Summary

A couple's generous donation of books to a children's literacy charity in a new country leads to unexpected community connections and opportunities.

Abstract

Upon moving to a new country, a couple seeks to integrate into the community by contributing to a local charity that promotes children's literacy. They go beyond the typical donation by providing a substantial collection of books, leveraging their personal interests in reading and writing. This act of generosity not only benefits the children but also fosters a meaningful relationship with the charity's members. Through this connection, the couple is invited to participate in community events, including an author panel, highlighting the reciprocal nature of their contribution. The experience underscores the importance of personal involvement in charitable acts, emphasizing that true networking and community engagement arise from genuine relationships built on trust and shared values.

Opinions

The authors believe that giving generously to a cause one is passionate about can inspire others to contribute as well.
They emphasize that investing time in building relationships yields powerful results beyond mere transactions.
The couple values the importance of being part of the community and actively seeks ways to contribute beyond financial donations.
They advocate for networking that is based on genuine connections and shared interests rather than superficial exchanges.
The authors suggest that opportunities arise when people know, like, and trust you, which is facilitated by personal involvement and sharing one's skills and knowledge.

Generosity Yields Unexpected Gifts

That’s not why we did it

Moving to a new country, we wanted to start out right. We didn’t want people to think of us as the stereotypical “ugly American”, transaction-based and out to milk every angle they can. Our idea was to demonstrate that we were interested in being a part of the community.

Looking for a way to do that, we discovered a charity that encouraged children’s literacy by providing them with books. It’s expensive to import books to an island, and kids go through them so quickly! Visitors could tuck a few books in their luggage, and drop them off for the kids.

My husband and I are both writers. And voracious readers. This was a perfect charity for us to get involved with! Especially since we were sending a shipping container of belongings, not just a few suitcases. We could really go big, with boxes of books.

We had loads of fun hitting the local thrift stores for hundreds of children’s books in good condition. There were many classics — Dr. Seuss to Robert Louis Stevenson — and award-winning young adult fantasy and science fiction that I remembered enjoying as a child. Unused workbooks for homeschooling. Collections of fairy tales and interactive pop-up books.

When we told friends what we were doing, they helped us look for books. Everyone was inspired by the idea of helping these kids get more reading material.

Takeaway: When you give generously to something you believe in, you inspire others to also give.

Making connections

When we arrived on island, we reached out to the charity. How should we get the books to them? They said they’d send someone to pick them up.

A date and time was set. They gave us a 3-hour window in which the people would arrive to get the books. At least, that’s what we thought they’d given us.

No, it turned out, it was a 3-hour appointment. Because they were relationship building. My husband made coffee, I put out cookies, and we talked for three hours. We learned about them, and their efforts with literacy, as well as a wide range of other projects that were near and dear to their hearts.

They also learned about us. I explained why we’d chosen to donate books to them, much as I did at the beginning of this article. And something amazing happened.

If you’d asked me what I expected the response to our donation to be, I probably would have said “a nice Thank You.” Maybe a photo of the boxes of books, with our names, in either their newsletter or on their website. I hadn’t really given it much thought. After all, we were doing this for the kids, and for love of reading.

Takeaway: Relationships take time, but yield powerful results.

An invitation

The kids’ literacy project wasn’t the only one our new friend was involved in. She also taught literacy classes on the weekends. And the college where she worked hosted an annual panel of authors to inspire people to write as well as read.

She asked if I’d be interested in participating, as one of the authors on the panel. Of course, I said, “Yes!” What a wonderful way to reinforce that I want to be part of the community.

This is the core principle behind true networking. People who know you, and know what’s important to you, are able to connect you with opportunities you might not know about on your own.

I’m not talking about “networking events”, where a bunch of business owners and salespeople hand out cards to anyone who will stay still long enough to take one. I’m talking about taking the time and energy to invest in a personal network of people you know and trust.

Takeaway: Opportunities come to those whom people know and trust.

Conclusion

The best donations are those that require you to really get involved in the donation. Offering your skills, knowledge, or time in service of a cause you believe in spreads the value of your donation. Because as people hear about what you’re doing, and why, they will also become interested.

No one ever answered “What did you do this weekend?” with “I wrote a check.”

True relationship building takes time. You have to learn about the other person, and they have to learn about you. As you talk, you find unexpected commonalities and serendipitous similarities. Those little details are usually not top-of-mind for how you introduce yourself, but they’re what makes for a real relationship.

As network marketing businesses always say, “People do business with people they know, like, and trust.” It’s not just a transactional thing, for buying products and services. It’s also a matter of who you want to spend time with on your boards, for your service projects, and in your off hours.

Opportunities come to those whose personal network knows, likes, and trusts them.

So offer your skills, knowledge, or time in service of a cause you believe in. Spend time building a relationship with other people who are also devoted to that cause. And new opportunities of some sort will surely come your way!