I came across a great version of the venerable poem today. It’s in a draft white paper on the Sea Change Strategies website entitled “A Procrastinator’s Guide to Year-End Fundraising.” The audience for the paper is fundraisers - those responsible for parting donors from their money. The poem, however, highlights one of the biggest problems in charitable giving today — too many choices, too little information, and no confidence on how to proceed. The result is missed opportunities. At Givvy.com, we are working on a solution to this issue that will engage and empower donors, and ultimately change the way we manage our charities in the future.
We’re still working on the site, but for now here is food for thought…
A Cautionary Note
(c) Sea Change Strategies
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, and all through the House
Grownups were surfing and clicking their mouse
The kids were asleep and the stockings were loaded
With ipods and Wiis and things sugar-coated
And now it was time to think of some others
The poor, disenfranchised, sons, daughters and mothers
Worthy cause emails came in by the scores
Making the case for donations and more
Which one to choose, and what to do then
Join, donate, or give – oh how much and when?
But the sites were a mess and the forms were a tangle
The wanna-be donors’ nerves came a-jangle
It was too much confusion and they were so tired,
You’d think it would be easier to make charity wired
Donate tomorrow, they said to themself
Was enough work today to be Santa’s elf
And so off to bed, the causes can wait
If it had only been easier to give or donate.
Filed under: Givving is Broken | Tagged: Giving Challenges, Problems
