Long time followers of this blog will recognize this is the time of year when I will make a full court press on my audience to take action. It’s the time when I am blatantly asking you for your money!
It’s not for me (I can hear the collective sighs of relief with people realizing I haven’t turned into a slimy sales person.)
It’s for a very specific purpose: To provide clean water to those that don’t have it. It’s providing a donation–whatever you can afford–to Charity:Water.
I believe each of us has a higher purpose. We need to think and act beyond ourselves, contributing to others. It’s not just how we contribute in our jobs, to our friends and colleagues, within our communities, or even to our families. We have a mission to help others—people we are likely to never meet.
Many of us take water for granted. We casually dispose of half consumed bottles of the latest “designer” water. We go to the tap or the water fountain. It’s always there, we don’t have to think about it.
For 100’s of millions of people around the world, this luxury doesn’t exist. Infant mortality rates in regions with poor water quality or limited access to water is extraordinary. Access to clean water and basic sanitation can save up to 16,000 lives a week!
In Africa, alone, women and children spend 40 billion hours a year, walking to get water. Imagine the power of converting just a small fraction of that time to education or starting and running a small business.
For a little over 3 years I have sponsored an annual campaign to attack this problem, to have and impact on others, to make a difference. Additionally, earlier this year, I donated a substantial part of the profits from my book, Sales Manager Survival Guide.
I’ve chosen Charity:Water because of the impact the organization has in solving this problem. 100% of the funds we raise go into a project in a needed community!
Collectively, we have raised over $35,000. That money has had a huge impact, we’ve provided water to over 1000 people in Southeast Asia, India, and Africa. But that’s not enough.
We can and must do more. I’ve set a nominal goal of $10,000 this year. Each year we have exceeded the goal I’ve set. So this year, I’ve set a stretch goal of $15,000.
I’ve been amazed and am very thankful at the responses from past campaigns. Donations of $25, $50, or whatever you can afford, all accumulate to having a huge impact. No donation is too small, each dollar can have an impact on someone’s life.
As in the past, to accelerate our start, I will match the first $2000 in contributions.
Please take a moment to give. Take a moment to think beyond the Year End Close, the Holidays, or whatever problems you may face. Please think about someone you will never meet, but whose life you will change. Please donate.
I’m also asking you to go beyond your personal gift. Use your best skills of challenging, providing insight, persuading, closing to ask others to join this campaign and contribute.
Thanks so much for your past support and your support of this campaign!
September Campaign 2011 Rig is drilling in Northern Ethiopia! from charity: water on Vimeo.
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