Music for a Winter Evening

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addiction, Alberta, Calgary, Calgary Dream Centre, Canada, caring, Charity, Christmas, community, compassion, Diana Schwenk, generosity, Homelessness, Hump Day Chronicles, living in the moment, mission, Music for a Winter Evening, Philanthropy, Relationships

The most effective and satisfying investment you will ever make is to invest in the lives of people…

Last night I went to the 14th Annual Music for a Winter Evening at the EPCOR Centre – a beautiful, traditional Christmas concert that set the mood for this ‘most wonderful time of the year.’

Hosted by Calgary’s very own beloved Darrel Janz with performances by Corpus Christi Male Chorale and special guest Tenore, it was a magical evening; setting the stage for the Christmas season. All proceeds from the concert and the Room for Hope Campaign benefit the Calgary Dream Centre in their work to help men break the cycles of addictions and homelessness.

During the evening, Luke, a client of the Calgary Dream Centre, along with his mom, took the stage and shared his moving story about struggling with addictions and overcoming them through the Dream Centre’s 49-day treatment program. I am so proud of Luke and admire his beautiful mom for standing by him; her love never allowing her to give up on her son.

This beautiful and inspiring evening would not have happened without the faith in the treatment program, and financial backing of, Legacy Kitchens and Dennis Plintz & Associates with Sotheby’s International Realty Canada.

Thank you to the brave men who work hard to change their lives, the inspiring performers, the above-mentioned sponsors and to all those who bought tickets and donated toward this campaign. You are making a real difference for men like Luke.

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

What are you doing to get into the holiday mood?

 

The Other Bottom Line

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community, Community engagement, Diana Schwenk, diversity, donors, gifts, health, Hump Day Chronicles, inspiration, leadership, mission, motivation, non-profit, organizations, passion, Philanthropy, Philosophy, resources, talents, vision, volunteers

The Other Bottom Line  is the name of a blog I hope to introduce to you soon. The name is based on the premise that money is not an organization’s only bottom line.

I believe that a healthy organization is a group of individuals that work together toward a common vision. In order for an organization to make a real, sustainable impact, it needs to engage its entire community.

A plant fights for life by overcoming all odds and reaching for sunlight through a cement barrier in my parking lot.
In the same way, when a community is engaged and working toward a common purpose, anything is possible.

An organization succeeds when impassioned people motivate others to become engaged by inviting them to participate in fulfilling its mission.

The Other Bottom Line  will be a resource and a place to discuss non-profit workers, those they serve and the communities who are engaged with them.

Below are the beginnings of the foundational pieces for The Other Bottom Line.  Let me know what you think!

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Vision: An engaged community

Mission: building capacity in non-profit organizations by encouraging them to invite like-minded people to become engaged with them.

Philosophy:

When an organization’s community is engaged, heart, soul and mind; the resources to support their mission will follow

When two or more people are passionate about a cause, project, mission, etc., and they work together using and valuing each other’s individual gifts and abilities, you create an engaged community. It makes sense to seek out those with a common heart and vision and employ their gifts toward a common purpose.

There really is no point in chasing after highly skilled people or wealthy donors in the hope that you will be able to convince them your cause is worthy if they don’t share your organization’s passion to fulfill its mission . Why spend your time coercing someone to believe in something that doesn’t interest them?

Rather encourage them to engage in an area that relates to their own passion and move on – after all, philanthropy is bigger than just one cause.

The organization’s mission should apply to everyone; from leadership and front-line workers to volunteers, funders and clients

Most organizations have a mission statement. Often their mission is thought of by staff as applying only to their clients/program users. The mission should apply to everyone.

For example I worked at an organization who looked after homeless people. Their mission statement was to mobilize the church and work with the community to compassionately respond to the needs of the less fortunate.

This mission was relevant for everyone from the board of directors and staff to the clients, volunteers and supporters. All were called upon to empower others to fulfill the organization’s mission.

Achieving sustainability through diversity of talents and funding sources

If every person has the same perspective most of the people are not necessary. It is an amazing thing to behold an organization that employs and values gifts and abilities at all levels from a diverse community made up of people with varying backgrounds and experiences.

Adopt the tested and best practices of others – there’s no need to re-invent the wheel

Non-profits need to, and often do, share with and learn from other organizations. If an organization does something well; it should share it with others. This benefits the greater community.

