The Art of Giving Back
We all know it’s a great feeling to receive a gift. When we are children it’s often because we like toys, and the more we have to play with the better. As we grow older it often becomes more about the thought than the gift itself (we’ve all heard “it’s the thought that counts”, right?). It means someone was thinking about you, someone cares about you. Whether every individual realizes that or not, or will admit it, might be a different story. But you’ll have a hard time convincing me that there are many individuals who don’t feel lost and alone without feelings of friendship, support and love.
Knowing that feeling of receiving, the feeling of giving is even greater. You know that you just made someone feel really good, that they have a friend in you, and that you were thinking about them. Maybe you’re building a new relationship or strengthening an old one. Either way, you’re paving your way to have a happy, fulfilling life and helping pave the same for someone else. I can imagine a happy life without friends as much as I can imagine a successful business without customers. Without them you’re bound to go under.
And in business, as in life, the act of giving, and giving back, has it’s ways of making new partnerships, and strengthening the relationships with the old ones. Making you visibly more trust-worthy with good morals and good intentions. Who doesn’t want to be friends with such people or work with such businesses?
On the surface it may seem the giving away hotel rooms is a form of un-business, considering, after all, the idea of business is to MAKE money. But depending on the circumstances it can work in ways that can be hard to see at first. And as we described above in regards to relationships and giving, it’s not always about material gain, but is often emotional. Or maybe it’s simply a form of recognition, or the building of trust in you or your brand. But unlike an investment in advertising, these are results that money cannot buy.
Two nights ago I attended a concert in Portland at the McMenamin’s Crystal Ballroom. The show was a benefit for the Portland Rescue Mission which “provides food, shelter and recovery care for men, women and children affected by homelessness, addiction, hunger and abuse.”, and the idea was that of drummer Brian Blade. You may not recognize his name, but I guarantee you’ve heard him play the hell out of some drums with the likes of Bob Dylan, Norah Jones, Bill Frisell, Wayne Shorter and Joni Mitchell. When he decided he wanted to give back to his community he called upon longtime friends Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois, Greg Leisz, and Chris Thomas. I’d have a hard time believing you haven’t heard of at least most of these names — these are among the cream of the crop of world-class musicians.
After a few phone calls Brian was off to a good start. His band of choice had agreed to fly from their various parts of the country for a few days to rehearse and play a one-off benefit show and donate their time and talents for the cause. That is, without pay. Brian then managed to get McMenamin’s on-board to donate the use of the beautiful 1000 person capacity Crystal Ballroom for the event, and then Hotel Lucia to donate some hotel rooms for the band. And those are just the those in the forefront of the occasion. I’m sure there were at others behind the scenes that contributed greatly to making this happen.
Needless to say, the show was mind-blowing. There don’t exist better musicians than these, and as a group they are even harder to beat. It really was a special evening that I will never forget.
But similarly energizing was realizing how many people and businesses went out of their way to make this happen. And no, they weren’t making a big deal about it or seeking praise for their efforts in giving back. A gift of this much thought and effort is not done out of self-interest, but of sheer desire to do good and help out in their community. To give back when, where and how they can. At $50/seat, this gift to the Portland Rescue Mission is obviously really a gift to the hundreds of people it is going to feed and shelter that would otherwise be out hungry in the cold and the rain as we head into winter. We should all strive to be more like everyone mentioned here as individuals and as businesses. It truly makes the world a better place, and impacts a tremendous number of people in ways that most of us can’t imagine.
If you would like to read more about the event, there is an article from OregonLive here.
P.S. If you read this in time, Brian and Chris will be playing another benefit show for the Portland Rescue Mission this Saturday night, Nov. 6th at the Bagdad Theater with The Fellowship Band. Get out there, donate, and hear some amazing music.
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