Many Groups = Many Opportunities for Engagement
I was having breakfast with a bank executive recently who had served as a minister and president of a large local chamber of commerce. While he was having breakfast with me, he was talking to several others at various nearby tables. He wasn't being rude — he was just very popular. He has been a fixture in Indianapolis for many years and seems to know everyone in town. I was amazed at how many diverse people knew him.
When I walked back to the car and drove away from the visit, I thought about how many groups we belong to without realizing it.
The first logical group is our immediate family and extended family. Next comes a long list of possibilities:
- Professional associations (peers in field)
- Jobs current and former co-workers and employees
- Service clubs members (Rotary, Kiwanis, etc.)
- Fellow alumni from schools attended
- Church members past and present
- Parent contacts
- Children-related contacts
- People we've dated
- Sports teammates and, in my case, players coached
- Activities engaged in over the years
- Hobbies we love and participate in such as music, cruising and art
- Awards we've received
- Clubs we belong to
- Fraternity or sorority links
- Veterans of military
- Places we visit with others
- Places we frequent
- Friends where we live or have lived
- Neighbors who play cards
- Fellow workers or fellow retired workers
- Online friends and contacts such as Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
- Single or married groups
- Charities we support
- Places we volunteer
- Geographical contacts
- Patient friends with whom we share ailments
- Fellow authors, speakers and consultants
The list goes on and on. The purpose of this exercise is for you to realize how many diverse contacts you actually have in this world. All of us have many friends, professional colleagues and associates. We all interact with them differently based on the group function and personality.
- Categories:
- Major Gifts
Duke Haddad, Ed.D., CFRE, is currently associate director of development, director of capital campaigns and director of corporate development for The Salvation Army Indiana Division in Indianapolis. He also serves as president of Duke Haddad and Associates LLC and is a freelance instructor for Nonprofit Web Advisor.
He has been a contributing author to NonProfit PRO since 2008.
He received his doctorate degree from West Virginia University with an emphasis on education administration plus a dissertation on donor characteristics. He received a master’s degree from Marshall University with an emphasis on public administration plus a thesis on annual fund analysis. He secured a bachelor’s degree (cum laude) with an emphasis on marketing/management. He has done post graduate work at the University of Louisville.
Duke has received the Fundraising Executive of the Year Award, from the Association of Fundraising Professionals Indiana Chapter. He also was given the Outstanding West Virginian Award, Kentucky Colonel Award and Sagamore of the Wabash Award from the governors of West Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana, respectively, for his many career contributions in the field of philanthropy. He has maintained a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) designation for three decades.
