Most people look at non-profits and assume it’s an easier ride than the big, bad business world. Truth is, the endless treadmill of servicing clients, entertaining donors and negotiating with granting agencies over territory and funding is made all the more urgent when your passion for helping others lives right at the surface. It’s exhausting and exhilarating at the same time, and the payback of philanthropy is euphoric.
In 2006, our then-chapter President, Chris Bryant, suggested that we establish a new board position. The idea was to have someone reach out to a deserving non-profit so that EOers could exercise their charitable muscles and give back. After just two months in EO, I got the job of EO New York Philanthropy Chair. My mission was to find a non-profit to support.
I started out by surveying our members regarding their own philanthropic endeavors to ensure we addressed their interests. In a 200-person chapter, the responses were all over the map. Roughly 40 percent of the chapter was already actively giving, so we decided to step back and take stock on something we could all agree upon: supporting other entrepreneurs.
The next step was finding a reputable and growing organization with the same mission as EO, but one that required help and wasn’t a “hit-it-out-of-the-park” success story. In other words, we wanted to make sure that we could make a difference in the lives of the entrepreneurs, the organization and the members.
After months of identifying and interviewing relevant groups, we found the Workshop in Business Opportunities (WIBO). It is a 42-year-old, New York-based non-profit that hosts a 16-week boot camp designed to help more than 300 women, minority and immigrant entrepreneurs create their business plans and get their businesses started on the right foot. As it happened, WIBO was ripe for change. We were ready to lend a hand.
We procured members’ interest at the annual EO New York holiday party through a silent auction, in which attendees donated and bid on member-submitted items. In one night, we raised more than US$10,000! Throughout the year, we held learning events with fundraising components, solicited chapter sponsors for support and held another silent auction.
In just two years, these efforts have allowed us to raise more than US$27,000 for WIBO. Working together as a chapter has allowed us to show other up-and-coming entrepreneurs a path to problem-solving, profitability and success. So many of us feel that, while we need our own mentors, it’s equally worthwhile to be a mentor. There’s tremendous satisfaction in giving knowledge back to those who are taking their first steps into entrepreneurship. We continue to be inspired by their growth and root for their success.
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If your chapter would like more information on how the EO New York chapter selected their non-profit, please contact Susan Lindner.