By Ramkumar Seshu, Author of Born to Win and Antar Prerana – Leadership Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita
LOOK FORWARD TO TALK TO YOU. CLICK THIS LINK
Continuing my Conversation with the CSR Head of a Company on the way to get people to overcome their starting blues I mentioned that “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦.”
Today, let’s explore how to create opportunities that 30-year-olds can’t resist—not because of guilt or obligation, but because of genuine excitement and alignment.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
𝗜 – 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗘𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 – Design opportunities that allow people to use their professional skills or develop new ones they want to learn. A software developer helping kids learn coding isn’t just volunteering—they’re becoming a teacher and mentor.
𝗠 – 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 – Provide clear metrics and regular updates. “Last month, your 3 hours of tutoring helped Mamtha improve her math grades by 15%” is infinitely more compelling than “Thanks for your help.”
𝗣 – 𝗣𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 – Create opportunities for volunteers to meet like-minded individuals from diverse backgrounds. The cause brings them together; the relationships keep them engaged.
𝗔 – 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 Entry Remove the hassles. One-click signup, clear next steps, immediate engagement. The easier you make it to start, the more likely they’ll continue.
𝗖 – 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 Commitment Offer multiple ways to engage—weekly, monthly, project-based, remote, in-person. Let them design their own participation journey.
𝗧 – 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 that is Visible Show both the impact on beneficiaries AND the growth in the participants themselves. “Here’s how the community changed, and here’s how you changed.”
𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴
1. Skills-Based Micro-Volunteering Platforms that connect professionals with nonprofits for specific, short-term projects. A marketing manager might spend 2 hours redesigning a nonprofit’s email template. Impact: immediate and leverages expertise.
2. Peer-Powered Challenges LinkedIn’s #DoGood campaign succeeded because it wasn’t corporate messaging—it was professionals sharing their helping experiences with their networks. Social proof + professional identity = powerful motivation.
3. Embedded Helping Companies embed volunteerism into their business model, making it easy for employees and customers to participate without separate commitment or time investment.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲
I have realised over the years that works is not what you say but how you say it.
For instance, some of the messaging that seems to work is as follows:
𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳: “We need volunteers for our community kitchen”
𝗧𝗿𝘆: “Join a community of professionals who spend 2 hours every week ensuring no child in our neighbourhood government school goes hungry”
𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳: “Help disadvantaged youth”
𝗧𝗿𝘆: “Use your Saturday mornings to help bright teenagers navigate the same career challenges you’ve mastered“
I𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳: “Support our cause”
𝗧𝗿𝘆: “Become part of the solution to a problem that seems difficult”
𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗢𝘄𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
When you are leading the CSR invitation in your organization or are an NGO trying to get support and involvement, here are a few ideas to foster involvement:
𝟭. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆: Who do they want to become?
𝟮. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀: Who in their network is already involved?
𝟯. 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰: What exactly will they do, when, and with what impact?
𝟰. 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀: What’s stopping them, and how can you eliminate those obstacles?
Tomorrow, we’ll dive into the digital strategies that meet 30-year-olds where they are and move them to action.
𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳: 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴—𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 “𝘉𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘪𝘯 – 𝘐 𝘈𝘮 𝘢 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳” 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 2,00,000 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘊𝘚𝘙 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝙎𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙡𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙚: LOOK FORWARD TO TALK TO YOU. CLICK THIS LINK
