Folly #39: Ripple Effect
Margaret Mead's small group started with just one.
A New Year marks new beginnings. In 2024 I’m tackling a question that has always felt hard to answer.
What action can I take – as one person – that will really make any difference?
This past year I was intentional in sparking conversations about community involvement. I wanted to learn from others about local needs – and solutions. I’m curious about friends and neighbors’ passions and sense of purpose. Many of these conversations tackled really big issues like poverty, housing, climate change, politics. And most end with a silent thud. Of despair or futility. Neither is helpful.
Even as a fundraiser, I tire of “donate” being the answer. Surely we can be more creative. And hopeful.
Where to Start the Ripple?
Big things start small, so here are my small intentions:
Educate myself about issues.
Have difficult conversations involving contrary views. (I’m really enjoying The Socratic Method: A Practitioner’s Handbook to guide me in these efforts.)
Volunteer.
Vote.
Give. (I’d love to hear how our resources informed your own year end giving.)
I heard despair from many people last year. Yet Margaret Mead’s words endure:
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Doesn’t that small group start with just one?
One Person Doing Simple Things
Humor me. Let’s assume small things add up. Here are some of mine in 2023:
I exercised purchasing power. I spent with my values. There’s too much stuff made at cheap prices that can’t possibly support living wages, so I choose to buy clothes at consignment shops, and household items on FB Marketplace and NextDoor. I closed my Amazon account in 2021 and shop at local retailers, buy books at Abe, Better World Books or WOB, and support PBS, which gives access to many Prime shows.
I used less plastic. Leftovers go in glass containers. Laundry, dish soap and cleaners come in tablets, sheets or gel packs. Shampoo comes in a bar that foams up nicely. Water goes from the tap into reusable bottles. (Can we just STOP buying water in disposable plastic bottles? The cost is more per ounce than gasoline, and the waste…)
These are products I use – I hope you’ll share yours in a comment below.
I gave more money. (If you’re not doing this, I’m curious what brings you to the Follies. Do tell in the comments!) I’d like to make them recurring, monthly gifts instead of annual donations. And this year my partner and I are exploring a donor advised fund at our local community foundation to make more gifts together.
I gave my time. I served on two boards this year: I deeply believe in the work of Development Executives Roundtable and the Marin City Health & Wellness Center.
I give my expertise. I’ve shifted my consulting work to serve small nonprofits with no paid development staff, and am trying to offer more no-cost and low-cost fundraising resources to help them build sustainable revenue. We just added a team member to create more – and better – free fundraising videos and downloadable tools.
So What’s New in 2024?
After my yearend gifts, I sent personal emails offering to be of service to the nonprofits where I donated. That used to sound scary – I mean, who knows what someone may ask?!? – but now I see it as an opportunity to create a mutual agreement that might be terrific for us both. And to assist by sharing something that’s easy for me as a fundraiser, but may not be for them as small-staffed nonprofits. And it will only happen if they think it’s useful.
This must sound really basic. But a lot of what I share in the Follies is. Just ordinary tales of trying to be better at doing good.