Addressing Needs: Five D’s to Create an A-Level Corporate Philanthropy Program Today

Recently the news media was all a twitter about billionaire movers and shakers getting together to discuss the increasing need for philanthropy in the U.S. and abroad. Bill and Melinda Gates, Oprah Winfrey and Warren Buffet were alleged to be attending the secretive meetings. Personally, I was heartened to learn that humanity was top of mind for global leaders because if there ever was a time to lead and address need, certainly, that time is now.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

If your organization has been sitting on the side lines waiting for a better time, a better place, it’s time to move off the fence. Starting a community based program (aka corporate philanthropy program) would be a good place to start. If enough companies birthed mini-versions of Buffet and Winfrey-like programs, the world would be a vastly different place. Why not start now?

To get started, I’ve outlined five simple D’s to create an A-level program that would do any company proud. To begin:

Define your company’s purpose for the program. Start by asking and surveying employees: what do we want to accomplish? What should the purpose be for the program? What value can the organization uniquely bring to the world/state/region/city that would make a difference? What needs should be addressed? Where we can be of value? What matters most to us? Then whittle the ideas down to the top 5 or 10 for consideration and exploration.

Discover your passion. Once you’ve defined what matters most to your employees, discover all you can about each need or topic. Ask employees to discover: who currently addresses this need? Can we collaborate with them? Ask them to discover what programs are addressing these needs and why they are successful? Have them talk to groups about their experiences. Inquire about their strengths. Their successes. What worked? Why it worked and how it worked? What did they learn from this experience? What did they value most? What value to do they continue to bring to this need? Stay away from weaknesses. Focus solely on strengths-based results. Only by understanding what works and why it works can we mirror and replicate success…Choose to focus on creating success with your program.

Dream your passions into life. Now that you have a handle on what you wish to create, dream about it. Imagine the answer to this question: It’s five years out and the New York Times is interviewing your company for a story about your corporate philanthropy program. What successes would you play up? What successes were most important to you? How did you make a difference? Where did you address the greatest need? How did you do that? What was most effective? Play with these questions in your mind…Consider: What if we …..? Imagine if we….? How could we? Dream big. Let your imagination lead the way. When we dream, we shift our minds from limitation-based thinking to the unknown where we can freely explore new avenues of possibility. Play with your dreams and see what forms. Then follow your company’s heart to the place that resonates best with your organization’s voice and mission.

Design a successful process. Once you have your dream established, it’s time to design a system to implement and execute to it. Take your dream and make it real by putting a foundation to it and processes in place. Make it real and tangible. Let your employees determine the processes and foundations. Invite collaboration and knowledge sharing. When employees are invited to participate in ventures that matter to them, productivity, morale and success increases exponentially.

Deliver a program that makes a difference in the world.  Implement your vision with the utmost compassion and of course, passion. Once your organization has a handle on its strengths, host your own mover and shaker meetings with other like-minded organizations to share best practices so that the circle can begin again.

Lori Schwind