The Power of Community

Hello everyone,

I hope you are enjoying the fall weather.  We just returned from a week in Florida. We had a great time, and I had the chance to observe the “seasonal” community of snow birds in the area where we vacation.  It was encouraging to see how connected many of these individuals are, even though many are only there for a few months.  It made me reflect on and appreciate our sense of community.  It reminded me of what we see in the Nonprofit field.  How the strongest organizations share such a bonded social web of relationships with their donors and their volunteers, who are ultimately their advocates.  I see that with my family and our personal relationships.  It is even more powerful when we can tap into that at an organizational level.  I have taught about this a great deal as it relates to philanthropy, but it is really cultural in an organization, which then makes it personal.    

We know that donors, who are aware that there are others in community with them, give more money.  We know that volunteers who do the same also give more time.  It only makes sense that when we build that sense of community, our ability to empower advocates also grows.  We move from doing good to creating a bonded, sustainable movement for a cause.  We build a structure that cannot be torn down because it is held by something stronger than any one individual.  It is held up by the sense of common shared value, which is community relationships around our passion, vision, and values.  Below are two items of interest for you from some recent studies:

• Members of social networks, who see that others in their network are volunteering and giving, causes them to want to do more of the same.  This is Christakis, "The Social Contagion of Generosity."  

• Charities have long known that asking for contributions dramatically increases the generosity in donors.  It now appears that the “power of asking” comes from its heightening empathy between donors and recipients.  This is Andreoni, "The Inherent Sociality of Giving."

What does this say? It says that each time we invite someone to give, we grow them in intimacy within our community and we increase their empathy to those we serve.  It says that the more we allow those in our community of donors and volunteers to be known and shared, the more others will want to increase in their giving relationship with us.  It also says that we are impacting people beyond their relationship to us in our organization, but also influencing how they relate to the world around them.  Are you in community with those who serve with you? Do they feel they are in community with you? Just things to ponder personally. 

For this month, I ask you to reflect on the following for you organization: 
•    What are you doing to increase the sense of community within your donors and volunteers?  
•    How are you increasing the empathy with those who care about you and for those together you care for?  
•    Start at the heart, how are you catalyzing that sense of community within your staff, within your board, your closest donors and volunteers?
 
I believe the drive of real community can be transformational at a personal and organizational level, but that is just my humble perspective.

Below, I have included a great article on building community together.  It is a few years old, but I believe it is very powerful.  

Warmly,
Jamie