Former U.S. President Carter reflects his volunteering in person through several charities, but he also inspires loyalty in others through his leading by example. Mother Teresa in the headline caption devoted her life to volunteering for her church and inspired huge amounts of people to look at life differently and volunteering in particular. Such inspiration breeds loyalty.

To continue our discussion of how to translate this idea of building loyalty into a charity consider the following. What if you are representing a charity that is not so large and wide spread? Start thinking outside the box. I will give you an example that I happen to have considered at one time. Look for celebrities that have local or at least state wide appeal. Sports, authors, artists, college coaches, perhaps local TV personalities. Get from 3 to 10 to attend some kind of fund raising event for your charity and then make sure your volunteers and special guests get access of some kind the night before!

Pretend you are in Iowa of all places. There are no major professional sports franchises in the entire state of Iowa, so how would you pull this off? By the way, there are several other states without any major professional sport franchises besides Iowa so this example can be applied all over the this country and even the world.

Well, start with the college players who went on to the professional ranks and then perhaps they even returned to the state after their playing days are over. I have lived in several states and the newspapers are always covering players who have any ties to that state and area, either living there or played college there. Start contacting them and as you suggest ideas such as chili cook offs or anything else you can to get a few of them together just roll with what ever idea seems to work. Don’t neglect the locals who will pay tickets for the event and the meet and greet the evening before, know your area and their interests.

In Iowa wrestling is huge so try to get one or two from that sport too in this example.

Get a wide variety, from young to old and from various sports. To continue this Iowa scenario there were a few Olympians from the state in the last Olympics, see if one or two will visit. Try for Dan Gable, who won his weight class in wrestling in the Olympics, coached for the Iowa Hawkeyes setting tons of records there and also wrestled for Iowa State. Perhaps some local college players in sports?

Be sure to get someone who is younger to appeal to those who are not in tune with past Olympic history or even past college history. Vary the group if possible to attract the widest audience possible. Shawn Johnson is another Iowan who could fit this criteria.

Is there a local author that could broaden the appeal of the visiting and hopefully money spending public for your event? Let him or her sell some of their books too!

Perhaps a local TV personality who can also ensure your event has some local news coverage? Take care, but a local politician for variety if that would not be too polarizing?

Remember, these personalities don’t have to belong to your group, they just have to believe your group is worthy.

What happens if the major hitters all opt out, the recent Olympians and even the older ones like Bruce Jenner or Dan Gable who have well known Iowa connections and still draw crowds?

Set your sights on another route. Having researched this scenario I would consider local boys or girls who made it big but are now retired. Narrow your focus to a few good men or women, and don’t forget business leaders! A local Iowa boy who made the big time is Bob Harlan was the president of the Green Bay Packers for 18 years and responsible for the teams financial stability! The personalities don’t have to have played the sport, just be recognizable.

In my research Arron Kampman turned up, local Iowa boy who made it to the University of Iowa and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers, before leaving to play for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also has a life beyond sports. Kampman is a role model in other important ways and this is why I chose him when I researched his potential for this post. He is the 2012 Robert D. Ray Pillar of Character Award winner, an honor given by the nonprofit Character Counts In Iowa.

I have actually met Kampman briefly in a YMCA some years ago, he does do volunteer work I know from my research and he is a very positive guy. If your charity fits his views of the world, perhaps that would work? Combine this with a local coach or other noteworthy person and whatever they find worthy to do for your charity, organize if and run with it. Keep in mind, there are many good people out there who would help if they are just asked in every state, I just picked Iowa to make the challenge more broad since they don’t have any sports teams.

Remember to keep it family oriented and avoid any visits from questionable magazines or even professional cheerleaders, as this turns off the family aspect of the event for the moms of the visiting families.

The empowered volunteers of the world should not only strive to help build memberships for their charities but they should drive some other events that help build up a loyal base of support staff and also a willing public who sees that charity as worthy. Loyalty is built one step at a time but mainly by delivering to your supporting public what they want, fun and entertainment while supporting a worthy organization. Go build that loyalty today!

