The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts is a colossal embracing dome of story, music, and dance. The lights are warm blues and purples, coming off the balconies; and a spotlight shines towards the stage.
Rarely do non-profit professionals sit; but here are 400, eager to improve their effectiveness, and commitment to the community, at this year’s OneStar Foundation, “Texas Non-Profit Summit.”
The fifty round tables are elegantly set; and a dressed green salad awaits us, as we sit, along with an iced tea, ready to be sipped. First Lady of Texas, Cecilia Abbot, walks up the steps before us.
“Texanthropy,” she calls it. The unique way Texans mobilize resources, to help Texans; both the urgent need of natural disasters, and also the smaller ever present needs, of the community.
She spoke of small non-profits, started by people who experienced a struggle, that could have simply been alleviated: Like the story of a boy named Jeremy in foster care, who didn’t have a travel bag for his things, as he moved from house to house.
Now there exists a non-profit to provide backpacks for those children: Reminding us that in the non-profit world, it is often the simple things that make a widespread impact.
H-E-B spoke about working with local and state government, to distribute water, and food, during crisis; and their emphasis on continuous, small, local giving, to improve quality of life, in each area they are serving: Creative, unique, and collaborative approaches.
AT&T spoke of their targeted giving, to delve deep into specific issues, enabling them to fine tune their philanthropy, and measure improvement.
And that is the biggest question for Non-Profit giving: Go deep or go wide?
Here at Vertical Events and Solutions, we go deep into promotions and fundraising for our national clients, and also work with matching campaigns, to go wide in the local area as well.
Every donation to our primary Non-Profits, automatically contributes to local homeless shelters; toys, for children recovering in local hospitals; or treats, to local animal shelters: Thereby enabling our team to help both immediate local needs, and the long-term goals of our nationwide clients.
We pride ourselves on our innovative approach to both comprehensive non-profits, and small local initiatives; and we look forward to going deeper, and wider, in the year to come.
Written for Vertical Events and Solutions, San Antonio, TX
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