In honor of #GivingTuesday, today’s question is:
How can I combine my interest in the community with my desire to connect with others more effectively?
Today is #GivingTuesday, a relatively new “holiday” intended as a means of counter-balancing the consumerism associated with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday in order to support community endeavors. From a networking perspective, I think it presents a wonderful opportunity to support the causes you care about while connecting to and interacting with people who share your passion for the community.
There are, of course, many ways to get involved, here are a few of my favorites:
- Volunteer your time. You can make a difference for others, interact with like-minded people and get that all over great feeling of personal fulfillment by contributing time to an organization that you love. Care deeply for your pooch? Spend some time at your local animal shelter. Want to share your appreciation and admiration with our military servicemen and women? Write a few “thank you” notes to send to our troops overseas. Feel like doing something to assist those less fortunate in our community? Put together some “Blessing Bags” for the homeless. And, by the way, don’t do these activities alone. Take your partner or spouse, your kids, your friends, your work colleagues… whoever! It’s fun to work on these types of projects with others and it’s a chance to show one another what you’re all about!
- Talk it up. Today is a great day to take to social media and tell the world about the causes and organizations that you care about. Share why they are important to you and how involvement manifests itself in your life.
- Donate money. Even if you don’t have time to give or a chance to spread the word about the great work of your favorite philanthropies, you can participate by contributing cash or stock which will go far to help those organizations continue to advance their missions and perform the important work that they do every day. The amount is unimportant… that it comes from your heart is what counts.
In case you’re wondering, my own focus today will be on a project very near and dear to my heart called KC Common Good which I have been working on for the past year in conjunction with one of my very favorite not-for-profits organizations, American Public Square. The project is designed to convene people and organizations who are working to reduce violence in Kansas City while providing hope and access to opportunity to all 2 million+ citizens of the greater metropolitan area. I will also be attending the 2019 kick-off press conference for another very special, important organization in my life called SevenDays. Check ‘em out!
How will you participate in #GivingTuesday? Please take a moment to tell us about it at CoffeeLunchCoffee.com.