Recently I was invited by my friend, Mike Kim, a business strategy and branding specialist - to speak at a gathering of jet-powered entrepreneurs ata gathering in Charleston, SC. It was a great opportunity for myself, as a social entrepreneur to share about the work of the Ugandan Water Project and invite others to explore their philanthropic impact in the world with the same rigor and passion they use to build their businesses.
I left the group with 5 powerful questions to ask themselves when looking at a potential partnership with an organization:
What is the cause
Does it matter (to me)?
What is the big goal?
How are they measuring progress to that goal?
How are they doing with that progress?
The closing invitation at this talk was for those who suspect they might love UWP's mission or for those who are ready for the "workout" of learning how to get involved with a cause . . . take a first step by committing something - cash, skills, connections...something that puts skin in the game.
As with so many things in life, we don't learn fully until we are invested.