In Your Service
On a plane trip to the UK today, I shared an aisle with an interesting woman. S identified herself as a "spiritual being" who was homeless, profession-less, and unmarried. She appeared to be in her mid-50s and as we made small talk about our lives, what she does (financially) to get by came up. I've been sensitive to this before, so I asked her, how she supported herself, given that she stated no profession.
She hinted at singing and being and how she was in people's service and the universe took care of her. She felt that by having small conversations with strangers she was assisting the world as a whole.
Okay, we can all see the holes in her logic, but it got me thinking about the idea of service. How service is the purpose of philanthropy, it is what we as humans feel compelled to do. We want to be of service to a cause, an idea, a person. In the act of caring for someone/something else, one becomes a better person.
I wonder if we sometimes forget this in corporate philanthropy? That first and foremost, people are the ones making the decision to give to us, marketing benefits are usually secondary. Individuals need to be (and individuals always make the decision) assured they are of service to something they find valuable.
So, how do we do that? Through a sense of belonging. In my last position at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (where I was successful at incrementally upselling returning sponsors) it was important to keep up on Asian and Asian American cinema. If I ran into any of the sponsors out at events I could talk to them about the current state of cinema. Being inclusive of their opinions - this created an idea of the larger film community and our respective parts in it. "Industry" sometimes forget that supporters are as important as makers and doers, especially in film.
My background on Asian artifacts is limited, so what idea do I sell now? Do I delve into the Asian art world or talk about what I know of the culture(s) at large?
That depends, I haven't had enough exposure with AAM patrons to assess where they see the linkages are, but I'm looking forward to expanding the Museum's corporate base by nurturing the relationships with corporate donors who want to be of service. Because, I want to be of service as well.
She hinted at singing and being and how she was in people's service and the universe took care of her. She felt that by having small conversations with strangers she was assisting the world as a whole.
Okay, we can all see the holes in her logic, but it got me thinking about the idea of service. How service is the purpose of philanthropy, it is what we as humans feel compelled to do. We want to be of service to a cause, an idea, a person. In the act of caring for someone/something else, one becomes a better person.
I wonder if we sometimes forget this in corporate philanthropy? That first and foremost, people are the ones making the decision to give to us, marketing benefits are usually secondary. Individuals need to be (and individuals always make the decision) assured they are of service to something they find valuable.
So, how do we do that? Through a sense of belonging. In my last position at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (where I was successful at incrementally upselling returning sponsors) it was important to keep up on Asian and Asian American cinema. If I ran into any of the sponsors out at events I could talk to them about the current state of cinema. Being inclusive of their opinions - this created an idea of the larger film community and our respective parts in it. "Industry" sometimes forget that supporters are as important as makers and doers, especially in film.
My background on Asian artifacts is limited, so what idea do I sell now? Do I delve into the Asian art world or talk about what I know of the culture(s) at large?
That depends, I haven't had enough exposure with AAM patrons to assess where they see the linkages are, but I'm looking forward to expanding the Museum's corporate base by nurturing the relationships with corporate donors who want to be of service. Because, I want to be of service as well.
posted by Mai at 10:41 PM
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