Burgers For Art, Northwest Style

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Local, sustainable and charitable are probably not the first words that pop into your mind when you think of a fast food joint. 

But Burgerville, a Pacific Northwest owned and operated chain of quick service restaurants, is that and more. 

I had the opportunity to learn more about Burgerville’s culture through the work I’ve been doing with the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RAAC) here in Portland.  As part of my professional transition into the non-profit and public sectors, I’ve been consulting with RACC's Work for Art program, which solicits employee contributions in the workplace to fund arts and culture organizations here in the Portland metro area.  I’ve been helping RACC look at ways to grow and expand the Work for Art workplace giving program in anticipation of its 10th anniversary campaign this summer.

Today was Burgerville’s charitable campaign kickoff which brought together the store managers from all of their restaurants to their headquarters in Vancouver, Washington.   Work for Art was one of three “umbrella campaigns” featured, along with the local United Way chapter and an environmental fund here in Oregon called EarthShare.

I was impressed and inspired by the level of commitment to service and charitable giving that both Burgerville leaders and the individual store managers expressed during their event.   Manager “champions” were deputized to return to their store to have one-on-one conversations with each of their “crew members.”  The expectation is that every Burgerville employee — most of whom are hourly employees — make and communicate a decision about participation in the charitable campaign, even if that means they won’t be making donation this year.  The point is to understand the need and make a commitment one way or another.

My RACC colleague, Windy Hovey, made an awesome presentation about the arts and their impact in our community.  And Work for Art manager Kathryn Jackson brought the Burgerville managers a special treat.  Poet and performer Lauren Steele, a high school senior at Jefferson High School here in Portland, performed an original work of song and verse in her Work for Art performance.  Nothing like a passionate artist to feed the soul!

Kudos to Burgerville for building and fostering a culture of service, charity and support of the arts throughout their organization.  I wish more organizations were as deeply grounded in and connected to their communities.

Debunking the Scarcity Mindset, Among Others

One of the differences I’ve noticed as I’ve begun working with folks in the non-profit space is the perceived lack of resources.  Not enough funding.  Not enough time.  Not surprising, I guess.  This segment of organizations has the word “no” in its very name!  Perhaps as a result it’s preconditioned to focus on what it doesn’t have.  Coming from a company and industry where resources were unlimited but not recklessly used, it’s a shift for me.  Being a product of the midwest raised with thrift as a core belief, I respect and embrace the desire to do more with less.  But not if it means not doing what’s needed.

As I make my professional transition into this new world, I’ve been connecting with people and organizations that can help me learn more about the world of fund development.  In Portland, the leading professional organization for development folks is the Willamette Valley Development Officers, or WVDO for short.  Today was WVDO’s regional conference and I decided to attend the opening breakfast and hear its keynote speaker.  The speaker’s topic of “leaving scarcity behind” intrigued me.

The speaker, Hildy Gottlieb, is a social scientist who has built and consulted with successful mission-driven organizations affecting positive social change, like the first ever diaper bank in Tuscon, Arizona.   Her message was clear, refreshing and inspiring.  To build an effective non-profit organization that gets the resources that it needs, change the conversation from one around money to one around building relationships with people.  Think of your work as “friend raising” not “fund raising."  The money and resources will follow.

Among the many learnings I took away from Hildy’s speech were:

  • Build effective systems for gaining organizational support, not necessarily efficient ones.  This was a big one for me, ever in hot pursuit of the quickest and most streamlined process for getting things done.  Hildy’s thesis is that in an organization where relationships are the foundation for support, stakeholders must be embedded in the mission and work of the organization to make it grow, even if that means the work takes longer and uses more resources.  “The efficient thing,” she says, “is not sustainable.  Building a community is.”  
  • There are plenty of resources to go around.  This isn’t a zero sum game.  In fact, think of your organization’s work not as raising money but as gathering resources.  
  • Together we have everything we need.  It is only on our own that we experience scarcity.  Building relationships, networks, partnerships with other organizations is critical.  Connecting unlikely dots amplifies the power and the opportunity.

Hildy will be speaking at the City Club of Portland’s Friday Forum tomorrow, so you have another chance to hear her compelling message for non-profits.  It’d be well worth your time.

The Blog Experiment

Blogging feels too much like work.  The pressure to say something important and profound. To contribute to the public dialogue.  What pressure!

But, like anything, I’m hoping that with practice this type of reflection and sharing will become much less daunting.  And, dare I say, even enjoyable.  At the very least it can back up my failing memory with a record of my professional thoughts and goings on.  So, here goes!

I’m embarking on a new life chapter.  After over 20 years working in the corporate, high technology world, I’m switching to a new career in the public sector with a long-term eye towards non-profit work.  Yes, I’ll be doing the same kinds of marketing and communications stuff I did with Apple promoting to education customers.  But now I’ll be doing it to advance public education, social programs and causes that help society and the local Portland community.  I’m looking forward to the new challenge.

My blog posts will archive my reflections as I make this big cultural and organizational change.  And record my new learnings about fund development, student recruitment and the marketing and communications challenges of public sector education.

Sounds like a lot like work, eh?  That it may be, but I’m hopeful it will be worth it.  Let the experiment begin!