Keeping it to themselves does not give them an advantage. Being generous with information is its own reward.

And when an organization is diving into new waters, they would do well to talk to those who have been there before while also getting feedback from their engaged community.

It’s not about the organization; it’s about their community

What a shame it is when an organization focusses on its own needs over the needs and desires of its engaged community. ESGEE Musings  illustrates this well in this post that compares the customer service provided by two different airlines.

Too often organizations deem the latest technology or internal processes as more important than the experiences of those who want to be engaged with them.

This can result in their supporting community being unsure of how they can contribute and wondering if they bring any value at all to the organization. If organizations do not endeavor to understand the heart’s desire of their community or honour their contributions, someone who does will scoop them away.

It’s not about the organization. It’s about the community and facilitating a way for people who care, to engage with the organization without overwhelming them with difficult systems.

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

related posts

Dreams, Dragging my butt…

If Momma’s Not Happy…

You want the world to be a better place? Easy Peasy

Tags

Charity, community, compassion, Donation, generosity, kindness, living in the moment, passion, Philanthropy, Soap Box, world issues

In one week and one day I will be 50!

That’s right – I’m a LOVE child

Half a century is nothing to sneeze at – man the things I have seen!

I remember when videos came out and you could rent them for $0.99 each but you also had to rent the VCR for $7.00!

I remember the first microwaves. They were huge with big dials and sounded like airplanes taking off! They really didn’t cook anything much faster than a conventional stove either.

I remember when seat belts came out. I’m not talking about the law to wear them, I’m talking about them actually building cars that had them. The law came later, before that wearing a seat belt was optional.

I remember that first video game – PONG – that thing with lines that represented rackets and you hit this ball back and forth and every time you advanced to the next level the lines got shorter and the ball went faster!

I remember those boat-sized, gas and oil burning, I-should-get-a-medal-for-knowing-how-to-parallel-park that monster of a car with the arm-strong steering and hold the brake down while your leg muscles spasm from the pressure you needed to apply cars.

I remember hand-written notes and getting mail delivered to your house with a stamp on it!

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But I don’t want to talk about that stuff.

Rather, I want to talk about what I’ve learned about people and how we live together on this planet and take responsiblity for each other.

So go get your coffee and get comfortable because I figure a half century has earned me the right to get up on a soap box and tell ya what I think.

Perhaps you don’t know this, but I’m fundraiser.

I think everyone should give. Whether you give time, talent or treasure is not as important as the fact that you give.

I don’t much care what or who you give to, just as long as you do.

If you care about something, if a cause sets you on fire with passion then by all means you should put your money where your mouth is.

There is no, “Gee, I wish someone would do something about that.” Because that someone who could do something about it is YOU.

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Does the fact that some families don’t have enough food irk you? Go donate or volunteer at your local Food Bank!

How about the homeless, how does that sit with you? If you believe everyone should have a home…

wait for it…

donate to an organization that helps the homeless off the streets.

What about diseases? Cancer? Heart Disease? Kidney failure? dementia? MS? Want a cure?

Line yourself up with an organization that is looking for the cure or providing supports to people who are suffering.

Not a fan of charities but want to help people anyway? Budget a certain amount of your income to commit random acts of kindness all year round!

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You can’t solve every issue or every cause – in fact just thinking about all the problems in the world can be overwhelming to the point where you think nothing you do will make a dint.

But You can make a dint.

And if we’re all making dints, the sum of all those dints is huge!

So here comes the challenge. C’mon you must have known I was building up to something, right?

Identify the cause that moves you.

Got it?

And in honour of my birthday donate $50 or whatever you can afford to that cause.

Go ahead it will feel so good, I promise!

If you don’t have money, donate 50 hours of your time.

When you do, would you let me know you’ve done it?

I can’t think of a better Birthday gift than knowing that you have given to your community…

toward something that means a lot to you.

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

You want the world to be a better Place? Easy Peasy.

You’re the Answer

(OK, this is me, getting off my soap box now)

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Diana Schwenk is the Director of Development at Vecova, an organization that exists to ensure that persons with disabilities are valued and integral members of society. If you would like to help us advance our mission by building the capacity of persons with disabilities and enriching communities through leadership, innovation and collaboration, click here to donate.