The Opportunity to Give
Last week I had the opportunity to meet with an amazing group of Spanish-speaking workers at a company in Shelbyville. I had been told in the past that these workers were not particularly interested in our Metro United Way campaign and would likely give nothing, especially given the minimum wage salaries that many of them earned. I had a plan though. I had a hunch that perhaps many of them simply did not understand what Metro United Way was all about- maybe they didn’t understand how their lives are impacted by Metro United Way’s work.
So the night before, I wrote up some talking points in Spanish. I decided I wasn’t going to shield these people from the truth about the dire situation the campaign is in this year as a result of the struggling economy, and I wasn’t going to assume that they weren’t interested or able to give. I thought about some of the services that their own families may use or need such as the Mercy Medical Clinic and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites. Then the next morning I stopped at the Walgreens in town and bought two large packs of ink pens. I was determined to make sure that every person in the room that morning 1) understood the need, and 2) had the opportunity to do something about it.
When I arrived that morning I was told I had exactly 15 minutes to talk with the workers. Then I saw the thirty or so faces staring back at me and I thought for a moment that this might be a tough crowd. I think they were a little surprised, however, when I greeted them with “Buenos dias,” and continued my talk in Spanish. Gradually, I started to see more people turn their chairs to face me, and I saw heads nodding and heard voices responding to my questions. This was a tremendous relief to me for two reasons: first, it meant they comprehended my rather rusty Spanish, and secondly, it meant I was saying something that was resonating with them.
When I was finished talking I gave a pen to every individual in that room and offered to stick around for about 10 minutes afterwards to answer questions and collect pledge forms from those who chose to act now. To my delight the majority of the individuals in the room that morning returned a pledge form to me before I left. To my surprise, I flipped though the pledge forms and was astonished and proud to see that the majority of those forms had the “Care Share” box checked! In less than 30 minutes, we had raised nearly $2000.00 towards the campaign from people in the community who had never given before.
This experience reaffirmed my belief that everyone has something to offer, and most will choose to act if simply given the opportunity to hear and understand our message.
I have been thinking a lot about the upcoming annual campaign in our community. It is what I do…think, plan, connect, encourage, communicate, review, explore, inquire, inspire, discuss and consider what will make a difference this year in someone’s workplace campaign. What is important to an individual donor? How can I demonstrate appreciation for the good works made possible by our Metro United Way corporate partners, donors and volunteers? I am also leaning into my work and trying to look at things a little bit differently this year. Quite frankly we must. You have heard it before right? If you continue to do things the same as in the past and you continue to get the same results then why does it surprise you?