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Man giving a rose to a lady, who accepts it gracefully

Men have given ladies gifts ever since couples have gathered into families, perhaps earlier! In the real world, ladies admire men who can set the gift giving bar high as well. Volunteering is giving of your time and expertise over money, something that is worthy for everyone to do, no matter what your social economic status or political leanings.

Donations are often thought of for charities, with fund raisers common for high profile charities that often as not are sponsored and have high status figures leading the fund raising. This helps the charity and the contributors often see benefits in the area of tax incentives.

At the time of this writing Warren Buffett is offering a free online course, “Giving with a Purpose” with the chance to help him decided how to spend over $100k of his sisters money! That kind of course is a first as far as I can tell.

Bill Gates

Volunteers without vast wealth are simply donating their time more than their money in the real world. They are often not able to donate their money in the sums that would make huge differences in the same way that Bill Gates does with his vast wealth, taking on diseases around the world. So time is traded instead of money. Giving your time instead of giving your money becomes the working class way of staying involved and still making a difference.

Bill Clinton, author of Giving, How each of us can change the world

In his best selling book, Giving, How Each of Us Can Change The World, former U. S. President Bill Clinton makes a very powerful case for how everyone in the world can help improve the world through giving or volunteering of their time or money or a combination of both, regardless of their social economic status.

He talks about the Make-A-Wish foundation volunteers who will “leave you feeling good about yourself”. On the next page of this book he relates about how volunteers built houses to turn over to residents in need for another charity group. The giving can come in many different forms and result in many different methods of helping those in need.

As a high status individual Bill Clinton has certainly provided leadership for giving that is way beyond what the normal man or women could do! He has social capital that most of us could only dream about.

In the real world, we have examples of political rivals who have set aside their differences to work together. Former U. S. President Bush Senior and former President Clinton have set a very high bar for such unified efforts, among them the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund.

Former U.S. President Carter has for years led programs of volunteers for very worthy efforts, with very high public praise for his achievements. He has certainly led by example when it comes to volunteering to make a difference in the real world.

The first U.S. President of the Bush family, George H.W. Bush had his faith based initiatives which resulted in the Points of Light group, a group still operating and helping others. Today he is visiting the White House where President Obama recognized the 5,000th Daily Point of Light Award, which went to a retired farm couple from Iowa.

Giving and volunteering seem to abound in the top levels of American Politics, intersecting with the real world in a very profound way that has resulted in enormous benefits to mankind.

Campaign button for President Ford in 1976

American Presidents have a long tradition of enjoying volunteer groups, with 15 known members taking the first degree and 14 completing the required 3d degree to become Master Masons, the last one being Gerald Ford. Abe Lincoln petitioned but did not go through with the Freemason initiation and Bill Clinton was a member of the youth group of Masons, called the DeMolay named after a historical figure who was burned at the stake by the Inquisition.

Past U. S. Presidents who were involved in other volunteer groups which still operate today were Warren G. Harding, FDR, and Harry Truman who all belonged to the Masons as well as the Elks, the Moose, and the Odd Fellows!

That is a bunch of volunteering over time. It is worthy to note that these groups all share some common values, and they were at one time known to also have some initiation similarities. Today they mostly share a common membership belief in a Supreme Being along with what today we would call family values in various forms.

Teddy Roosevelt in Yellowstone

Teddy Roosevelt, our 26th U.S. President had a love of volunteering it seems, with his many accomplishments including the founding of the NCAA, his support for various conservation efforts which helped establish our National Parks, his many public service posts, and of course his most famous volunteer effort historically was his inclusion in the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, a portion of which he later led and was nick named, the “Rough Riders”. It’s hard to be more into giving of time or money than this individual, considering his impact on the future of our National Parks particularly.

Rough Riders photo

Of course, Teddy Roosevelt volunteered to be President so frequently that he was later the focus of legislation to limit the terms a person can serve for the U. S. Presidency! You can perhaps give a bit too much it seems.

Former President Bill Clinton wrote a whole book on giving as we noted above, with over 200 pages of examples and information on how individuals and groups can make a difference in today’s world. This post is not for book reviewing, but I would say that the book is a worthy start for those wanting to become an empowered volunteer or to rebuild America while seeking their potential for giving in today’s real world, no matter if you are unknown or famous.

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