PDC-14: Awareness: The Differentiator and the Value Builder

Dear friends,

 

We will continue were we left the topics on the PDC. We will start in detail with each phase. We will keep the planning phase for the last. We will start with the charity Awareness Phase. For a continuation, here are the links to PDC-12 and PDC-13.

 

PDC-12 :: Traditional Charity Life cycle [ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/14878 ]

 

PDC-13 :: PDC Life Cycle [ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/15012 ]

 

 

PDC-14: Awareness: The Differentiator and the Value Builder

 

In a planet, where good, bad and the ugly coexist, the bad and the ugly typically tend to overshadow the good in every walk of life. This fact is no different in the charity landscape. The fraudulent actions of the bad and the ugly charitable organizations plants the seeds of doubt and suspicious in the minds of the common man. Hence in spite of the incredible service rendered to society, the impact of the bad and the ugly organizations tends to tarnish the good charitable organizations and makes its existence a challenge.

 

How do the good organizations survive the smoke fumes of the negative influence caused by the bad and the ugly?

 

Now let’s assume an organization was tagged as good charity, and was trying to launch a new project.

 

What if the common man had heard of a project that had a similar profile, but was a blacklisted fraudulent charity project? Would he be confused by the other project?

 

All of the above questions lead to a common answer: Awareness.

 

Awareness among people is undoubtedly the starting point in the marathon towards the goal of becoming an ideal charitable organization.

 

The banner of a good, bad, ugly is tagged by the common man based on the information that he or she has about the organization. If an organization does things right, and provides the supporting information, the common man typically tags it as a good organization.

 

Awareness helps people to understand the ‘why’ of charity. Awareness is the value and the perspective builder. Awareness presents the background and the facts about the need. It addresses why such a project is needed, and communicates to the people how the project will make a difference in the lives of the needy.

 

An ideal Awareness program tries to help the common man find the answers to the commonly asked questions. It tries to address the similarity to other projects, differences from the other projects that people are aware of. It tries to provide people with the enough information that can help them to clearly understand the project.

 

An ideal awareness program will focus on the mission, the priorities of the project, the scope, the details about the planning, resources, opportunities, impact of the project and much more.

 

The right mix of the information that is part of the awareness campaign can encourage people to become passionate about the cause.

 

To be continued...

 

The next two topics:

 

PDC-15: Awareness: The Instant lottery Vs the Insurance Premium

PDC-16: Awareness: The art of reading the mind of the audience

 

Thanks,

Rajesh Vargheese

St. Gregorios Orthodox Church, Austin, TX