CTW Issue #11: Can I honestly say I did my part?

Every time I sit down to write this newsletter, I am struck by how drastically different life is now from when I wrote the first issue a mere two weeks before October 7.

I've never been a particularly 'political' person, which I now understand was a luxury. I lived in a bubble where I could choose not to be involved in politics or public debate and not feel like my safety would be threatened. Now, with this bubble a distant memory, the title of this newsletter holds a much more profound meaning to me. "Change the World," what does that even mean? What does change look like? And where do we even start?

When I conceived of this newsletter, I was thinking primarily about the prevention of serious issues in our community, such as health and financial crises. Now, I'm also thinking about rebuilding our homeland after the devastation of October 7 and its aftermath and about how we can help the thousands of displaced families, widows and orphans, traumatized victims and family members, and injured soldiers. I'm thinking about what we could be doing to combat the vicious antisemitism that seems to be pervading every corner of our society. And I'm still thinking about the challenges our community faced before all of this – and continue to face – and how the incredible organizations that are tackling them are now struggling with marketing and fundraising in a world fraught with so much horror.

This week, I read an incredible piece written by Erica Brown called Staying Human: A Wartime Chronicle. In it, she references a book by Pete Davis called Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing.

The premise of the book is that we exist in what the author calls 'Infinite Browsing Mode.' We are surrounded by options and hesitate to commit to any one of them, so we don't. The book makes the case for 'long haul heroes,' people who commit themselves to a cause and, by doing so, are able to make meaningful change occur.

"Why is commitment necessary to change? Because change happens slow, not fast. Everything that matters takes time--there are no shortcuts. Teaching a student, advancing a cause, healing a divide, rectifying an injustice, revitalizing a town, solving a hard problem, getting a new project off the ground--they all take time....Commitment is also necessary to change because making change often looks less like designing and executing a battle plan and more like cultivating and maintaining a relationship."

If you've read past issues of this newsletter, you likely can already tell where I'm going with this. I'll use myself as a case study here; in the last two months, I have given relatively small donations to a variety of causes, both in my neighborhood and in Israel. Can I say I committed myself to any one cause? Can I honestly say I did my part? Most definitely not.

Here's where I go into practical takeaways.

For Nonprofits

If you want people to commit to supporting your organization, you have to be asking for a lot more than a check. Building a community is an intentional, deliberate strategy that has the potential to impact your mission in ways you might never have dreamed of.

The most powerful relationships develop from shared meaningful experiences. Some organizations have business models that make experiential connections easy. Other organizations have to intentionally create these opportunities for the sole purpose of engaging their audience and building a community.?

If this sounds intimidating, I have good news; chances are you've already tried something like this! Ongoing opportunities such as volunteering or mentorship, or once-in-a-while events like tours, conferences, meetings, and workshops can all be fantastic springboards for connection.

For Businesses

Can you imagine what committing to a cause would mean to your employees, clients/customers, and stakeholders? If your business could have a profound impact on serious issues facing our community? Wouldn't that be a thousand times more meaningful than spending thousands of dollars for the sake of having your logo slapped on a t-shirt or swag bag?

Your business does not have to be large to make a tremendous impact; it just has to be committed.

For Individuals

I've talked about identifying as a philanthropist in the past, and I think the idea of commitment ties in really well with that concept as well. Philanthropists make big, game-changing commitments; they don't jump from cause to cause.

All of us have the power to choose to commit to something that is truly important to us. This does not necessarily mean devoting tremendous amounts of time or money to a particular cause, but it does mean being willing to say no to some things in order to continue to say yes to something else. It means staying the course even when there is no exciting incentive, dramatic crisis, or any short-term reward whatsoever.

I'm going to be giving this a lot more thought over the coming weeks, so I invite you to please share yours. Have you committed yourself to a cause, and what has that done for you in your life? What do you think we should be doing in order to make the right kind of choices and commitments? Please comment below!

Thanks for reading,

Tzivia Cohen

A few reminders:

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