Springing into Service

There’s nothing sweeter to a parent than realizing that despite middle school angst and teenage traumas, your child – strike that, your young adult – has turned out better than you could possibly have hoped. Because he (or she) has discovered what it means to serve others.

This Spring has gotten off to an especially sweet start for me because my son Harrison, a freshman at the University of California at San Diego, is spending his Spring Break in the highlands of Guatemala helping build a school in a poverty-stricken rural area. Never a party animal, I knew my son wouldn’t spend his week hanging out playing video games, but I hardly expected him to volunteer to get four inoculations and go wield a hammer for seven days.

Yep, I’m a proud mom all right. And given my son’s charitable nature, it’s really made me think about the service I’m doing for others. Am I giving enough? Are my volunteer efforts making a difference? There’s so much we can all do from providing financial aid, to offering volunteer time, to connecting people with the resources they need. But if you’re like me, it’s often happenstance. I confess, I’m an emotional activist, reacting to the earthquake in Haiti by donating to the Red Cross. Or sponsoring a family member (yes, Harrison again) in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. Or, sometimes, just by giving money to a homeless person on the street.

But I think it’s high time I made my efforts, humble as they are, less happenstance and more intentional. So, in Harrison’s honor, I’m going to do what he’s been bugging me to do since he was thirteen. I’m going to launch my LIBBY CARES campaign and I’m asking for your advice.

Many of you are far more strategic about service and philanthropy than I am and I really need your help. Please comment on this blog and let me know how I can best go about institutionalizing my efforts at making a difference. Is it by continuing to contribute to one-off to events and organizations? Is it by aligning with a non-profit where I can become a strategic advisor on branding and communications? Or is by rallying you to help me with specific efforts, like the T-shirt drive we did for an orphanage in Kenya?

Please let me know your thoughts because, well, I really do care. Especially about causes that affect women and children, education and the mentally ill. Let me know what you’re doing in your life to make the world a better place. And how I can most powerfully spring into service for others. Many thanks in advance for your service!

Thanks again to Angie Horejsi for her beautiful photo!

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LibbyGill

Thanks so much, Bill and Lisa, for your comments. I really want to be thoughtful about my approach. Both of you have great ideas that I will definitely take into consideration!
Bill Browning

Libby for years I did the one-off thing for years and many organizations couldn't survive without that level of participation.

About four years ago I had the opportunity to help a local non-profit build and develop an outreach program that addressed health and wellness issues for older, underserved adults.

I started in a small church with 15 participants and in the next three years trained 42 facilitators, enrolled 24 community partners and reached over 4000 seniors.

It was a blast and they touched my life. I turned the program over because it was time so I'm looking for ways to strategically make an impact again.

For me it's about connection in all that I do. My thoughts (since you asked). Pay attention to your inklings, test and experiment, and listen to your heart. If I were going to take a guess, I'd say not the first option you gave, but some combination of the latter two.
lisarodriguez

Hi Libby - I applaud you for your mindset and willingness to help others. I am planning a membership website, or a profitable community launch for the beginning of April and one of the ways I am going to market the memberships are via affliate marketing - but the philanthopic twist will be that a portion of everyone's monthly membership will go to a different charity each month. Its my way of giving back and offering others the opportunity to do the same. Maybe you could do something similar where you offer a membership resources, tips, etc in return for a recurring membership where a portion of that money goes to your favority charity? If you would like to talk further, please reach out! Best of luck to you!
Bill Browning

Great idea Lisa. I think I'll try that as well.

"Capture the mindshare and the market share will follow."

Mar22