Keeping Integrity for the Cause

They seem to be everywhere these days, street teams supporting a cause and inviting passer-byers to donate.

First of all, I want to acknowledge every one of them. To put it all on the line and invite strangers on the street into a conversation is no easy task. Many of them I have encountered handle it with humbleness and professionalism. So kudos!

Now let’s face it, I’m sure these charities receive a ton of donations through this process and let me be clear this post is to explore the many times it doesn’t work, why I believe that is, and suggestions for moving forward. If you’re a charity reading this, I hope it provides some great insight for you.

Today I ran into someone who totally started off our encounter with high energy and a smile. It was great! I admitted I usually listen with a ‘predjudice’ ear for these things, so I committed to listening with an open ear. As she explained the works of the charity I totally got it. Helping children while simultaneously helping communities help themselves. Something I can certainly resonate with.

So let’s look at the issue…

Now in reality, there is only so much one can commit. With the plethora of charities that exist, some resonate more than others.

For me, I wasn’t ready to commit on the spot to the cause. Nothing against it, just my commitments laid in other overseas development programs. As I explained this her energy began to change. It fell. Completely understandable (seeing as she prob. had a lot of interactions that day, and I’m sure others were a similar result).

She had reached a point of failure in our conversation, i.e. she didn’t get the result she wanted. If she was truly passionate and committed to the cause, she would not let her energy down nor allow our relationship to break. In order for anything in life to take shape it begins with having integrity (the physics perspective, i.e. either it’s working or isn’t working). Integrity creates workability, workability creates results.

Had she truly been passionate about the cause she would of recognized asking me to fill in a form for the $1/day donation was not working, and would of taken other approaches to keep integrity between us (again the only way to get the result intended things need to be in working order). Integrity is dependent on how important something is to you. While I’m sure the cause she was supporting meant a lot to her, it was easy to identify this was still just a job. Again nothing wrong or right in this, just the realistic facts of what worked and didn’t work.

Suggestions to these charities…

The interaction these teams have with people are massive! At the very least give someone something to walk away with. I left empty handed with no real idea of how to contribute if I changed my mind. For those working are truly passionate about the cause they should be willing to connect with that stranger on social media, again they would be so passionate that they would do whatever it took to maintain the integrity in the relationship with a hope that someday down the line the result of donation would occur. Find creative ways to keep the integrity there. Expecting someone to sign up to donate on the spot isn’t always going to work, and their needs to be other alternatives so the interaction isn’t a waste.