The importance of goals

Many people care about the state of the world and the plight of others—look at the situation in Haiti as a current example—but are at a loss as to how to help or even how to choose what to focus their energies on. It’s essential for your organization’s voice to be clear and specific about how they can help.

Building awareness to a cause, whilst an important first step, will not necessarily prompt action. You must convince me that I care about something that your organization also cares about. How easy is it for me to get involved?

One event that has been successful in making giving easy is Dining Out For Life. Created in Philadelphia in 1991, this annual event now takes place in 55 cities in Canada and the US with an average of 5 or 6 cities added each year. The idea is simple: on a given day in March go out for breakfast, lunch or dinner at a participating restaurant in your city and a portion of the food proceeds will go to organizations that help people living with HIV/AIDS.

In this instance the call to action is extremely easy to answer: go out to eat. The effort on my part is minimal and in return I get to demonstrate that I’m not as self-centered as my flatmate says I am. I don’t need to know what the organizations will do specifically with the money raised. All I need to know is that it is that easy for me to be a part of helping people with HIV/AIDS.

What does your organization need to have happen right now to further its efforts? Be specific about the exact result you want to achieve and, knowing your audience, work back to see what the call to action needs to be to get results.