True caring in action
By Pat Kahnert
May 3, 2004
Care is a popular word these days. It is certainly used often to describe
the support that organizations give to communities in which their employees
work, live and play.
Caring communities, caring organizations and care values
are all phrases used to describe community involvement programs, partnerships,
events and sponsorships. In light of the increasing emphasis on building a
"caring" reputation and image, it is interesting to note that sponsorship
seekers and sponsorship decision makers alike point to the uncaring and disrespectful
treatment that some individuals afford them as the single-most disappointing
thing about their work in community relationship building.
Here some responses to a survey I once did in search of things people want and need to overcome in order to make the most of their community relationship-building efforts.
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Leaders of charitable organizations say...
Leaders of community charities, were asked to complete the sentence, "The times when I would rather not have to be in the position of seeking corporate sponsorship or donation support for our community event or cause are..."
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- When I can't get through to a real person to talk to at a company.
- When I finally reach a real person and that person treats me as if I were an intruder.
- When someone says my request has "no strategic fit" with the company's
donations or sponsorship policies but will not give me any specific information
about what the company is looking to support.
- When someone discards my request in a disrespectful and condescending manner.
- When someone blocks me from exploring a proposal with others in their organization.
- When someone calls to cancel a meeting when I am en route.
- When someone is always late for scheduled meetings.
- When someone doesn't show up for a meeting, and doesn't apologize.
- When someone promises to get back to me, but never does.
- When someone ignores me in public.
- When someone says they are not happy, but offers no specific reasons.
- When someone says something bad to a third party about our group's work, but does not take the time to discuss their concern with us.
- When there is "a disconnect" between a company's brand promise and the way their employees treat me.
- When I get no feedback from a company after I fulfill a promise to produce and present a comprehensive proposal and/or evaluation.
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Corporate sponsorship decision makers say...
"The times when I would rather not have to be in the position of deciding what things or organization should support in our communities are..."
- When a representative of a charity asks me for money first and foremost.
- When some names drop.
- When someone arrives ill prepared.
- When someone shows little interest in what and how our company chooses
to support community events and causes.
- When someone neglects to introduce me to other people associated with
an event we are supporting.
- When someone doesn't keep me informed about developments, after we have
cut the cheque.
- When I don't receive promised post-event evaluation and documentation.
- When someone drops my company's name from a verbal or written mention
of a title sponsorship we are paying for.
- When a charitable group we are sponsoring messes up our corporate logo.
- When the group we are supporting will not take any responsibility for
righting an error they made.
- When I arrive at a meeting and the charity people have forgotten about
it…or it is late.
- When some promises me industry-exclusivity for an event sponsorship, but
brings one of our competitors to our event.
- When a community event organizer is discussing sponsorship possibilities
with one of our competitors near the end of our term of agreement without
our concurrence.
- When a group we are supporting fails to say "thanks" and doesn't
take the time to let us know how our contribution of time, expertise, effort
and money helped to make a difference.
Not all relationships are made in heaven. But the above-noted concerns suggest
that there is always room for improvement in community relations efforts - on
both the "buy" and "sell" sides of sponsorships.
Being busy is no excuse for undermining a relationship with someone who
might enrich a commitment to community-building. That's just not the way
a caring person, or a caring organization does things. As ever, actions
speak louder than words in building community relationships that are based
on trust, confidence and pride of association. Another important reminder
of what matters most in that pursuit:
People may forget what you said...
People may forget what you did...
But people will never forget how you made them feel.
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This article is an excerpt from an address, Better Friend Raising will lead you to Better Fund Raising presented by Pat Kahnert to the Travel Industry Association of Nova Scotia's 2003 Tourism Symposium in Halifax on November 16, 2003.]
This article by Pat Kahnert originally appeared in PR Canada. Pat's a fee-for-service corporate marketing and communications consultant, helping businesses, not-for-profit and government organizations to add clarity, credibility and impact to their work. He is an accomplished community coach, guest columnist and popular speaker - covering topics like corporate social responsibility, community relationship building, effective team building and corporate communications effectiveness. Pat can be reached at pbk@cogeco.ca, or 905-337-7933.
