What makes for motivation
Jeremy Gregg at the Raiser’s Razor blog asked me to answer the following question: What drives your philanthropassion?
In other words, why have I, like you, chosen to be overworked and underpaid in the third sector?
Part of the answer for me is, I spent a number of years working as a journalist in very poor countries. And the poverty and pain I saw on a daily basis was hard to simply witness, over and over. So I stopped reporting and started working to remedy what I was seeing. (This is not to say journalism does not do much to contribute to the social good or to right wrongs - it does. I just wanted to be more involved in the story.)
So part of my motivation is based on need.
But the bigger part of it is based on change. I saw enough good when I was reporting that I also grew to believe there was hope in most situations. And that, ultimately, is the most motivating thing of all.
I started my book this way: We all have moments in life when we happen upon our calling, and mine was when I encountered a giant, smiling condom in Cambodia. I go on to tell the story of being inspired by the ground-breaking work of the nonprofit PSI to make AIDS prevention fun and hopeful (including via a giant condom balloon), to great success. I saw the good in the story and possibility in the future.
I think ultimately, what makes for the most powerful motivation (at least for me) is not how bad something is now but rather how much better it could be.
Syndicate
Thanks so much for your thoughtful response! I hope that more people take time to describe why they’ve chosen this path.
We need more people like you, my friend. Keep up the wonderful work!
Jeremy Gregg, Editor
http://theraiser.blogspot.com/