I'll chime in here ... not to single out any one particular organization but organizations in general looking for contributions and support.
Quick primer on our human behavior: "I believe that giving is motivated by humans’ deeply held need to find meaning in life. For most people, meaning is deeply intertwined with community connections (defining community as narrowly as family to the full community of life). Humans want to feel a sense of connection and a sense of purpose to life. Giving (time, money, energy) is a central way that we strive to find meaning. Much has been made of selfish motivations behind giving. No doubt some giving is motived by selfishness. However, if we look to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (a central theory of what drives human behavior) we find that while humans are driven by items that benefit them, once these needs (food, sleep, security, etc) are met, they are driven by the desire for self-actualization. Because what is good for our community is good for each of us (in that individuals in thriving, happy communities are generally happier themselves), there is a way in which giving comes back to benefit the giver. This feedback loop is wonderful, but I believe that humans’ motivation to give is rooted in their desire to find meaning through community, not the hope that doing so will benefit them." (STANNARD- STOCKTON, 2008) Some of the larger questions/issues are, in my perspective, when it comes to providing support are: Organizations are competing globally with tens of thousands of worthy causes Does the organization "know" their supporters? In our case "chasers or listers"; "casual" birders; conservation-minded? Are we asked? Does the supporter "know" the organization? What is standing of organization in the general community? What do supporters value when we make a decision to contribute? What are supporters expectations in return for their investment? Does the organization's values align with the supporter? The value of supporter contributions are doing what exactly for the community? Do they align with supporter values? Support of anything is at a premium in any economy more so these days-- and then you have to deal (compete) with organization numbers and donor fatigue. There are basically five reasons people donate: 1-Donors will often feel an affinity for a cause for a variety reasons related to their life experiences. 2-People often say they donate or volunteer in order to “make a difference.” This phrase means many different things to many different people. 3-They want to do something active about a problem or take a stand on a particular issue. 4-They are motivated by personal recognition and benefits 5-While all of the above reasons and many others may be true, there is no doubt that the majority of people simply believe in the value of giving itself. Some give out of an accepted moral or spiritual obligation. Others subconsciously know that it just feels good to give. I keep hearing in media donations and memberships are down perhaps it's time rethink a new model of business--example here: http://mashable.com/2009/12/30/social-charity/ Thanks for listening ... Thanks Gary Lefko, Nunn http://coloradobirder.ning.com/ -- Home of the "Nunn Guy" On Dec 3, 4:15 am, Ted Floyd <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello, Birders. > > I'm pretty sure we're all well aware by now that a Ross's Gull was found last > month at Cherry Creek State Park, Arapahoe County... ;) > > Now pause for a moment to consider the role that COBirds played in getting > the word out about the Cherry Creek Ross's Gull. Up-to-the-minute updates > appeared routinely on COBirds; if the bird was moving around, you may well > have heard it here first. Here on COBirds, we discussed tips for finding and > identifying the bird; we discussed its age and plumage; we discussed the > cultural and ornithological significance of the bird. I, personally, most > enjoyed Joe Roller's breathlessly communicated recap of his pirating of some > dude's fishing boat so as to obtain diagnostic photos of the gull. > > Yes, COBirds made a huge difference in the story of this "2010 Bird of the > Year." (Or was the El Paso County Snowy Owl the "2010 Bird of the Year"? > Well, if so, then COBirds played an equally important role in that story.) > > Which brings me around to my point: COBirds IS PROVIDED BY COLORADO FIELD > ORNITHOLOGISTS (CFO) AS A SERVICE TO THE BIRDING COMMUNITY. Pretend for a > moment that CFO provided nothing except COBirds. It costs $25 per year to be > a member of CFO. If you got ONLY COBirds as a result of being a CFO member, > you'd be paying a little bit less than 7 cents per day for this fabulous > resource. Isn't the support of COBirds sufficient reason alone to join and > support CFO? > > Of course, there is vastly more to CFO than providing COBirds. The two > biggies, as most of us know, are: (1) the outstanding quarterly > birding/ornithological journal Colorado Birds, which I consider to be one of > the finest of all regional bird journals; (2) CFO's annual gala event, the > always fun, festive, and educational (and very birdy!) annual CFO convention. > But it's important to realize, too, that CFO is an important cause: CFO > provides youth scholarships for our outstanding young birders; CFO provides > financial support to such worthy initiatives as the Colorado Breeding Bird > Atlas and the Denver Museum's ornithology fellow program; and, most important > even though it is an "intangible," CFO is the heart and soul of the family of > birders all across the state of Colorado. > > And yet I've been informed that one or two COBirds subscribers (more like > several *hundred* of you) aren't yet members of CFO. This is a baffling > mystery to me. I'm sure it's just an oversight on your part. Anyhow: JOIN > COLORADO FIELD ORNITHOLOGISTS TODAY! You owe it to yourself to do so. Here's > how: > > http://www.cfo-link.org/contact/index.php#join > > For more general info on CFO (and note that I've only scraped the tip of the > iceberg here), check out: > > http://www.cfo-link.org/index.php > > Thanks! > > Ted Floyd, CFO Board Member > > ------------------------------- > > Ted Floyd > Editor, Birding > > Blog:http://tinyurl.com/2g2staq > > Twitter:http://tinyurl.com/2wj9djj > > Facebook:http://tinyurl.com/2wkvwxs > > ------------------------------- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
