Giving To Impress vs. Giving To Assist
December 9, 2007 | In Making A Diff. Lifestyle |
Table of contents for Personal Branding
- What Is A Personal Brand?
- Product vs. Brand
- Giving To Impress vs. Giving To Assist
- The Mirror Test
What does it mean to you to give to a cause? Does it mean donating money? Does it mean donating time? Does it mean selling a product, like cookies or pizza, for a fund raiser? How about teaching others or gathering others to work together? Giving to a cause can be done in any number of ways, many of which do not require that we personally give money.
To me, part of being an activist is giving from my heart, not my wallet. True, giving with passion is part of it, but that just provides the motivation, not the specifics of the action. The specifics of my giving are all those little things that I do every day because they contribute to a bigger whole. I recycle, try to remember to turn out the lights when I leave a room, and open the blinds to let the sun heat up a room instead of kicking up the heater. I do these things because they feel right to me.
It’s just my personal opinion of course, but I think there are too many folks who give to impress rather than to assist. For several years, Bill Gates sat on millions of dollars and didn’t give at all. I hear he’s donating lots of money now, but I couldn’t tell you to what. On the other hand, for years Angelina Jolie has been working for humanitarian causes. She’s spent money, yes, but more than that, she put her heart into the fight and made her actions personal. She’s personally traveled overseas to “get her hands dirty.” She’s adopted children. Bill started a foundation. Not that I think what Bill Gates has done is bad - far from it. The point I’m trying to make is that Bill Gates is giving because he can, but Angelina Jolie is giving because she wants to. Would Bill Gates still give if he made under $100,000 a year? Maybe. Would Angelina Jolie? Definitely. What about you?
Putting aside the celebrity example, let me give an example from my own life. A few years ago, I worked for a company that held a 50/50 raffle around the holidays to support the Ronald McDonald House. (50% of the funds go to the cause, 50% go to the winner of the drawing.) They had a tough time selling tickets. At the annual Holiday Party, they sold the last of the tickets just before the drawing by emphasizing the drawing as a way to win some money, not as a way to support the Ronald McDonald House. Yeah, ticket buyers supported the cause, but many of them just bought a ticket cause they wanted to win the prize. Giving to impress in my book.
On the other hand, although we don’t have extra funds to give, my husband has committed to baking a casserole for a local soup kitchen as part of the church’s community outreach program. Now, he loves to cook, so this is especially relevant. We don’t have the money to give, but instead of not giving at all, he is giving from the heart. Not only is he giving of his time and energy to support the community, but he’ll have fun at the same time. Better all around than just donating money. This is giving to assist.
Maybe you don’t see the difference that clearly. After all, giving is still giving right? True, but giving from the heart creates a more solid activist personal brand. But what if the difference still isn’t that clear? What if you’re not sure if you’re giving from the heart? The easiest way to judge, in my opinion, is to ask: would you still continue to do the work, the giving, anonymously? If the answer to that question is yes - then you are giving from the heart.
I want my personal brand to be built on actions from the heart, not my wallet. Don’t you want the same?
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