WalkingElephant

In Search of Sustainable Giving

My previous post mentioned three extraordinary, ongoing efforts to improve our world. Two common threads among them stand out to me: The first, of course, is the belief that literacy and education are crucial fundaments of a stable community that seeks to thrive. The second - and what I want to focus on here - is that it takes money to build and maintain those foundations [double entendre intended].

On September 1, 2009, The Elephant Walk in Waltham will become a Benefit Restaurant� [not to worry: it will still be The Elephant Walk too!], committed to a new form of philanthropy that actively seeks to reduce the "drag" on the charity/non-profit world that the necessity of fundraising imposes.

We'll share more details of The Elephant Walk in Waltham's added purpose as September 1st approaches. In the meantime I urge you to visit benefitrestaurants.org to learn more about this new concept.

Lowering the cost of new money for non-profits

Off and on for years now I have puzzled over how to reduce the drag on the systems of worthy charities and non-profits that fundraising imposes. As a small business owner I am on the receiving end of myriad outreach efforts on behalf of all manner of causes. What troubles me is the amount of resources that are expended - time, energy, creativity and, of course, money - to make sure that these organizations have...resources!

Many individuals and organizations that take their giving seriously look at what are sometimes called the "punitive ratios" comparing the percentage of a charity's or non-profit's operating budget goes to pay for the "program" vs. "management" vs. "fundraising." Potential donors judging that an organization's budget percentage committed to management or fundraising is too high often decide to pass on that organization in favor of another that appears to be using its funds more efficiently. Organizations that are for any reason having a tough time raising money are often forced to spend more to try to jump start giving, which in turn makes them less attractive targets for the generosity they seek.

I know I'm not alone in perceiving the irony that the choice to give to the organization is substantially responsible for the "quality" of these punitive ratios; organizations with more revenue have better ratios. If I choose to give to an organization, that organization then both is and appears healthier to others considering it as well. If I choose to give to an organization without having to be asked for my money, the effects of my gift are even more beneficial - a crucial principle behind Benefit Restaurants.

Benefit Restaurants will seek to improve the punitive ratios for the charities and non-profits to which they give by seeking to ensure there are little to no charity/non-profit administrative or fundraising expenses associated with their gifts. It is my intent that Benefit Restaurant™ funding not only helps out financially in the short term but also makes beneficiary organizations more attractive to others who are considering contributing their support.

Because...

...it takes ten thousand rivers to fill an ocean of need. << Hence, Benefit Restaurants.

Each Benefit Restaurant™ will be a river, providing a continuous flow of funds to help fill the ocean of need engulfing us. No, one river can't water every garden; one restaurant committed to directing funds to charities and non profits won't sustain them all. But, ten thousand?...

On September 1^st we begin with one.

Benefit Restaurants: each one a river

The river image is so powerful, symbolizing continuity, rising and falling, carrying life, containing life, bringing and sustaining life. Each river has its original source, is fed in a multitude of ways along its winding path, and flows continuously until finally feeding its lake or ocean.

In my first post I mentioned that I'd finally figured out how I can better help fill the needs surrounding me: I will be helping through Benefit Restaurants. On September 1, 2009 The Elephant Walk, a restaurant in Waltham, Massachusetts in which I am a partner, will become a river. As America's first Benefit Restaurant™, the Waltham Elephant Walk will be directing a continuous flow of funds to charities and non-profits, working to do its part to help fill the ocean of need awaiting us all.

I am seriously excited! And I'm also extremely grateful to my business partners for supporting me in this new endeavor by committing their shares of the business to the common good in this manner. Through Benefit Restaurants there is now a way to harness the rivers they represent and to direct their flow into that ocean of need!

Introducing Benefit Restaurants

On September 1, 2009 The Elephant Walk restaurant in Waltham, Massachusetts will begin operating as America's first Benefit Restaurant™.

As a Benefit Restaurant™, The Elephant Walk in Waltham will commit 3% of its monthly sales on a perpetual basis to a different registered 501(c)(3) organization each month.

A Benefit Restaurant™ is not a charity. Rather, it is a for-profit entity that has made a systematic, long-term commitment to to provide financial support to charities - locally, regionally, nationally, and globally.

Of course the impact of a single Benefit Restaurant's giving will be greatest locally and nearly insignificant globally. This is why my ultimate, admittedly audacious goal for Benefit Restaurants is that there be thousands of them, working together to ease the financial constraints limiting the profound good most charities and non-profits are capable of doing.

But we will begin with one - The Elephant Walk in Waltham - where we will prove the Benefit Restaurant™ concept's viability and potential, and will work to grow from there.

Please follow benefitrestaurants.org to follow our journey that begins September 1, 2009!