July 29, 2010
businesses need to be more like causes. causes need to be more like businesses.
[“Never Pick A Fight” print here.]
OK, now this is interesting…
Of the forty of so entries to the Cube Grenade competition, about one third of them are for businesses and starts ups, and about two thirds of them are for nonprofits and worthy causes.
I was expecting the opposite ratio, to be honest. [BTW There’s still a couple of days left to submit an idea, so go for it etc.]
So what does this tell us?
1. Causes are more idea-driven, rather than “rational-utility” driven. “Here’s why this matters”, more than “Here’s why you should buy our product”. I think Cube Grendes are the same. They’re designed to spread ideas and start conversations, not to SELL. Designed to hit a nerve, not to just tick of a box on some random marketing checklist.
2. As nonprofits are rarely funded with anything like what they really need to get the job done, they have to be creative. And I’ve always thought that everyone has to be creative, not just those with no money. So there’s a fit there.
But there’s a fit EVERYWHERE. Business need to be more like causes. Causes need to be more like businesses. Which is what makes this whole thing so much damn fun…
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Great point. I spent many years raising money for nonprofits (some info on my blogsite, in fact), but also spent time working for a fortune 500 financial corporation. I studied organizations during grad school (sociology) and agree, for-profit and nonprofit orgs have much to learn from the other. The Harvard Business Review has published articles on this topic, as have many other professional journals. Of course, getting the orgs to see it this way is quite another matter, indeed. Humor, I’m afraid, is the only way to get the point across!