We know we love the arts. (If you don’t, you’re truly reading the wrong blog.)
On a day when you’re probably being bombarded with pleas for help from a wide variety of nonprofits, I have this one request, aimed at every one of you:
Please donate to SOMETHING by the end of the year.
Performers are often battling the feeling of being strapped for cash, and tend to be the last group of people likely to offer monetary donations. After all, we give and give, all year ’round, by offering our own services, telling friends, promoting projects and more. The ongoing wear-and-tear is daunting, and it feels like a lot.
But giving even a small amount to an organization you’re committed to sends a deeper signal. Putting your money where your mouth already is means something, builds that relationship, and models behavior for colleagues, friends and family. If you hope to have those opportunities going forward, we all need to support the orgs we believe in. The simple truth is that we’re all strapped, and most organization leaders are genuinely worried about remaining sustainable within the economic and cultural shifts that currently loom.
I won’t tell you what to support. But please give something, even if it’s $5, $10 or $20 that you were going to blow on something that means less to your long-term future. You’ll gain not only a little bit of goodwill, but the knowledge that you took action to support something you care about. Perhaps you might even do it again, and build a habit that can actually build your future. This is business, but it’s also very, very personal.
Pick something. I dare you.
