am not always focused on spreading passion. We spend so much time soliciting transactions that we fail forget the big picture — the reason we care, the reason others should care.

It’s seems odd and sad for me to say that. I’ve dutifully signed hundreds of letters and raised thousands of dollars for Aim High. But it took my years to freely express my passion for this cause. In some cases, I shared short stories and enthusiasm about the cause. I delivered a decent speech or two at meetings and events. But in most cases, I conducted quid-pro-quo transactions with my friends and relatives. You help my cause; I’ll help yours. Yes, Aim High benefited from the dollars, and I’ll repeat that I’m grateful to everyone who donated. But for too long, I failed to share my passion.

The world is full of mavens. We stand at the water cooler telling others about the show they should watch, the restaurant they should try, the book they should read, the song they should hear, or the gizmo they should purchase. We do so with intense enthusiasm, as if that’s where our passion lies.

Far fewer of us are mavens for a cause. We dutifully join boards and sign letters and attend events. We give to each other’s causes. But we don’t share passion. In the end, the people we solicit forget the cause as soon as they balance their checkbooks. We’ve collected $50 for the cause, but we haven’t spread the passion.

So this is a call to action to you, Connect with your passion and then spread it. Why are you passionate about your cause? Why should others care.

If you can do this, the money will follow. When you seek transactional donations, you’re constantly fighting with donor prospects’ conflicting priorities economic hardship and other forces that stand between you and the gift. When you spread passion, you create engaged partners who seek ways to give.

- Tom Ruwitch
Generation BIG Co-Founder

Posted in BIG Blog, For BIG Organizations