And Just a Few More Thoughts on Giving Back 

Concentrate your efforts. You can make a real difference if you put your thoughts and efforts behind one or two causes. When you spread your time and money over too many causes or issues, you are less likely to make an impact. Find something you are excited to support and bring your passion to it.

Giving money can be hugely helpful, but I have found that the biggest impact I can have on an organization is to give my time. Using your business and or creative skills can lead to a paradigm shift for a hospital, university, or any kind of not-for-profit group. When a tough situation has arisen at an organization where I have real impact, I have found myself on the phone or in meetings for weeks on end. But then I have come away knowing that I helped a place for which I have great passion weather a really rough time, and that I can help direct and protect its future. When people think of philanthropy, they often think of giving money as the priority. I would urge you to find something you love and also give your time.

Get your kids involved. Find a charitable project or a cause that excites everyone. Talk about it. There are thousands of great choices, and all of them need help. It is enlightening, rewarding, and fun when your family commits to do something together. Start with youngsters and keep the flames growing.

Find a workplace that matches your values. Many corporations believe in giving back, and some of them do so in a huge way. Research the place where you want to work. Most organizations are proud of their philanthropic efforts, and many even publish an annual report on their community service. Do your homework.

In the chapter on business, I talk a lot about how serving the community gives great payback to a business. When you engage the hearts and minds of the people who work for your company, they become a more enthusiastic part of your business overall. You have put your shared values into action.

Great leaders are priceless. Find the best people and support them. Vet their success and then move forward. Also, be aware that leaders of organizations sometimes change. When a strong leader of a group you support moves elsewhere, make sure you understand the values and goals of the new leader. Don’t assume all will be as it always was. We loved the president of a local Catholic high school and, frankly, supported this group financially because of him. The board decided to replace him, and there went our interest in the organization. He was a person who accomplished a great deal. We loved that. The board was way more conservative and didn’t want anything to change. Unfortunately, we had to find out ourselves that the president had been asked to leave. He had been told by the board that if he contacted any donors his severance package would be reduced significantly. Unfortunate but true.

A public or private foundation needs to have a clear and concise mission statement that spells out where donors’ money will be focused and why. This is usually common with public foundations, but too often private foundations don’t think strategically about where their money will go. Having a mission does two things: first, it allows you to focus your dollars on causes that have the most meaning to you and that will increase the impact of your dollars; and second, while not as important but a good thing to have in your tool kit, it gives you a valid reason to turn down so many places that are seeking your help but don’t meet the foundation’s mission.

Small gifts can make a huge difference to the right organization. Because our company was the  ͞little guy͟ in the land of giants, we believed in giving seed money to a number of organizations. We wanted to be important to people starting up a new charity or a new program within an existing structure. We wanted our limited dollars to go farther and be the funds that would help groups get started. We were hugely important to these organizations, and the money given was not a huge amount. Sometimes a couple thousand dollars can start a new charity or bring life to a new program. Creating something new can be even more rewarding.

Be careful of noisy members on charity boards. It is amazing to me how critical people can be of others’ efforts when on a board, especially given that these noisy board members seldom do any of the real work. I have seen this happen often with charity events. Board members have strong opinions of what works and what doesn’t, and how to improve all aspects of an event. But when you want their time, they disappear. I have found it is better to work with the board members who give their time as well as their opinions. That is when real work gets done. The same holds true for committee work and board meetings. If you want to make an impact, get to know the people who truly put in the time to make a difference.

Always check the amount of administrative funds used by the charity. The lower the number, usually the better. But go beyond the numbers. A new charity will have higher administrative costs than a well-established one, as they have not yet maximized their fund-raising capabilities, and they have the initial costs of building infrastructure. To do a good job you need good people. Usually, the more talented people cost more, and the administrative costs increase. So be careful. What you want is a well-run organization that has strong people and measures the results of their efforts—so the numbers alone do not always tell the whole story.

Most people give money and restrict its use for a specific purpose. That is hugely beneficial to an organization, but unrestricted funds are critical too. You may want to give consideration to an unrestricted gift; don’t be surprised if it gets an even bigger acknowledgment than that wonderful restricted gift you gave a few years ago.

If you want to change the trajectory of your business results, you can’t think in one- or two-percent increments. You need to have a goal that necessitates massive change on all fronts. I would urge you to think the same way when you are working with a charity. Define the objective, be laser focused, and GO for significant change. So, if you want to increase the number of free meals provided to those in need, and you are serving eight thousand meals now, what would you have to do to feed sixteen thousand? What could we do to make that happen? With a change in thinking that might just be possible. And if you fail, maybe you will only serve ten thousand meals. That is a whole lot more than before, and you have made a real impact. When you are focused, you can think big and plot your growth path.

On another note, I have also found that all too many not-for-profit organizations don’t know what they are selling. They try to sell the grocery store instead of bananas. In other words, it is impossible to help them brand their organization, and create effective selling messages (read that as brochures, print ads, a website, or public service TV messages) because frankly, they are trying to do too many things at once, and they have not focused. You need to be able to tell the world in fifteen words or less exactly what you do. And once you have defined that, ask yourself: Is that really possible? Is there a way to measure it? The other thing I have found is that many charities have wide-ranging goals that frankly are not achievable. Example: our mission is to eliminate poverty in Chicago. Fantastic goal, but how will your organization DO that? Is it even possible? Do you sound out of touch with such a message? Perhaps a way to better define your goal would be to say something more like: in the next year, we will reduce the number of Chicago families living under the poverty level by 10 percent.

The biggest lesson? Find your passion and pursue it. One person can make an incredible difference. Let that person be you!