As many of you know, I sit on the board of a local all-volunteer animal rescue organization. We are entering our third year of existence, so we are still a baby. However in those three years, we have been able to develop our feeding, caring and adoption procedures such that the organization pretty much runs like a well-oiled engine. With that in place, now it is time to grow. We need more money, more volunteers and more adopters so that we can rescue more dogs from the county shelters.

Needing some guidance, I picked up Katya Andresen’s new book Robin Hood Marketing: Stealing Corporate Savvy to Sell Just Causes.

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I have found this book to be an amazing help. It covers 10 marketing principles taken from the corporate sector and guides the reader on how to use these in the not-for-profit arena. I think the reason that the advice rings true is that within the first few pages you quickly learn that the book is written by a person who has “been there, done that” in the nonprofit industry.

As a self-proclaimed “do-gooder” herself, Andresen also takes the time to talk about the characteristics of individuals who have found their “calling” to work for just causes. I think this is why information in this book seems poignant. She clearly conveys passion for her calling with which I can identify. Subsequently, the book is more like getting advice from a friend rather than reading a treatise on marketing.

The irony of the whole this is that once that I identified with her as a fellow do-gooder, she asks me to put it away and to look at things differently. According to Andresen, marketing your cause requires you to step back and be dispassionate and objective. As a businesswoman, I completely understand that. However, being a do-gooder is an intensely subjective outlook. It is a heart-set rather than a mind-set. Subsequently, objectivity is a bit hard to come by. However, deep down I know she is right.

So…… now, I’ve got to learn to wear two hats at the same time. Passion and dispassion. Subjective and objective. Just Business and True Calling. At first blush, it seems like she’s asking you to wear stripes and plaids at the same time. However, thankfully, this book gets to the point quick and then spends the rest of the time giving you a lot of food for thought on how to develop some new skills so that you can balance these two seemingly dichotomous characteristics.

It’s a good thing that I like to noodle around ideas, decide on how they can help me progress, and then develop and implement a plan to get me to where I want to be. Because I know that she is right, I intend on implementing some of the ideas presented in Robin Hood to help with my do-gooder endeavors.

So as my first exercise in wearing two hats at the same time….The businesswoman in me wants to use this space to chronicle and share my experiences here, so as to expand the conversation. And this may be quite sappy, but I’m going to say it anyway… and… The do-gooder in me wants to share my experiences so that others can benefit.

How’s that?

Ok…ok…I’m definitely wearing stripes and plaids and my outfit doesn’t match, but the important this is that I am thinking in a whole new way.

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