The More Mentality

Doing more with less is a financial construct. One which community benefit organizations feel backed into as they work to manage within an increasingly difficult economic climate. Ironically, it runs against our DNA. It is a construct we have allowed others to define us by.

We work to build a system on infusion. By identifying what we believe a better world is, we rally our talent to find the resources necessary to make the change possible. And we deploy those resources in pursuit of betterness.

Virtually every community benefit organization came into being with a More Mentality. They started with little and found those who had capacity to give (usually time, talent, and goods, NOT MONEY); engaged them, and went to work changing the world.

Somewhere along the line, money and budgets became the defining factor, not the assets that were engaged early on. We went from asking "what can we use to make this work and who has it" to fretting "where can we get the money we need to make this work and who will give it to us." We went from seeing people for the abundance that they could bring to our organization to pocketbooks with ever tightening financial belts.

It is time for us to revisit and reengage our more mentality. We need to see people and our communities for the abundant resources they are. There is no shortage of care, no shortage of love, and no shortage of willingness to give. Neither is there a shortage of innovation. When we engage people in conversation about what we want the world to be, inspire them to share their visions, and ask them how they think they can help, we get more. And, we get more of what matters - people wanting to help roll up their sleeves and change the world with us. And yes some money will likely fall out from the sleeve rolling, but the asset we want is the one that is engaged with us, not the one that we just pay for.

How are you engaging non-financial resources to do more with more?

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