May 2009 - Posts
"We have to have a mission. We have to have a goal. And we have to have a purpose. If we put our heads and hearts together, we can make a difference."
So said Enid Borden, CEO of the Meals on Wheels Association of America, speaking this morning at Blackbaud's quarterly company meeting. She was our guest today, sharing her thoughts as a customer and as a nonprofit leader trying to work herself "out of a job." To do that, she'd need to eradicate hunger among this nation's seniors. The good news is that she -- and her fine organization -- are doing so much good, serving more than 1 million meals a day. The bad news is, there are about 2 million more people who still go hungry.
The statistics are staggering, so much so that it's clear much work needs to be done before Enid can step back and say she's finished championing this cause, which she so eloquently does. According to data Enid shared, in 2000, there were more than 35 million people in the U.S. who were age 65 or older. Within 30 years, that number will more than double, to 71 million. And the number of people aged 80 and above will also more than double. In addition to seeing healthcare costs, which are much higher for those over 65, soar, we'll also see the number of hungry seniors grow to numbers I can't comprehend...or maybe don't want to.
Depressed? Sad? Horrified? We should be. It's an awful state of affairs, but on the plus side, one that -- as Enid said today -- has a cure. We know what to do, we just need to do it. We can make sure that our neighbors, our grandparents, our community members ("the people who raised us, nourished us, fed us") who aren't as mobile and might not have the support systems they need, get fed. We can also reach out and help the Meals on Wheels Association in our area expand what they do.
If senior hunger isn't the cause that hits you in the gut and makes you say "I have to do something about this," then find something else. Take something on that matters to you...and make a difference.
Enid knows what her mission is...to work herself out of a job. What's yours?
One of the ways I give back to the wonderful industry I work in is to help key organizations develop and deliver educational opportunities for nonprofit professionals. One such organization is the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the AMA Foundation, which has as a part of its mission to help nonprofits better market themselves.
I had the pleasure of serving as the chair of the 2008 AMA Nonprofit Marketing Conference, combining my past life in event marketing with a passion for nonprofits. I got involved because I wanted to do my part to invest in a community made up of people who all worked, in some way, with nonprofit marketing.
This year, I have the honor of serving on the advisory council for the event and following the wise guidance of Cynthia Round, this year's conference chair and the EVP of Brand Leadership for the United Way of America. Working with Cynthia is, well, an honor. There's really no other word for it. She's smart, savvy and knows her stuff, which you'd expect given that she is responsible for the stewardship of the United Way brand around the world.
Cynthia is one of a number of nonprofit marketing visionaries who jumped the fence from the forprofit world (she worked at Proctor & Gamble and Ogilvy & Mather). She and others are devoting time, energy and expertise to bringing valuable content to those interested in developing as marketers within their own organizations.
This year's conference will be in Chicago, a change from years past when it was in Washington, DC. The theme is Thriving in Times of Change and offers content in three areas -- Changing Audience (multi-generational marketing); Changing Channels (interactive marketing and social media); and Changing Economy (doing more with less).
The conference kicks off on July 15th with a session called "Lessons of Victory: How to Make Online Campaigning Work for Your Organization." The speaker is Thomas Gensemer, managing partner of Blue State Digital, the firm that orchestrated President Obama's online marketing and issue advocacy campaign. Other speakers include Joe Green, the founder of Causes (a success story that begin on Facebook) and Jay Aldous, the 2008 AMA Nonprofit Marketer of the Year for his work at the US Fund for UNICEF. Finally, and most importantly, conference attendees will get a chance to put what they are learning into action in some hands-on sessions.
I really enjoy and value the work that is being done to ensure this event is top notch. Under Cynthia's leadership, it's sure to be great. I'll be there and hope to see you there, too.
So, we're a little late in celebrating National Volunteer Week (it actually took place at the end of April), but better late than never.
For those of you who follow this blog, you already know that we were busy with Green Week and our first-ever Green Fair. It was great (thanks for asking), and kudos to Greenbaud and Team Blackbaud for all they did to raise awareness about the environment and how we can do our part.
Today, we circled back to volunteerism, hosting our annual Volunteer Fair in the atrium of our headquarters on Daniel Island. Representatives from more than 35 nonprofits joined us from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to share information about their organizations and encourage Blackbaud employees to volunteer. We had people here from a wide variety of nonprofits, including Habitat for Humanity, the Charleston Animal Society (from whom my husband just adopted a wonderful year-old cat named Thomas), the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry, Special Olympics of South Carolina, HALOS, Crisis Ministries, the Gibbes Museum of Art, Meeting Street Academy, East Cooper Community Outreach, Trident Literacy Association and so on.
I look forward to the Volunteer Fair each year because it's an opportunity to see so many great organizations all in one place, to catch up with what they're doing and to help them meet Blackbaud employees with an interest in giving back. You already know that we believe that service to others makes the world a better place. This fair is about taking that value -- and the passion our employees have for specific kinds of organizations or causes -- and helping create a match, of sorts, for their interests.
It's our hope that the employees who expressed interested in volunteering will truly find a home, finding a place where their passions match the cause and they can make a difference. Once they do that, we hope they'll apply for a Reward Your Passion grant ($500 donation made to an organization in honor of the employee's volunteer service).
A big thank you to Sally Ehrenfried, our community relations manager, for hosting the fair, and to all those who attended from within the community and Blackbaud. Volunteerism rocks. Those of you who do it know what I'm talking about.