Donor Bonding
The Power of Community
Aug/03/09 10:25 AM
By Barry McLeish
My sister and her daughter are cancer survivors. They partook last weekend in a relay for life for cancer research, support, and survivors. All of that is pretty normal. I am guessing hundreds of these types of events occur across the country every year.
What was interesting about this event was its magnitude. Originating in a city of about 4000 residents, there were more than 100 teams involved, each team with 3 or 4 members, each team procuring pledges for their team members, and each member taking the time to be a part of the rally, some taking time from work, all being involved in ways that were meaningful to them.
The other interesting part was the weekend the events took place. Not only were there twice as many teams as last year’s event, there were also three times as many people who pledged. The night of the 24 hour event it rained all night. Driving rain with thunder and lightening. I casually asked my sister if the event had been cancelled – her look back at me almost took my head off.
“We don’t quit just because of weather.”
She and her daughter and her husband walked from 3:00am until 6:00am. She told me there were about 200 people there walking plus those urging them on. There were also volunteers making breakfast, serving coffee, and some were simply there talking to each other.
All of this added up to a type of community that was built around a compelling reason for the hundreds that were there.
Are you a part of a cause that can command this type of involvement, volunteerism, and loyalty? If you are, then you should leverage it the way the organizers of this event did within their community?
And if you are not, then you should begin looking for the types of common emotional denominators that are within your cause that would allow you and your associates to command this type of involvement, loyalty, and commitment and to create your own type of community.
My sister and her daughter are cancer survivors. They partook last weekend in a relay for life for cancer research, support, and survivors. All of that is pretty normal. I am guessing hundreds of these types of events occur across the country every year.
What was interesting about this event was its magnitude. Originating in a city of about 4000 residents, there were more than 100 teams involved, each team with 3 or 4 members, each team procuring pledges for their team members, and each member taking the time to be a part of the rally, some taking time from work, all being involved in ways that were meaningful to them.
The other interesting part was the weekend the events took place. Not only were there twice as many teams as last year’s event, there were also three times as many people who pledged. The night of the 24 hour event it rained all night. Driving rain with thunder and lightening. I casually asked my sister if the event had been cancelled – her look back at me almost took my head off.
“We don’t quit just because of weather.”
She and her daughter and her husband walked from 3:00am until 6:00am. She told me there were about 200 people there walking plus those urging them on. There were also volunteers making breakfast, serving coffee, and some were simply there talking to each other.
All of this added up to a type of community that was built around a compelling reason for the hundreds that were there.
Are you a part of a cause that can command this type of involvement, volunteerism, and loyalty? If you are, then you should leverage it the way the organizers of this event did within their community?
And if you are not, then you should begin looking for the types of common emotional denominators that are within your cause that would allow you and your associates to command this type of involvement, loyalty, and commitment and to create your own type of community.
0 Comments