Medix volunteers working hard at SSGT Kenneth Champlin’s home.
With the holiday season fast-approaching, many of you might be looking for a charity to lock arms with to positively impact people in your community. I am proud to say that Medix supports Minnesota Vikings’ star Jared Allen’s charity, Jared Allen’s Homes for Wounded Warriors (JA H4WW). JA H4WW is a great organization that raises money to build or rehabilitate homes to be handicap accessible for our injured United States military veterans. After meeting Jared Allen and learning about JA H4WW, I saw how his vision for organization lined up with our core purpose of positively impacting lives, so I knew it would be the perfect fit for Medix. Our team has been lucky enough to get involved in unique ways, like attending golf outing fundraisers and recently getting our hands dirty, helping remodel an American hero’s new Phoenix-area home to be handicap accessible.
After you find the right philanthropy for your company, it’s important that you get your team motivated and inspired to do their part. Here are some tips for exciting your team and getting them to stand behind your company’s philanthropy:
Communicate!
Your teammates will have difficulty offering their support to something they know nothing about, so one of the easiest ways to get your team excited about your organization’s philanthropic partner is to communicate the charity’s mission and goals. Also offer visibility into why your company has chosen to work with that organization. Are you working with an organization raising awareness for a certain type of cancer, because you have a teammate who has gone through it? Share that with your team!
Lead by Example
As a leader, one of the most powerful things you can do to motivate your team is to lead by example. It can safely be assumed that your organization chose a charity to support, because you and others are passionate about the cause. Act on that passion yourself and get involved; this will become motivation and demonstrate to your team how they can make a difference, too.
Give them Unique Opportunities
As I previously mentioned, our team recently had the opportunity to help remodel a home for a retired United States Marine who lost both his legs at the knee and suffered from a traumatic brain injury while protecting our freedom in Iraq. It was an experience they won’t soon forget! Provide opportunities like this for your team to get up close and personal with your philanthropy. Not only will they feel like they made a difference, the experience will make a difference in their lives, as well.
Supporting a charity is one of the most rewarding things your organization can do. There are many people in need, so it’s important that we take a step back from our day-to-day lives, look at the big picture and figure out how we can make a positive impact.
